REGIONAL BRIEFS: Two killed in crash

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From the Forum Communications News Bureau

Minnesota

Two killed in crash

CROMWELL, Minn. -- Men from Esko and Duluth were killed in a motor vehicle crash Monday morning in Carlton County.

At least one person was arrested after the three-vehicle crash that killed Zachary M. Gamache, 25, of Esko and Mitchell D. Lingren, 29, of Duluth, the Minnesota State Patrol said.

The crash was reported at 8:47 a.m. on Minnesota Highway 210, west of Cromwell.

According to the State Patrol, the crash happened when an eastbound Oldsmobile Aurora, which was weaving, crossed the center line and hit Gamache’s westbound Ford pickup in its left rear tire. The axle on Gamache’s truck broke, and his vehicle veered into oncoming traffic. It sideswiped another Ford pickup that was towing a gooseneck trailer and then hit the front of the trailer. Gamache and his passenger, Lingren, were ejected from their truck.

The driver of the second Ford pickup, Christopher G. Hecker, 42, of Nisswa, escaped with no apparent injury.

The patrol identified the driver of the Oldsmobile as a 26-year-old Cloquet woman and her passenger as a 25-year-old Cloquet man. Neither suffered an apparent injury.

(DNT)

Man sentenced on sex charges

WALKER, Minn. – A Cass Lake man was ordered Monday to serve 11 years in prison after a jury convicted him for three counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct.

Richard Leslie Larson, 50, appeared Monday in Cass County District Court, where he also was ordered 10 years of conditional release following his prison sentence.

After a three-day trial in August, a jury found Larson guilty for sexual conduct with a person under the age of 13. Jurors also acquitted Larsen of a more serious charge of first-degree criminal sexual conduct.

The charges stemmed from a May 2011 complaint.

(BP)

Man arrested for 13 Dumpster fires

MOORHEAD, Minn. – A man arrested Sunday in connection with a rash of Dumpster fires in Moorhead reportedly told police he set them because he likes fires and the excitement that goes with police and firefighters responding, Lt. Tory Jacobson said.

A detective investigating the string of Dumpster fires – 17 since late June – was conducting surveillance in the neighborhood when he saw Steven Edward Chenoweth, 38, set fire to a Dumpster near an apartment building in the 1000 block of 18th Street South at about 11:08 p.m., Jacobson said.

Chenoweth was arrested without incident and taken to the Clay County Jail.

The detective linked Chenoweth to 13 Dumpster fires, and police recommend Chenoweth be charged with that many counts of third-degree arson, Jacobson said.

Chenoweth allegedly used sparklers and Roman candle fireworks to set the fires, Jacobson said.

In many of the incidents, the Dumpster fires were set within a few feet of occupied dwellings. Police said it was fortunate no one was injured.

(FF)

Library part of Bremer program

WILLMAR, Minn. — The Willmar Public Library is one of six rural libraries and six literacy organizations selected to participate in an Otto Bremer Foundation literacy program called the Bremer Rural Libraries and Literacy Leadership Institute.

Local team members Pam Kyllingstad, Mary Huesing, and Ryan McCormick received scholarships to participate in the institute. The institute, also known as L3, was launched in August 2012.

The 12 organizations will be the pilot program’s first participants in an intensive training and mentoring program designed to expand their capacity for meeting the unique needs of rural communities.

(WCT)

North Dakota

GOP rally to feature Christie

FARGO – New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will be in Fargo on Saturday to headline a “victory rally” featuring North Dakota’s Republican statewide candidates, GOP officials announced Monday.

Christie, 50, was the first Republican in 12 years to win a statewide election in New Jersey when he was elected the state’s 55th governor in 2009. He has since become a nationally known GOP figure and presumed contender for the party’s presidential nomination in 2016.

The Fargo rally will be Saturday morning at the Fargo Air Museum, 1609 19th Ave. N. Doors will open at 8:30 and the rally will start at 8:45.

Attendees are asked to register online in advance to save a spot at the rally because there will be limited space. To register, visit www.ndgop.org.

The rally also will feature messages from U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Rick Berg, U.S. House candidate Kevin Cramer, Gov. Jack Dalrymple, Lt. Gov. Drew Wrigley and other statewide Republican candidates.

(FF)

Man gets 30-year sentence for sex crimes

GRAND FORKS, N.D. - Adam Scott Hamilton was sentenced Monday in state district court in Grand Forks to 30 years in prison for sexually abusing a boy from the time he was 6 until he was 12.

In pronouncing sentence, Judge Joel Medd said while Hamilton, 34, is a decorated military veteran who served his country in war and has no other criminal history, the sexual assaults he admitted to called for the long sentence.

Hamilton, a 12-year veteran of the Air Force including several years at Grand Forks Air Force Base and deployment to the Middle East in 2002, immediately was taken into custody to serve his sentence at the state prison in Bismarck. He also will be on probation for life after his prison term, including being registered as a sex offender, Medd said.

The victim spoke haltingly during the three-hour sentencing hearing of his anger and fear over what Hamilton had done to him and might do again. The boy asked Medd to sentence Hamilton to 35 years in prison.

(GFH)

Man accused of fleeing from crash

DURBIN, N.D. – A man apprehended by deputies Sunday night after he fled from the scene of a serious injury accident is now in the Cass County Jail.

Rodolfo Rodriguez III, 20, of Durbin, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, and additional charges are possible, said Capt. Bryan Niewind of the North Dakota Highway Patrol.

The passenger, Michael Robert Foley, 19, of Fargo, was was airlifted to Sanford Medical Center in Fargo with head and chest injuries.

The accident happened about 5:30 p.m. near Durbin, which is 11 miles southwest of Mapleton.

Rodriguez was allegedly driving a 1998 Nissan Maxima when he hit a guardrail on the bridge and rolled on the roadway, the patrol stated in a news release.

Rodriguez was seen running through a farm field and into the Maple River, said Sgt. Tara Morris of the Cass County Sheriff’s Office.

A search involving sheriff’s deputies – including all-terrain vehicles, an airboat and canine unit – the Highway Patrol and firefighters ended at 9:01 p.m. when a deputy spotted Rodriguez in a field.

Rodriguez was apprehended and treated at Essentia Health in Fargo before being taken to jail.

(FF)

South Dakota

Two N.D. women arrested for prostitution

WATERTOWN, S.D. – Two Fargo-area women were arrested Sept. 23 on prostitution charges in a motel here.

Nickole Bucholz, 31, of Casselton, N.D., and Martie Dvorak, 31, of Fargo were arrested following a tip by someone at the motel who suspected they were engaged in prostitution, Sgt. Troy VanDusen of the Watertown Police Department said Sunday.

A patrol officer investigated the tip and determined the two women were engaged in prostitution and arrested them, he said.

A man who was present at the time was questioned and released. “Charges are being reviewed by the state’s attorney’s office,” VanDusen said.

(FF, filed Sunday)

Tags: crime, accidents, minnesota