RIVER FALLS Police Department Reports

The following incidents were reported to River Falls Police Department Jan. 28 through Feb. 7.

Friday, Jan. 28 Aili Marie Lassi, 16, River Falls, was cited $250 for failure to stop for school bus at 3:10 p.m. at Greenwood Valley Drive and Kimberly Circle. The bus driver said he’d stopped the bus and began to let kids off when he noticed a truck coming down the road. When the truck didn’t appear to be stopping he “laid on the horn.” The kids stopped crossing and the bus driver said Lassi was looking down.

Monday, Jan. 31

Police responded to a vehicle vs. school bus crash at 8:47 a.m. at Cascade Avenue and Crescent Avenue between a 2017 Kia Sorento, driven by Zoe Anne Kraemer, 20, Blair, and a 2022 Thomas Frht school bus, driven by Mickal Rose Sylvara, 34, Hudson. Kraemer was heading west on Cascade Avenue and the bus was stopped at the Crescent Street stop sign at Cascade. Sylvara said she didn’t see Kraemer and proceeded into the intersection. When she saw Kraemer, she accelerated to try to avoid the collision, but Kraemer hit the left rear corner of the bus. Kraemer said she slammed on the brakes but couldn’t avoid the collision. A witness said Kraemer was traveling very fast and didn’t attempt to stop. Kraemer’s vehicle was towed due to disabling damage, while the bus had minor damage. Kraemer and her passenger, Matthew Allen Proehl, 21, Minnesota Lake, Minn., wore seat belts and reported no injuries. Sylvara and four passengers on the bus, ages 4, 5 and 5, reported no injuries. Sylvara was cited $98.80 for fail/yield right/way from stop sign.

At 9:36 a.m., police responded to BP (1553 Paulson Road) for a gas drive-off. A woman in a red Jeep wearing a face mask pumped gas and left. The Jeep had no license plates.

Police responded at 4:39 p.m. to Papa Murphy’s Pizza (1589 Paulson Road) for a suspicious activity complaint. Someone had seen a man in a vehicle using a syringe. When police arrived, the suspect vehicle pulled out of the lot and into the McDonald’s drive-thru, where police made contact with the lone occupant, identified as Marshall Eugene Pilgrim, 28, Watertown, Minn. Pilgrim denied using a syringe and said police would find no drug paraphernalia in the vehicle. He did not consent to a vehicle search; a K-9 officer was asked to respond to the scene. When K-9 Ash arrived, the dog alerted to the vehicle. Police found a loaded syringe in the driver’s side door which tested positive for heroin. Also found were used and unused syringes, several burnt spoons with burnt residue, corner pieces of clear baggies and prescription medication. Pilgrim was arrested for possession of heroin and drug paraphernalia and transported to St. Croix County Jail. The vehicle was impounded.

Teag Harley Panzer, 17, River Falls, was cited $98.80 for unsafe backing of vehicle after a two-vehicle crash at 8:40 p.m. at Sunwood Valley Lane and Sunwood Court. Panzer said he looked behind his vehicle while backing out of his driveway (in a 1996 Jeep Cherokee) and struck a parked 2020 Nissan Altima, which belongs to Holdings LLC EAN to Panzer said he didn’t see the vehicle behind him.

Tuesday, Feb. 1

At 2:54 a.m., police responded to the area of 114 N. Fremont St. for a possible explosion or gunshot. One vehicle was leaving the area, so police followed it and pulled it over on Main at Summit Street, to see if they could gather information about the reported noise. The driver was identified as Lucas F. Bjerstedt, 34, River Falls. He said he’d been at a friend’s house and he too heard a loud noise or explosion, but didn’t know what it was. Police could smell marijuana coming from the vehicle and his eyes were red. Inside the vehicle, police found a baggie containing a green, leafy substance and two pipes. He was arrested and cited $187 for possess drug paraphernalia and booked at the station. When returned to his vehicle, police jump started his car because it wouldn’t start.

Police responded to a vehicle damage complaint at 8:20 a.m. on Bartosh Lane just north of Jefferson Street. The wind blew a metal gate belonging to the River Falls School District into the rear passenger side of a 2022 Chevrolet Equinox, driven by Jennifer A. Hayes, 36, River Falls. Hayes had stopped to let a child out. The vehicle had minor damage. Hayes and an 11-year-old passenger both wore seat belts and reported no injuries.

