Lakeville Police: Arrestee Concealed Knife Made From Railroad Spike

Officer Sandy Thoeny is very good at locating and arresting individuals who have active arrest warrants out for them. Officer Thoeny will frequently make multiple warrant arrests during her shift and every day will check to see if there are people in Lakeville with active arrest warrants.

Most arrest warrants are issued by the courts when individuals do not appear in court as required or do not respond to criminal summons or criminal complaints. Most times the individuals with warrants are taken into custody without incident, but officers always have to use due caution when making these arrests because you do not know why the individual did not show up for court.

This week Officer Thoeny was arresting an individual on a warrant when she discovered a knife on the subject that had been converted from a railroad spike into a potentially deadly weapon. The subject was taken into custody without incident and the knife was confiscated. 

LAKEVILLE OFFICERS ATTEND FUNERAL FOR COLD SPRING OFFICER

Police work is a dangerous profession. Police officers are called upon every day in the line of duty to put their personal safety and, sometimes, even their own lives on the line so that others can be safe. Arguably, there is perhaps no other profession that asks its practitioners to put themselves in harm’s way for others more often than law enforcement. According to the FBI, over 54,000 police officers were assaulted in the line of duty in 2011. In addition during 2011, 72 police officers were feloniously killed in the line of duty and another 53 officers died in accidents while performing their duties. 

Tragically this past week, Minnesota lost an officer when Cold Spring Police Officer Tom Decker made the ultimate sacrifice with his life when he was shot and killed while responding to a welfare check on a man who was believed to be suicidal. 

This past Wednesday, I was honored to join Officers Nic Stevens, Adam Stier, Kevin O’Neill, Detectives Dave Watson and Brad Paulson, Sergeant Mike Sheady, Captain John Arvidson, Community Service Officers Jason Aguirre and Sara Brockman and Police Reserve Officer Jerry Wilson in attending fallen Cold Spring Police Officer Tom Decker’s funeral at St. John’s Abbey and University Church in Collegeville. 

There were an estimated 2,300 police officers who gathered at the funeral to remember and honor Officer Tom Decker and then participated in the funeral procession with their squads from the church to the cemetery located in a small nearby town. Along the route, it was clear how deeply impacted and saddened the residents of Cold Spring and the surrounding communities were by the tragic loss of this officer, as they stood by the side of the roadway silently watching the procession, often saluting as the squad cars went by. 

At the cemetery, the 2,300 officers all fell into formation behind the various honor guard units from across the state. On command, the entire formation of officers silently stood at attention saluting one final time to our brother in arms, as the burial ceremony concluded. 

WEEKLY LPD SNAPSHOT

Sampling of LPD activity for the week of Nov. 30 to Dec. 7, 2012 

Traffic crashes: 14 Alarms: 20 Animal Calls: 16 Medical Emergency Calls: 35 Thefts: 20 Traffic Stops: 151.