RIVER FALLS Police Department Reports

The following incidents were reported to River Falls Police Department Nov. 2-9.

Tuesday, Nov. 2

At 9:11 a.m., police reported to a mobile home at 1450 Wasson Lane for a woman in cardiac arrest. A driver who arrived to take her to an appointment found her. Police performed life-saving measures but she was pronounced dead at the scene.

At 11:05 p.m., police responded to 276 Sylla St. for an unresponsive man. The man had a pulse but erratic breathing. After performing life-saving measures, he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Wednesday, Nov. 3

Police responded at 12:49 p.m. to 838 Leroy Lane for a domestic incident not in progress. The couple allegedly argued about a missed phone call and the man hit the woman on the hand with a phone. After interviewing both parties and witnessing a bruise on the woman’s hand, a charge for domestic disorderly conduct was referred to the district attorney for the male party involved.

At 2:22 p.m., an officer responded to Meyer Middle School (230 N. Ninth St.) for an assault. A student assaulted another student during a Ga-Ga pit game while they were outside for a mask break, stomping on the student and smashing the student’s head into the ground. The injured student went to the emergency room due to neck pain and had visible injuries. The aggressor received a suspension from school and a battery charge was referred to juvenile court.

At 3:59 p.m., River Falls Bus Garage reported an illegal passing of a stopped school bus incident that had occurred at 3:07 p.m. Nov. 2 at Cemetery Road and Emory Drive. The bus was stopped with flashing lights and stop arm extended. Taishen Paige Walztoni, 28, River Falls, was cited $250 for failure to stop for school bus.

At 3:59 p.m., River Falls Bus Garage reported another illegal passing of a stopped school bus incident that had occurred at 3:57 p.m. Nov. 2 at Cemetery and Southridge roads. The bus had stopped with flashing lights and stop arm extended. Blake Riley O’Hara, 18, River Falls, was cited $250 for failure to stop for a school bus.

At 6:50 p.m., a resident reported an online scam in which she had placed a leather jacket for sale on Facebook Marketplace for $250. An alleged buyer contacted her and convinced her to ship the jacket to a Green Bay address before payment was received. Police advised her to contact UPS to intercept the package and warned her of online scammers.

Thursday, Nov. 4

At 6:40 a.m., police received a report about a disturbance revolving around a child custody exchange, a no contact order and how contact between the two couples should occur during exchanges at a residence in the 1400 block of Foster Street. One couple filled out statements, saying they don’t feel safe having contact with the child’s mother or her boyfriend due to their aggressive behavior. The mother’s boyfriend denied any aggressive behavior.

At 7:45 a.m., an employee reported her car hood being keyed and believed it happened while parked in the rear lot at River Falls High School. The damage was first noted the previous night. School surveillance provided no further information.

At 10:22 a.m., police were called to 123 W. Park St. where the resident had had a lost cat for about a week. Numerous social media posts were unsuccessful in locating the cat’s owner. The medium-sized black cat had no collar and was shy. While attempting to transfer the cat from a large carrier to a smaller one in the police department garage, the angry cat hissed and bit the officer’s baton, escaping beneath a car. The cat’s location is unknown.

Police responded at 12:29 p.m. to a semi vs. street sign crash in the Cemetery Road/Wasson Lane roundabout at 950th Street. A 2018 Cascadia Frht tractor-trailer with semi attached, driven by Tycho B. Clayton, 49, Peru, Ill., was traveling eastbound on Cemetery Road through the roundabout at 950th Street when the driver’s side mirror hit two “one way” street signs and one light pole inside the roundabout. All three items needed to be replaced and one rear tire on the trailer was damaged. Clayton wore a seat belt and reported no injuries.

At 1:13 p.m., a Positive Alternatives employee reported that two juveniles had reportedly been flashing their breasts at other residents while staff were in a meeting. The juveniles’ guardians and case workers were notified of the alleged lewd and lascivious behavior.

At 8:50 p.m., police were called back to Positive Alternatives (2460 Williams Ave.) for a runaway juvenile. The girl left with two blankets and was last seen walking down Glenmeadow Street. Police located her near County Road M and Glenmeadow Street. Officers eventually convinced her to return to the facility, although she was upset with staff. Ten to 15 minutes after police left, staff called them back because the juvenile was getting physical and has slammed her shoulder into a staff member. Police were able to calm her down and made contact with her social worker.

A domestic disorderly conduct charge was referred to the district attorney after an incident at 8 p.m. at 516 Birch St. A woman admitted to throwing shoes at a man because she was upset he’d brought his new girlfriend to the house.

Friday, Nov. 5

At 12:35 p.m., police received a threats complaint from a resident in the 1600 block of Valley Quail Drive. The complainant had received a threatening voicemail from a blocked number. A suspect was identified and phone records obtained, but the call didn’t come from the suspect’s phone. The complainant was advised to call police if any more threats were received.

A Positive Alternatives employee reported a juvenile missing at 3:22 p.m. The juvenile had allegedly run away from the high school with another juvenile and failed to get on the bus. The two juveniles were eventually located in Oakdale, Minn., where one juvenile’s dad had taken them to his family member’s house. When the family member learned the one girl had run away, she wasn’t allowed to stay and they dropped her off in a parking lot near an IHOP. The juvenile called Positive Alternatives and asked to be picked up; when staff arrived, she was nowhere to be found.

