The following incidents were reported to River Falls Police Department May 12-16, 2025.

Monday, May 12

• Officers responded to a two-vehicle crash at 8:35 a.m. at Main Street and the Highway 35 off-ramp between a 2013 Kia Rio, driven by Ross McKintosh, 85, Hudson, and a 2015 Chevy Silverado, driven by Zachary Everett Thompson, 22, River Falls. McKintosh was exiting Highway 35 trying to merge onto Main Street, while Thompson was heading south on Highway 65/Main Street. McKintosh drove on the shoulder next to Thompson and attempted to cut in front of him, failing to yield as he was merging, scraping the side of Thompson’s vehicle. Both vehicles had functional damage. No injuries were reported.
• Police were called at 9:45 a.m. to 242 W. Cascade Ave. where the property owner had found drug paraphernalia left by her brother, who had been living there. She said he had been acting erratically ahead of an upcoming court date. She thought he had fled to hide somewhere in the woods since camping gear was strewn about the house. She was upset at the number of questionable individuals who had been at the property during her absence and turned over glass smoking pipes and a crystal substance that tested positive for methamphetamine.
• Officers were dispatched at 12:20 p.m. to Kinni Creek Lodge & Outfitters (545 N. Main St.) for a threats complaint. The owner reported receiving a threatening voicemail from a former employee’s estranged brother. The employee said his brother has PTSD from the Vietnam War and routinely threatens individuals, mostly his brother and sister, because he feels he was cheated out of family property. He believes his brother contacted the lodge because of his old profile on their website, which the owner then took down. No charges were filed as police felt it would make a sad situation worse.
• At 12:59 p.m., a Kwik Trip (1200 S. Main St.) employee reported someone had stolen her white Hydro Flask water bottle valued at $50. While cleaning up a spill, she saw a man in his 30 or 40s wearing a UW-River Falls Falcon jacket reach behind the counter and take her Hydro Flask. She didn’t say anything because she was in shock, she said. The case remains under investigation.
• Officers were dispatched at 4:42 p.m. to a home in the 1500 block of West Maple Street for an out-of-control juvenile who threw water at their parents. To prevent further escalation, the teen agreed to go to their grandparents’ home for the night.

Tuesday, May 13

• Thomas Anthony Perkins, 22, River Falls, was cited for operating motor vehicle without insurance after a traffic stop at 12:24 a.m. at Main and Summit streets.
• While conducting patrol at 2:14 a.m., an officer located graffiti beneath the south side of the Glen Park Swinging Bridge (361 W. Park St.) The graffiti included several vulgar phrases, offensive words and political messages. There are no suspects.
• Police were dispatched at 5:08 a.m. to Coratel Inn & Suites (1207 St. Croix St.) for a drunk man banging on walls and yelling. An employee said she had received multiple complaints about the man in #122, identified as Jeremy Eugene Ealy, 41, Hager City, banging on the walls, screaming randomly and waking up children. He refused to answer his door and pretended to be asleep under a blanket when she accessed the room. When police knocked on the door, they heard him coughing but wouldn’t come to the door. He had been arrested on May 8 for trespassing and violating his probation. Officers contacted his probation agent, who declined to place a hold on him. Police felt they couldn’t legally enter his room, so told the employee to call back if there were further issues. They were called back to the hotel at 6:49 a.m. because Ealy kept banging on the walls, waking people up. He again refused to answer the door, so police referred a disorderly conduct charge to the district attorney’ office.
• A man reported a possible theft at 9:19 a.m. He told officers he had purchased an RTS Tactical Level III police ballistic shield while intoxicated from an acquaintance he ran into at Emma’s. The acquaintance took him to a trailer at 1450 S. Wasson Lane, where he purchased the shield for $100. When he sobered up, he realized it had “RFPD #4” written on it in silver marker, so he called police. The shield did indeed belong to RFPD; it’s valued at $450. Police are unsure how it was stolen or where; a $150 HIT 36" Black Head Bolt Cutter - 1/2" Max Cut was also taken. The man didn’t remember many details about the man he bought the shield from and didn’t want to throw his buddy “under the bus.” He was OK losing the $100.
• Police were dispatched at 11:32 a.m. to WESTconsin Credit Union (1207 N. Main St.) for an active fraud complaint. A woman was attempting to open an account; staff recognized her as being involved in recent fraudulent activity. Employees said multiple individuals had opened new accounts and transferred large sums of money from the accounts of legitimate bank members. The bank Vice President said one of the suspects, identified as Quiana S. Jones, 24, Minneapolis, had opened an account at the Prescott branch the previous day and transferred approximately $23,890.84 from a member's account into her account that she had opened that day. The member had reported possible fraudulent activity stemming from a text and call he received last night from someone identifying themselves as being from the Westconsin C.U. Fraud Department. Jones was one of the females still outside in the vehicle at the RF branch. Police spoke to Ja’Mariea J. Powell, 24, Minneapolis, in the bank office. Employees said Powell and Jones are part of a fraud ring that has been sending text messages to members, posing as the bank's fraud department, and requesting account information. Once they obtained the information, they transferred funds to newly opened accounts and quickly withdrew the money, often at casinos. Other suspects had also opened accounts at different branches and received money transfers from Jones last night and this morning. According to the account statements, a bulk of the money was taken out at ATMs located at Mystic Lake Casino in Prior Lake, Minn. The bank staff printed out the account histories and membership documents for all suspects involved. They provided detailed records, including the transfers made to Jones's account and so forth. The bank staff also mentioned that they would be filing cases with other branches where similar fraudulent activities had occurred. After receiving consent, police searched the vehicle parked outside the bank and located a large amount of cash under the passenger front seat and made the decision to impound the vehicle and stop the search in order to obtain a search warrant. Jones was arrested for misappropriate ID info – obtain money and fraud against financial institution and taken to St. Croix County Jail. On May 16, police were informed that at least eight other individuals from the Twin Cities area had come in trying to open accounts. Many of them were dropped off by vehicles or walked to the bank. The district attorney is reviewing charges for several individuals.
• Police were dispatched at 3:16 p.m. to 437 E. Maple St. for theft of a blue and grey Trek Marlin 7 bicycle from an unlocked garage. The bike was worth about $1,000. The bike had been found in April at 242 W. Cascade Ave. during another theft investigation. The bike was returned to its rightful owner once he provided police with the serial number.
• At 4:48 p.m., a 45-year-old River Falls woman reported being scammed out of roughly $44,000 by people pretending to be from the Well Fargo fraud department. She answered a phone number that called her three times in a row. The person, claiming to be from the fraud department, led her through a series of steps of withdrawing money from her account and depositing it into an alleged Chase Bank “sister” account to protect it from further fraudulent activity. She spoke to several “team members” who provided her with fake badge numbers who told her a teller at her bank was being investigated for fraud by the FBI, so she needed to stay quiet when withdrawing her money. She realized she had been scammed when she couldn’t access her new account.
• At 5:52 p.m., protesters at the corner of Cascade and Main said a truck revved its engine at them, accelerated quickly and blew black smoke at them. The man was also filming the group on his phone while driving. One of the protesters followed him and obtained a license plate number. Police found the man, identified as Zachary Charles Johnson, 18, Zumbrota, Minn. He admitted to revving his engine because he disapproved of the gay Pride flags he saw at the protest. He was cited for exhibition of power and told to make better decisions in the future.
• Shayla Jeanne Parlette, 28, River Falls, was arrested and cited $500 for OWI-first (passenger < 16) and $187 for possess open intoxicants in motor vehicle – driver after a traffic stop for operating without taillights at 9:24 p.m. at Main and Park streets. Parlette’s son was in the front passenger seat; police saw her attempt to hide a half-full can of White Claw behind his seat. In the vehicle, police found 26 empty or almost empty cans of White Claw, eight full cans of White Claw, an almost empty vodka bottle, straws that tested positive for cocaine and a smoke device that tested positive for marijuana. Parlette admitted to drinking with a friend in New Richmond before picking up her son, who was released to a relative. Parlette registered a .223 BAC; she was transported to Pierce County Jail after a blood draw at the hospital.
• Officers were dispatched at 11:29 p.m. to Fourth and Walnut streets where a man had allegedly chased two females down the street while they were on a walk. Garrett Allen Pressley, 27, Eau Claire, had walked out from the 200 block of South Fourth Street and started walking toward them. As they walked away from him, he continued to match their pace and followed them. After running from him, they stopped and told him they were calling police; he mumbled that they were on his property and walked away down an alley. The women were fearful he was trying to harm or kidnap them. A witness told police where to find the suspect. A resident allowed police in the house and led them to Pressley’s room, where he “played possum” under a blanket and refused to speak. He was cited $187 for disorderly conduct.

