2011 Lakeville Year in Review: Crime That Made News

From the outrageous to the tragic, there was plenty of crime news to go around Lakeville in 2011.

However, the crime story that garnered much of Lakeville’s attention this year wasn’t the kind of crime people would expect to read about in the blotter.

In August, . According to authorities, on July 18, Cross broke the news to his boy in a note which suggested he go to the neighbor's house, and expressed sorrow, saying: "There are many many great years ahead for you. Not so for me.”

When the tearful boy arrived at the doorstep of neighbor Joanne Pahl, he had a note for her, too. In it, Cross asked the neighbor to take guardianship of the child.

The case took a number of winding turns over the summer and fall, with , , , and then . Cross will stand trial later this month on child neglect charges.

Meanwhile, Patch was covering other stories as well.

In April, members of Lakeville's  congregation were shocked when Steven Richard Fay, 34, interrupted mass on a Saturday evening, opened a jar, and . Fay was arrested, charged with misdemeanors, including interfering with a religious observance, and the case is still in the court system as we move on through 2012.

Also in April, . Jacob Patton and John Donaldson, both 18-years-old were hurt in the crash, but in October, it was just Patton who was charged in connection with the crash.

of criminal vehicular operation resulting in great bodily harm, each of which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

More recently, on Dec. 10, at a youth basketball tournament at Lakeville South, an Eagan father named Steven Wilson was after allegedly punching his 14-year-old son in the face after the boy's team lost a game.

Vacuums became an odd figure at the center of an investigation earlier this year. William Lance Peck, 45, of Apple Valley faces a felony theft charge after what police call the from store this past summer. He could face five year in prison if convicted.

In more serious news, a Lakeville man called police after an outside the Holiday gas station on County Road 70, in May. Adam Joseph Pena, 19, of Northfield, and his passenger, David Michael Johnson, 18, of Lakeville, each face a felony charge of making terroristic threats in connection with the incident.

To see more crime news, check out our crime page.