Officers responded to a twovehicle crash at 12:05 p.m. at Powell Avenue and St. Croix Street between a 2006 Chrysler 300, driven by Caleb Daniel Ness, 18, Hastings, Minn., and a 2012 Ford Expedition, driven by Anna Christine Pearson, 43, River Falls. Both vehicles had turned onto Powell Avenue from North Main Street, with Ness in front of Pearson. Ness performed a U-turn at the St. Croix Street intersection and struck the left front side of Pearson’s vehicle. Pearson said the other driver didn’t signal and appeared to be turning into Walgreen’s, but made an abrupt U-turn. Ness said he signaled and that Pearson should have had time to stop. Both vehicles had functional damage. Both drivers and two passengers in Ness’ vehicle, Preston Edward Kage, 17, Hastings, Minn., and Kassidy Ann Konieczka, 19, River Falls, wore seat belts and reported no injuries.

At 3:50 p.m., a Kinnic Falls resident reported his former roommate had taken his debit card without permission and withdrawn $320 from his bank account at the WESTconsin Credit Union (1207 N. Main St.) ATM. After reviewing security footage, police saw a man wearing a black jacket, black gloves, black hat with hood, beige pants and a gray mask with a design print make the ATM transaction. The complainant chose not to pursue charges, but wanted the incident documented.

At 9:32 p.m., a Dollar Tree (1174 N. Main St.) employee called police and reported an unoccupied truck had been left idling in the parking lot for more than an hour. When police arrived, they found a man asleep in the reclined driver’s seat. He was identified as Lyle Halvor Johnson, 56, River Falls. He told police he hadn’t been feeling well and had fallen asleep. He arrested on a Department of Corrections warrant and transported to Pierce County Jail.

Wednesday, Feb. 2

A complainant called police at 6:07 p.m. to report a man had threatened her with a taser at her residence, 452 Griffey St. When she called police, he fled but left the taser behind. When police responded, she told them that the man, with whom she shared a child, was upset about a notice they’d received that day and sprayed her with water while she was napping on the couch. He then threatened her with the taser. Police couldn’t locate the suspect; domestic disorderly conduct and misdemeanor bail jumping charges are pending.

Thursday, Feb. 3

Officers responded to a twovehicle crash at 2:14 p.m. in the parking lot at 104 E. Locust St. between a 2005 Dodge Durango, driven by Carlton Wayne Trainham, 47, River Falls, and a legally parked 2002 Honda Accord, owned by James M. Miller, River Falls. Trainham was backing out of his parking spot and struck Miller’s vehicle. The Durango had no damage, while the Accord had functional damage. Trainham wore a seat belt and reported no injuries.

At 3:36 p.m., a light-colored sedan failed to stop for a school bus that had its stop arm extended in the 500 block of South Wasson Lane. The bus driver said it appeared the driver didn’t see the bus because the car never slowed and kept going even after the bus driver honked her horn. The sedan’s driver was identified as Mabel Clair Hines, River Falls; she received a citation.

Friday, Feb. 4 Justin Paul Karras, 41, River Falls, was arrested for OWI-fourth, operating while revoked and misdemeanor bail jumping after a traffic stop at 12:58 a.m. at Wasson Lane and Wildcat Court for a revoked driving status. When police pulled him over, he told the officer he doesn’t have a license and that he’d been downtown, where he had “a couple of beers.” He smelled of intoxicants and had glassy, bloodshot eyes. He failed field sobriety tests and registered a 0.179 BAC. He was arrested and transported to St. Croix County Jail. He also had an open failure to appear warrant in St. Croix County.

Cheryl Len James, 74, River Falls, was arrested and cited $861 for OWI-first at 1:44 a.m. near Main and Church streets after a traffic stop for driving 10 mph, driving in the wrong lane of traffic and going the wrong way around a roundabout and Cascade Avenue and Sixth Street. When police pulled her over, she was confused why police were concerned about her driving behavior. She smelled of intoxicants and had trouble finding her license and insurance. She told police she’d had two drinks at Johnnie’s. After failing field sobriety tests, she registered a 0.88 BAC. She was released to her daughter after booking.

At 6:58 a.m., a complainant reported a catalytic converter theft from a vehicle parked at 1346 Spruce St. The theft occurred sometime between 5 p.m. Feb. 3 and 6:30 a.m. Feb. 4. The complainant’s wife had noticed a white Dodge Caravan parked in the area near Wells Park at 4:30 a.m. Feb. 2. She thought it was suspicious and that the people in the vehicle might be casing the neighborhood.

Saturday, Feb. 5

Police responded at 11:52 p.m. to 218 W. Charlotte St. for an assault. A complainant called 911 after finding a man who was covered in blood trying to get up the stairs. The man told him his son had pinned him down, beaten him and taken his car without permission. Neighbors tended to the man until police and EMS arrived. The son, identified as Joshua Robert Rolf-Walz, 28, Minneapolis, was found back in the man’s apartment. Neighbors told police he’d asked to hide or “lay low” in someone else’s apartment (which they refused) after the assault and that he had said that his dad had “deserved it.” Rolf-Walz told police that they’d fought over a phone and that it was just a family matter. He also claimed to be a federal agent and demanded to talk to the police chief. After completing interviews, Rolf-Walz was arrested for disorderly conduct and battery and transported to Pierce County Jail. Police also found a used syringe in his pocket. A friend came to stay with the dad for the night after he declined going to the hospital.

