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Crime & Safety

Spring Generally Means More Calls For Lakeville Police

Safe and Sober traffic safety project results in DWI arrests in one night.

After a long winter, we all expect the emergency and non-emergency call load to increase in the spring and this past week that has certainly been the case. Last Friday night we hosted a Dakota County Safe and Sober traffic safety project. The detail added 10 additional squads from our partnering law enforcement agencies across Dakota County who assisted our officers in the traffic enforcement detail. The night resulted in 114 stops for traffic violations, four arrests, and three DWI arrests by the group.

On Sunday night one of our officers responded to a report of a v. While the officer was taking the report, the officer saw the van drive down the street toward the officer’s location. The officer activated the emergency lights on his squad and attempted to block the street by pulling his squad across the roadway. The van drove over a lawn and around the squad and accelerated away at a high rate of speed and fled from the squad up Kenwood Trail for several blocks before crashing off the roadside.

The van crashed when the driver lost control and the vehicle veered off the roadway, rolling over multiple times and striking a tree. The driver and passenger of the van, who were both wearing their seatbelts, had to be extricated from the vehicle. The actual extrication by rescuers was difficult and challenging because the vehicle was flipped over on its top and the ground is sloped at the location. Lakeville Fire and Rescue teams worked quickly and professionally to extricate the two occupants safely from the wreckage of the vehicle.

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Both the driver and passenger sustained serious injuries in the crash. The passenger was transported by a North Aircare helicopter from the scene of the crash, and the driver was transported by ground ambulance. No other vehicles were involved in the crash and it is not known at this time if alcohol was involved. The case remains under investigation by the Minnesota State Patrol and our Department.

The entire crash scene took a couple of hours to manage by most of the officers on duty, so it was necessary to call in additional officers to help provide patrol coverage. Sergeant Tim Knutson came in along with three other officers to help out with coverage.

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By the numbers:

Activity for the week of April 7 through April 14:

Lakeville Police responded to 10 traffic crashes, 27 alarms, 33 animal calls, 19 medical emergencies, 20 thefts, and 127 traffic stops.

Man arrested after disrupting church service:

Officer Shawn McMahon responded to an unusual and disturbing call last Saturday evening at . During the service an individual, later identified as , on the alter. Fay then attempted to leave the church. An off-duty South Dakota police officer confronted Fay and identified himself as a police officer. Fay attempted unsuccessfully to strike the officer.

The officer, with the assistance of a few other off-duty public safety personnel also in attendance at the service, restrained the individual until McMahon arrived at the scene. McMahon transported the suspect to the Dakota County Jail. Fay has since been charged with felony Criminal Damage to Property charge and remains in custody on $40,000 bail.

A burning aquarium:

Officer Rick Bussler responded to a call of a report of smoke coming from a residence. When he arrived at the location, he met the homeowner outside in the driveway.

She reported to him that she was asleep and was awakened by the sound of the fire alarm in the house. She found that a large 80-gallon aquarium apparently caught on fire and saw flames shooting up from the aquarium. The heavy smoke from the fire forced her to leave the house. Lakeville Fire Department units arrived on the scene and quickly extinguished the fire. According to Sergeant Bill Gerl, there was significant smoke and water damage to the residence. There was no word on the condition of the fish.

Dumb criminal of the week:

Nationally, it is estimated that about 30 percent of all fatal crashes are related to driving while intoxicated. The act of driving under the influence in itself is dangerous enough, but as this case shows, oftentimes, intoxicated drivers are engaging in incredibly dangerous driving behaviors.

Officer Shawn McMahon was on patrol on Cedar Avenue at 2:40 a.m. on Saturday, when his radar unit clocked an oncoming vehicle traveling at well over 100mph in the posted 55 mph zone. McMahon activated his emergency lights but the suspect vehicle did not stop and went a short distance, before attempting to make a turn onto County Road 46 and went off the roadway onto the grassy roadside and got stuck.

While McMahon arrested the driver, he observed that the driver displayed signs of intoxication. A subsequent breath test confirmed McMahon’s suspicions that the driver was more than twice the legal limit for intoxication. The driver was jailed on multiple traffic violations and his vehicle was towed and impounded.

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