Recently in Local News Category

By Kelsey Lund

Car pieces recovered in Dinkytown after the car hit three students and drove away could lead to finding the driver responsible, Kare 11 reported.

Early Friday morning a car driving the wrong way on Fifth Street hit the students, sending all three to the hospital, KSTP.com reported.

One of the students, Benjamin Van Handel, 23, of Appletown, Wis., was listed in critical condition with a serious brain injury, Kare 11 reported.

The suspect vehicle was a white four-door Toyota Camry or Solara with front end damage, KSTP.com reported. Minneapolis police are asking for help in finding the vehicle, Kare 11 reported.

By Kelsey Lund

A woman died in a house fire in Edina early Monday morning, the Pioneer Press reported.

The fire in the family home on Oaklawn Avenue started in the basement before 4:45 a.m. and killed Cynthia L. Robb, 54, the Star Tribune reported.

Robb's husband and two daughters were not in the house at the time of the fire, the Star Tribune reported.

The cause of the fire is unknown, but Edina Fire Chief Marty Scheerer said tragedies like this one are why smoke alarms are so important, the Pioneer Press reported. Scheerer said the smoke detectors in the house were not working correctly, the Pioneer Press reported.

Scheerer also said that if fire sprinklers were installed in the home the outcome may have been different, the Star Tribune reported. Minnesota does not currently require fire sprinklers in houses, the Star Tribune reported.

By Kelsey Lund

A hand wound sustained by a Minneapolis teen when he allegedly stabbed three people at a Minneapolis light-rail station on Friday led police to arrest him, the Star Tribune reported.

Alexander Andre Lanier, 19, went to the hospital with a cut on his palm that appeared to be from sliding down the knife's handle onto the blade, causing police suspicion and leading to his arrest, Fox 9 reported.

The three victims of the stabbings were getting off the light rail at Lake Street at 10:30 p.m. on Friday where Lanier and another person were allegedly making gang signs, the Star Tribune reported.

A fight started and the victims were stabbed, Fox 9 reported.

Lanier was charged with three counts of felony assault and is being held in custody with $300,000 bail, the Star Tribune reported.

By Kelsey Lund

A Lakeville man with a history of mental illness was charged with a felony on Tuesday after he poured a liquid thought to be urine on a church altar during a Saturday night mass, the Pioneer Press reported.

Steven Richard Fay, 34, was arrested at All Saints Catholic Church in Lakeville on Saturday and charged with second-degree criminal damage to property, the Star Tribune said.

The charge that would normally be a gross misdemeanor was changed to a felony since Fay performed a "hate-based crime" against a religious institution, the Star Tribune reported.

Fay had three previous mental illness commitment cases in 1999, 2004 and 2006 in Dakota County, the Star Tribune reported.

Bail was set at $40,000 by the court, the Pioneer Press reported.

By Kelsey Lund

The expected increase in water levels of the Mississippi River closed three locks and dams in Minneapolis for all traffic on Wednesday, the Star Tribune reported.

The river is expected to reach unsafe water flow levels by Friday due to melting snow and rain in the Mississippi basin, the Pioneer Press reported.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decided to close the Upper and Lower St. Anthony Falls and Lock and Dam1 near Minnehaha Park, the Star Tribune reported.

The locks and dams may remain closed through April 17, according to an estimate by the National Weather Service in the Star Tribune.

By Kelsey Lund

A Circle Pines woman was charged on Tuesday with stealing almost $63,000 from two nursing home residents where she worked, the Star Tribune reported.

Lisa Marie Blair, 43, allegedly stole the funds to pay for her personal expenses, including $2,000 for her daughter's college tuition, Fox 9 news reported.

St. Paul police said Blair admitted to taking the money for her child's college tuition, claiming she borrowed it and intended to pay it back, Fox 9 news said.

The money was taken from South St. Paul nursing home residents over a period of time from March 2009 to November 2010, mostly in the form of checks made out to Blair, prosecutors said in the Star Tribune.

Blair posted $10,000 bail with conditions, Fox 9 news reported.

By Kelsey Lund

An Annandale man found dead in his home Sunday after a fire was a victim of homicide, police said Wednesday in the Star Tribune.

DeVan Hawkinson, 63, was found in his home by firefighters on Sunday afternoon, the St. Cloud Times reported.

Annandale police searched the house for evidence but have made no arrests, St. Cloud Times reported.

Police continue to investigate Hawkinson's death, and refused to say if the fire was suspicious, the Star Tribune said.

By Kelsey Lund

A Level 3 sex offender who escaped a St. Paul halfway house last month was captured in Roseville on Wednesday, the Star Tribune reported.

Eugene Glaraton, 42, was arrested by the Department of Corrections' Fugitive Apprehension Unit at an apartment complex after the DOC received a tip concerning Glaraton's location, the Pioneer Press reported.

Glaraton was released from prison on Feb. 15, the Pioneer Press reported. He cut off his electronic monitoring bracelet and fled from his halfway house on Feb.20, the Star Tribune said.

Glaraton was convicted of raping a 15-year-old boy in 1987, the Star Tribune reported.

A convicted murderer's harsh prison sentence from stabbing his girlfriend while her 14-year-old son was present has been lessened because the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that the case did not contain "aggravating factors" necessary for the longer sentence, the Star Tribune reported.

Raymond Clyde Robideau was originally sentenced to 38 years in prison by an Anoka County jury, over seven years longer than the standard sentence, due to the presence of a child and the cruelty of the crime, the Pioneer Press reported.

The Supreme Court decided that because the child did not literally see or hear the crime, the harsher sentence for aggravating factors was unwarranted, the Star Tribune said.

The 14-year-old boy was in a basement bedroom when his mother was stabbed by Robideau in their East Bethel home on Jan. 26, 2008, the Pioneer Press reported. He woke up the next morning to find his mother's dead body in her bedroom, the Pioneer Press said.

The Anoka County attorney's office may argue for a rehearing, the Pioneer Press reported.

Robideau's resentencing will take place in a few months, the Pioneer Press reported.

By Kelsey Lund

A 1-year-old boy died Monday after being run over by his mother in a parking lot in Stillwater last week, the Star Tribune reported.

The boy was in a stroller when the Wisconsin woman placed her toddler daughter in the car and drove out of the parking lot at the Stillwater Medical Group Clinic, running over the stroller, the Pioneer Press said.

The boy was taken to Regions Hospital in St. Paul where he died Monday night, the Star Tribune reported.

"It's just a terrible, tragic accident," Stillwater police chief John Gannaway said in te Pioneer Press Tuesday.