Lakeville Fire, Police, Handle Car Fire in Retail Store Parking Lot

Officer Ron Hvinden responded to a report of a car fire in a parking lot of a local retail store one morning this week. When Officer Hvinden arrived on the scene, he found the engine compartment of a parked 2005 Jeep fully engulfed in flames. The driver told Officer Hvinden that the vehicle’s engine was acting up when he pulled into the parking lot and that then the fire started in the engine compartment. Lakeville Fire Department units arrived on the scene and quickly extinguished the blaze. No one was injured but the vehicle was a total loss. 

LICENSE PLATE LEFT AT SCENE OF HIT AND RUN

Officers are called to investigate crime scenes frequently where there is no physical evidence available to be collected that will be useful in furthering the investigation. Occasionally, the physical evidence found at the scene will point directly to a suspect, as happened in this case. 

This past week, Officer Troy Hokanson was investigating a “hit and run” property damage case, in which a vehicle ran down a median directional sign and then fled the scene. Officer Hokanson took photos of the crash scene and collected the evidence of the crash. 

Through investigation of the crash, Officer Hokanson identified a suspect vehicle and contacted the registered owner. The owner indicated that they had sold the vehicle and told Officer Hokanson whom they had sold the vehicle to. 

Officer Hokanson continued his investigation and subsequently located the suspect vehicle parked at a nearby motel. When he walked up to the motel room to talk with the new owner of the vehicle, he observed damage to the front fender of the vehicle. The damage on the fender was consistent with damage that would have been caused to a vehicle involved in a collision with the median sign. 

Officer Hokanson was able to make contact with the new owner of the vehicle. Officer Hokanson advised the driver that he was investigating a “hit and run” of a median sign not far from the location of the motel and that he believed that this vehicle was involved in the crash. The owner of the vehicle admitted driving the vehicle, but denied that it was his vehicle that hit the sign. 

Officer Hokanson issued the driver a citation for “hit and run” violation. Officer Hokanson informed the driver of the vehicle, that he knew this vehicle was the one involved in the crash because it had dropped a very important part off the front of the vehicle at the location of the crash – the front license plate. 

LPD RECRUITMENT AT COLLEGE LE CAREER DAY 

LPD Crime Prevention Officer Kevin O’Neill attended a Law Enforcement Career Day at Century College this past week. The purpose of the LE Career Day is to help Law Enforcement college students become aware of the multiple Law Enforcement Agencies that there are in the Metro area and to learn a little about those agencies. 

WEEKLY LPD SNAPSHOT

Sampling of LPD activity for the week of March 29 to April 5, 2013

Traffic crashes: 4 Alarms: 38 Animal Calls: 31 Medical Emergency Calls: 24 Thefts: 17 Traffic Stops: 99.