Officers responded to a two-vehicle crash at 4:27 p.m. at Main and Pomeroy streets between a 2015 Ford F250, driven by Gregory Michael Fuchs, 47, River Falls, and a 2013 Chevrolet Traverse, driven by Ella Elaine Cook, 16, River Falls. Fuchs was attempting to turn left onto Main Street from Pomeroy Street, while Cook was in the left-hand turn lane on Main Street waiting to turn left onto Pomeroy Street. Fuchs didn’t see Cook’s vehicle and struck it. Both drivers wore seat belts and reported no injuries. Fuchs’ vehicle had minor damage, while Cook’s had moderate damage. Fuchs was cited $98.80 for fail/yield while making a left turn.

Police responded to a hit-and-run crash at 6:41 p.m. that occurred in the 500 block of South Wasson Lane. A woman in her yard and three people in a vehicle witnessed a dark-colored Chevrolet truck heading northbound on South Wasson Lane strike a legally parked 2013 Toyota Corolla (owned by Mary Kathryn Demko, Stillwater, Minn.), speed up, and pull into a driveway down the street. Police were given a license plate number. Police responded to the residence where the suspect had gone, and found a truck matching the description and license plate backed into the driveway between a house and shed. The truck had damage to its passenger side that matched witnesses’ account of what happened. Daniel S. Kirby, 50, denied hitting anything. He was cited $313 for failure of operator to notify police of accident. The other vehicle also had minor damage.

At 7:45 p.m., New Richmond police asked River Falls officers to help find a RF resident suspected in an iPhone theft.

Police responded at 9:42 p.m. to a residence in the 900 block of Sycamore Street where vandalism of a juvenile’s bedroom was reported. The juvenile said someone had come in through the unlocked bedroom window, broken a wooden sign, wrote on the in makeup, and ripped stickers off a wall. The juvenile identified a suspect, who police planned to contact.

Saturday, Nov. 6

At 6:04 a.m. police responded to Econo Lodge (1207 St. Croix St.) for a disorderly woman. An employee reported a woman screaming and hitting herself in the head in the stairwell. The employee asked her of she was okay, and she declined help. When the employee asked her to quiet down because other guests were sleeping, she became enraged and threw her continental breakfast against the wall before leaving the hotel. Police located her in the bathroom at Kwik Trip (1238 N. Main St.), where employees reported her suspicious behavior.

Naihla Laquann Buckley, 36, River Falls, was arrested on an active warrant and transported to St. Croix County Jail.

At 9:39 p.m. officers responded to 513 S. Wasson Lane where two vehicles had been egged between 6 and 9:39 p.m. while parked on the street. The complainant named a suspect, who denied having any involvement. Total damage was estimated to be $200.

Sunday, Nov. 7

Police responded to a two-vehicle crash at 2:10 p.m. at Foster Street and Bartosh Lane between a 2006 Ford Focus, driven by Theo Yeabsire Syverson, 16, River Falls, and a 2017 Mercedes GLE 350, driven by Chelsea Marie Leighton, 33, River Falls. Syverson was heading west, behind Leighton, on Foster Street and crossed the Bartosh Lane intersection. Leighton slowed to make a left-hand turn into a driveway. Syverson looked down for a few seconds and when he looked up, couldn’t stop in time and struck the back-end of Leighton’s vehicle. Both drivers wore seat belts and reported no injuries. Syverson’s vehicle was towed due to disabling damage, while Leighton’s had functional damage.

At 5:06 p.m., a resident reported a front license plate that had been stolen off a truck while parked at the Copper Kettle lot (1005 S. Main St.) They noticed the missing plate on Nov. 6, but the plate had been there Nov. 5.

Monday, Nov. 8

At 3 p.m., police responded to 212 Broadway St. to perform a welfare check on an 84year-old woman who had not been answering her phone or text messages. Police found the woman deceased in her bedroom of natural causes.

At 4:58 p.m., a mother reported her teen child as a runaway from a residence in the 400 block of Clark Street. She believes the teen escaped through the bedroom window. At 9:30 p.m., police located the teen at a friend’s house in the 100 block of Highway 35. The teen was returned home and the incident referred to the social worker.

Tuesday, Nov. 9

Police responded at 5:40 a.m. to 407 S. Wasson Lane for a domestic in which a 2-year-old was taken from the residence without the mother’s permission. The child’s father, identified as Lonnie Wayne Pechuman, 29, Prescott, had been visiting (though a domestic abuse no contact order was in place) when the two argued. The woman reported being struck several times. When she went into the bathroom to call 911, Pechuman took off with the child. He had also allegedly taken the woman’s vehicle without permission. His vehicle was located in the 400 block of Wasson Court, unoccupied. Through cell phone pinging technology, police located Pechuman in Prescott at a Monroe Street address. He was arrested for knowingly violate a domestic abuse order, domestic battery, take/drive vehicle without consent – abandon vehicle and felony bail jumping. Police transported him to Pierce County Jail.