The following incidents were reported to River Falls Police Department Aug. 15-Oct. 6, 2025.

Friday, Aug. 15

At 12:13 p.m., a resident from 209 S. Falls St. said he had been contacted via text Aug. 13 regarding unauthorized charges of an iPhone purchase on Amazon for $1,000. During the conversation, the suspect informed him of multiple alleged fraudulent activities associated with his identity. He was told he needed to get a new identity due to the identity theft. The suspect instructed him to withdraw funds from his bank account to resolve the identity theft issue. He followed instructions withdrawing $40,000 from the bank; the suspect told him to put the cash in a paper bag at the end of his driveway. A black four-door sedan picked the cash up at noon Aug. 14, at which time he received a digital receipt. He was then instructed to withdraw another $25,000 and place it in a bag at the same location. The suspect picked the cash up at 1:15 p.m. He soon realized he had been scammed and notified police. He had been told federal marshals would be contacting him to resolve the matter, which they never did. A neighbor’s surveillance footage identified a black Toyota Prius with Illinois plates as the pickup vehicle. The case remains under investigation.

Tuesday, Sept. 30

Police responded to a domestic disturbance at 9 p.m. at 207 Foster St. where a man accused his girlfriend of breaking his vehicle windows with a dumbbell and breaking his cellphone. When police entered the home, they found a smashed TV, a broke phone, chicken nuggets and fries all over the floor, children’s toys thrown about, a table flipped over and other items thrown around. The woman said Gilbert Orantes, 31, River Falls, had accused her of cheating, spit in her face and broke her TV. In retaliation, she broke his phone. He then began wrestling her for her phone and choked her. She said this brought on a PTSD episode that caused her to smash his windshield and rear car window in the driveway. The woman had visible injuries, including blood on her knee, a cut on her palm, redness on her forehead and an abrasion on her throat. Police arrested Orantes as the primary aggressor for strangulation and suffocation, domestic battery, domestic disorderly conduct and criminal damage to property. The woman was told she may be charged with property damage as well. Officers informed Child Protective Services of the incident, since a 3-year-old child had witnessed it all.

Wednesday, Oct. 1

• Police arrested Brandon Lynn Walker, 39, Ellsworth, for a Department of Corrections warrant at 1:40 p.m. in the 100 block of East Locust Street. He was transported to Pierce County jail without incident.
• Officers responded to a hit and run at 5:56 p.m. in the roundabout at Highway 65 and Cemetery Road. A 2006 Mini Cooper, driven by Caleb M. Docter, 32, Menomonie, was traveling behind a 2015 Ram 1500, driven by Tony Jay Owen, 59, River Falls, heading toward the roundabout. Docter got into the right lane, while Owen got into the left lane; the vehicles were traveling through the roundabout side-by-side when Owen’s trailer struck Docter’s vehicle, pushing it into the curb. Owen didn’t realize he’d hit anything with the trailer and continued on. Docter’s Mini Cooper had minor damage. Owen was cited $98.80 for unsafe lane deviation.
• Officers were dispatched to a two-vehicle crash at 6:56 p.m. in the River Falls High School (818 Cemetery Road) parking lot between a 2008 Chevy Silverado, driven by a 16-year-old Hammond juvenile, and a legally parked 2017 GMC Yukon, owned by Jodeci D.C. Linder, The juvenile struck the unoccupied Yukon during a parking maneuver, causing minor damage to both vehicles. No injuries were reported.
• At 7:37 p.m., police noticed a small child carrying a cell phone in the dark running along Cemetery Road near Emory Drive without shoes on. When police tried to speak to him, he shrieked and ran away. The boy has autism and is on Project Lifesaver. Two women arrived and helped police safely take the boy back to his home. His mother had fallen asleep on the couch and he got out of the house without her knowing.
• Police were notified at 8:15 p.m. that a 2020 Subaru Outback, driven by Cathy Mae Snyder, 69, Kellogg, Minn., had struck a deer at 10:15 a.m. on Highway 35 just south of Highway 65. The vehicle had disabling damage, but Snyder reported no injuries.