Wednesday, May 14

Police were dispatched at 12:10 a.m. to a smoke alarm at 405 S. Wasson Lane #202. In the apartment, police encountered broken glass, old food, dirty clothes, a burnt bundle of paper and sticks, garbage and cigarette butts everywhere. The resident, Madelyn Grace Kloos, 39, River Falls, said she broke the smoke detector off the ceiling to make it stop beeping. Police noticed a significant number of knife stab marks in the walls. Kloos said she went on a walk and came back to find her apartment trashed, so she decided to burn sage (the bundle of paper and sticks) to rid the area of evil spirits. Her speech was unintelligible, and she was sweating profusely, indicative of controlled substance use. Police also found marijuana and drug paraphernalia throughout the apartment, which violated her bond conditions. She was arrested for felony bail jumping, possess drug paraphernalia and possession of THC and taken to Pierce County Jail.

Thursday, May 15

Officers responded to six-vehicle crash at 12:32 p.m. at Second and Spring streets. An unknown vehicle was traveling east on Spring Street, while a 2011 Kia Sorento, driven by Karen Marie Brohaugh, 80, River Falls, was traveling south on Second Street, approaching the Spring Street intersection. The first vehicle entered Brohaugh’s lane of travel, failing to yield the right of way to her. This caused Brohaugh to swerve left to avoid a collision onto Spring Street, where she struck a legally parked 2011 Chevy Malibu, owned by Noah A. Gansluckner, Maiden Rock. Gansluckner’s vehicle was pushed into a legally parked 2013 Chevy Cruze, owned by John Thomas Schancer, Eau Claire, which was pushed into a legally parked 2019 Chevy Impala, owned by Jason A. Nelson, Osceola. Brohaugh then struck a legally parked 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee, owned by Mia L. Porter, Somerset, which was parked on the opposite side of the street. The first vehicle/driver was never identified. Brohaugh reported suspected minor injuries but was not transported. Brohaugh’s, Gansluckner’s and Porter’s vehicles were towed due to disabling damage. Schancer’s and Nelson’s vehicles had functional damage.  

Friday, May 16

Jessica Ann Shippy, 31, River Falls, was cited $187 for possession of THC, $187 for possess drug paraphernalia and $98.80 for fail/stop at stop sign after a traffic stop at 6:17 a.m. for failing to stop at stop signs at Roosevelt and Winter streets and Powell Avenue and Winter streets. Shippy’s vehicle smelled strongly of marijuana, so a search was conducted. Marijuana, multiple THC products and drug paraphernalia were seized.