Sunday, Feb. 6

At 4 a.m., an officer observed a truck without any lights on back in and out of a parking stall numerous times behind Domino’s Pizza. When police made contact with the driver, the vehicle reeked of marijuana and the officer saw a glass jar filled with a green, leafy substance on the center console, along with a glass drug pipe. The driver, a 26-year-old man, told police he was on the phone with someone who kept telling him not to drive because he’d been drinking. Police confiscated the marijuana and pipe and told the man if he went back to the apartment, stayed there and didn’t drive, he wouldn’t be cited. He agreed.

Officers responded to a twovehicle crash at 5:18 p.m. at Main and Elm streets between a 2013 Subaru Impreza, driven by Jared Adam Studelska, 32, River Falls, and a 2008 Chevrolet Impala, driven by Emily Grace Thiede, 18, River Falls. Thiede, who was behind Studelska, rear-ended him when he stopped for a pedestrian in the crosswalk. She said she had been looking down at a notebook. Both vehicles had minor damage; both drivers wore seat belts and reported no injuries. Thiede was cited $136.60 for driving too fast for conditions.

Police were sent at 8:34 p.m. to ValuStay Inn (708 N. Main St.) for a domestic in progress where a woman was allegedly threatening to kill her mother. When officers arrived, a woman police deal with regularly named Naihla Laquann Buckley, 36, River Falls, was in a motel room screaming at her mother, Sharon E. Hart, 65, River Falls, who was locked in the bathroom. Police separated the two and attempted to find other people for one of them to stay with, but had no success. During the interview process, it was determined Buckley had been drinking, which violated her bond conditions. When police told her she was under arrest for disorderly conduct, felony bail jumping and misdemeanor bail jumping, she began resisting arrest and being belligerent. One officer was kicked in the face at least once while they tried to get her in the squad. A baggie of marijuana was also found in her glove; resisting or obstructing an officer and possession of THC charges were added. While police were attempting to take Buckley into custody, Hart kept distracting officers and getting in the way, which is a common occurrence during police calls with the two. The decision was made to refer a resisting or obstructing an officer charge for Hart to the district attorney. Buckley was transported to St. Croix County Jail, where she remained uncooperative.

Monday, Feb. 7

Police responded to a twovehicle crash at 3:15 p.m. at North Falls and West Pine streets between a 2007 Toyota Camry, driven by Jose A. Miranda Huerta, 18, River Falls, and a 2007 Honda, driven by

Elizabeth L. Dressler, 79, River Falls. Miranda Huerta was traveling east on Pine Street and failed to yield at the Falls Street intersection. Dressler was heading north on Falls Street and didn’t see Miranda Huerta coming through the intersection and they collided. Both vehicles had severe disabling damage. Both drivers wore seat belts; Miranda Huerta reported no injuries, while an ambulance transported Dressler to River Falls Area Hospital with possible injuries. Huerta Miranda was cited $98.80 for fail/yield for yield sign.

At 9:42 p.m., someone reported a group of four kids, all wearing white ski masks, shooting air soft guns out of the moon roof of a dark Chevrolet Impala in the area of South Sixth Street and East Cascade Avenue. Soon after the first call, there were other calls of people being hit by pellets near Emma’s Bar (222 S. Main St.), and at a home at 932 Sunset Lane where a man was ambushed outside his front door and reported being hit in the face with pellets four to five times. None of the callers reported injuries. Police located the suspect vehicle at about 10:14 p.m. and performed a high-risk traffic stop near South Main and West Park streets. Four people were taken into custody without incident and identified as a 14-year-old Ellsworth juvenile, two 16-year-old Ellsworth juveniles and Parker A. Wright, 18, Ellsworth. The vehicle was towed to the police impound lot. In its back seat, officers found multiple blankets, multiple white ski masks, and multiple gray and orange plastic guns, plus a yellow hopper containing small orange pellets. The boys told police that a group of high school kids in Ellsworth have started to play a game using “splat guns.” They drive around Ellsworth looking for others who play the game and when located, they shoot their guns at each other. The four drove to River Falls to drop off a girlfriend, and decided to start shooting at random people out of the car while wearing the ski masks. They said they went to the Sunset Lane address because they thought one of their friends lived there. The four boys were released to their mothers. The case remains under investigation.