Thursday, Oct. 2

• Officers were dispatched to a threat complaint at 1:31 a.m. at 1207 State St. The complainant said his neighbor had threatened him following an altercation at Emma’s Bar (222 S. Main St.) The two had spent the day together, with the neighbor repeatedly discussing growing mushrooms and mob affiliations. When the complainant dismissed the comments, his neighbor pushed him off a barstool. When the complainant contacted the neighbor’s fiancée to better understand the situation, the neighbor allegedly implied his life was in danger. Officers corroborated the story with an Emma’s bartender. They advised the complainant to lock his doors and avoid contact with the neighbor. When police followed up, the complainant said he believed the argument had been caused by too much alcohol consumption.
• At 10:35 p.m., police responded to Hathorn Hall on the UW-River Falls campus for a suicidal student. Police spoke to the student, who denied making any concerning comments or threats to the complainant. She accused the complainant and his family of harassing her and said she had blocked their phone numbers.

Friday, Oct. 3

• At 12:31 p.m., a resident reported finding fresh graffiti in the pedestrian tunnel on East Division Street. The damage was estimated to be $100 for removal.
• Officers responded to a theft at 3:39 p.m. at Kwik Trip (1238 N. Main St.) Benjamin Todd Manns, 19, River Falls, had been trespassed from the store Sept. 30 after stealing, but was seen in the store again at 2:23 p.m. Oct. 3. He was seen taking two Nerd rope candies, placing them in his pocket and leaving without paying. Manns admitted to “probably taking something” over the phone and was concerned about charges going on his record. He was cited $187 for violate trespass notice and $187 for retail theft – intentionally take. The Nerds he stole cost $4.34.

Saturday, Oct. 4

• Dillan Robert Horne, 20, Red Wing, Minn., was cited $187 for an ID card violation after trying to use a fake ID at 12:12 a.m. at Broz Bar (127 S. Main St.)
• At 1:45 a.m., police saw two females carrying beverage containers in the alley behind Emma’s Bar (222 S. Main St.) When they saw police, they quickly turned away, moved behind a parked vehicle, then got into a Dodge truck and left. Police followed and pulled the truck over at Main and Spring streets for an unreadable license plate. The driver, Katie Jean Groen, 18, Ellsworth, said she drank alcohol hours earlier but hadn’t been then. She also denied trying to hide alcohol, but later said her friend had brought her a drink from inside Emma’s. Groen registered a BAC of 0.00 and was deemed fine to drive. Passenger Bella Jo Friesen, 18, River Falls, was slurring her words and registered a .119 BAC. Both girls were fined $187 for underage drinking/possess alcohol.
• Police were called to a physical altercation at 2:09 a.m. at Kwik Trip (1238 N. Main St.) where several people were fighting outside. Some people involved left in a red truck before police arrived. Upon arrival, police spoke to three people ages 22-23. Two of them said they had kissed in the store and were confronted by a woman in her 40s who called them disgusting. They said the woman and her husband taunted them in the store and threatened to fight them outside. Video surveillance showed the female suspect lunging toward the victim, grabbing her by the hair and yanking her around. She pulled so hard that hair came out. A second male, around 50, exited the truck parked at the gas pumps and began chasing the male victim around the parking lot trying to fight him. Police identified the potential suspects from Shafer, Minn. through the license plate. The case remains under investigation.
• Police responded to a prowler report at 8:08 a.m. at 512 S. Dallas St. The resident said she had been awake and heard noises near her back door around 2:30 a.m. She saw a flash of movement and heard someone turning her bedroom door handle. She later found a driver’s license and other personal belongings on the ground, along with an Exacto knife near the side gate. She didn’t confront the person and they ran away shortly after she heard the noise. Police called the person on the ID, who said he’d lost his ID the previous night while trying to return home from a friend’s house. He admitted to being drunk and thought he might have believed the home he entered was his own. The ID was also fake. Dakota James Fisher, 20, River Falls, was cited $187 for an ID card violation. He expressed remorse over his actions and causing the homeowner any trouble.
• Officers were notified of a two-vehicle crash at 9:50 a.m. at Oak and Kennedy streets between a 2010 Chevy Malibu, driven by Madison Hope Biemeret, 21, Madison, and a legally parked 2017 Nissan Sentra, owned by Jane L. Larson, River Falls. Biemeret, who was turning north onto Oak Street, said another vehicle was heading south on Oak in the middle of the street, which startled her, causing her to swerve right and strike the parked Sentra. Biemeret’s Malibu had moderate damage while the Sentra had disabling damage. No injuries were reported.

Sunday, Oct. 5

• A 14-year-old Balsam Lake juvenile was cited $86.20 for operation without required lamps lighted and $124 for operate without valid license after a traffic stop at 2:17 a.m. at Main and Walnut streets. The juvenile said he was bringing his 14-year-old River Falls passenger home and said he had driven to pick her up in his mother’ car. The passenger was cited $73.60 for minor possessing tobacco/nicotine after being found with two vaping devices that she received from her mother. Police dropped the girl off at her home with her father and the boy’s grandmother arrived to pick him up.
• Police were called to a domestic disturbance at 10:27 a.m. at 110 S. Dallas St. A woman said her husband grabbed a machete when their emotional support dog defended her as he was yelling and screaming. She said he has a history of not taking his prescribed medication and drinking. Raul Alexandro Hernandez, 48, River Falls, admitted to being frustrated about marital issues and drinking. He said he grabbed the machete because the dog has bitten him in the past, though it hadn’t that day. He was uncooperative with police and tried to leave while speaking to them. He was arrested for domestic disorderly conduct and transported to Pierce County Jail.
• Officers responded at 6:10 p.m. to China Moon parking lot (1025 S. Main St.) where a truck had been damaged when someone tried to break into it. The driver’s side window had been popped out and there was damage to the driver’s side door handle. Nothing was missing. The damage was estimated to be $2-300.

Monday, Oct. 6

• Police were dispatched to a two-vehicle crash ta 6:48 a.m. in the 600 block of North Main Street between a 2025 Freight Cascadia semi, driven by Kee Zeng Chang, 34, Brooklyn Park, Minn., and a 2017 Chevy Express G2, driven by Benjamin Daniel Olson, 21, Prescott. The semi was attempting to back into a driveway with it hazards on when Olson tried to pass him on the left and struck the semi’s front driver’s side. Olson said the semi didn’t have a turn signal on so he didn’t know what it was doing. The semi was towed due to disabling damage, while the Chevy had moderate damage. No injuries were reported.
• At 11;47 a.m., a resident at 405 S. Sixth St. reported Capital One Bank had initiated a hard inquiry on her credit report. She has no accounts with Capital One and had not authorized the credit inquiry. Someone had applied for a Quicksilver credit card in her name. She also noticed a Michigan phone number on one of her credit reports that she did not recognize. She froze her accounts in an effort to prevent any further identity theft.
• Police responded to a two-vehicle crash at 1:20 p.m. at Main Street and Quarry Road between a 2000 Toyota Camry, driven by Conlan Xavier Hanson, 20, River Falls, and a 2009 Kia Spectra, driven by Roberto Carlos Gonzalez Salmeron, 31, Minneapolis. Hanson rear-ended Gonzalez-Salmeron when he slowed for a vehicle turning into a business. Both vehicles had moderate damage. Neither driver nor passengers Abel Antonio Diaz, 46, Minneapolis, or Elver Antonio Gonzalez, 31, Minneapolis, reported injuries. Gonzalez Salmeron was cited $124 for operate without valid license.
• Officers were dispatched to a two-vehicle crash at 3:15 p.m. at Main and Pomeroy streets between a 2015 Chevy Impala, driven by Heather Marie Thomas, 37, River Falls, and a 2012 Subaru Forester, driven by Dillan Jasmine Deleon, 22, River Falls. Thomas was slowing to turn right onto Pomeroy Street when Deleon rear-ended her. Deleon said Thomas slammed on her brakes, but video surveillance revealed otherwise. Both vehicles had minor damage. Neither driver nor Thomas’s 12-year-old passenger reported injuries. Deleon was cited $124 for automobile following too closely.