Lakeville Officer Makes Statewide All-Star Team

Last week we celebrated another successful Minnesota in Lakeville with over 70 registered block parties throughout our community. The day started out warm and, even though there was the threat of thunderstorms all day long, it turned out to be a beautiful summer evening to have a block party.

Every year we start out our local Minnesota Night to Unite celebration with an afternoon lunch at the Lakeville Senior Center. Both Dakota County Sheriff Dave Bellows and Dakota County Attorney Jim Backstrom stopped by and spoke to the seniors in attendance
at the luncheon. Dakota County Attorney Jim Backstrom first spoke to the seniors about the important work that the Dakota County Attorney’s Office does in prosecuting criminals and then, to their delight, entertained them by singing an Elvis Presley tune.

All the time spent in organizing and preparing for Night to Unite activities by Officers Jim Stevens, Jessica Swaner, and Shawn Fitzhenry for our Minnesota Night to Unite really paid off as every block party had a visit by a police officer and/or a firefighter.

Mayor Mark Bellows and Lakeville City Council members Laurie Rieb, Colleen LaBeau, and Matt Little, as well as City Administrator Steve Mielke, each teamed up to ride with individual officers and firefighters visiting parties throughout the evening. A number of our Lakeville Police Reserve officers also participated in the Minnesota Night to Unite events by visiting block parties.

Officer Jason Jensen and his K-9 partner Zeus did a short K-9 demo, followed by a question and answer session at the large Night to Unite neighborhood party held at the Northfield Clinic. The highlight of the demo occurred during a police K-9 suspect apprehension demonstration in which Dakota County Sheriff Dave Bellows, wearing a protective sleeve, graciously consented to take a “bite” from Zeus.

By the Numbers

Selected LPD activity for the week of July 28 through August 5, 2011:

6 traffic crashes, 26 alarms, 36 animal calls, 30 medical emergencies, 33 thefts, and 229 traffic stops.

Lakeville Officers Makes Statewide All-Star Team

Officer Adam Stier was named to the 2011 Minnesota Traffic Safety DWI Enforcement All-Star Team for his remarkable enforcement efforts in 2010 to prevent alcohol-related crashes and the resulting tragedies by arresting 118 impaired drivers. Tragically, between 2008 and 2010 across Minnesota, there were 435 alcohol-related traffic deaths. Every time an officer makes a DWI arrest and takes an intoxicated driver off the road, another potential tragedy is averted.

The All-Star Team is made up of the top DWI traffic law enforcement officers from across the state. The selection to the All-Star Team is based upon the number of DWI arrests that the officers made in the previous year. Officer Stier was recognized with the other DWI Enforcement All-Stars during a pre-game ceremony before the Minnesota Twins game at Target Field on July 21.

We are very proud that Strier is being recognized for his determination and hard work this past year in making our roadways here in Lakeville safer by getting drunk drivers off the road.

Here is a link to the pre-game ceremony at Target Field:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXOG0Xq44UI

Dumb criminal of the week

Officer Troy Hokanson responded to a report of a theft of potato chip bags from a local Subway store. While en route to the location, Hokanson learned from the dispatch center that the suspect had come into the sandwich shop and ordered a sandwich, but did not have money to pay for it. The suspect grabbed two bags of potato chips and ran out of the store. Hokanson was given a description of the suspect as he arrived in the area. Hokanson quickly located a person matching the description of the suspect a short distance from the sandwich shop and began to interview him.

The suspect, who appeared intoxicated, initially denied that he had stolen the potato chips. However, the two empty potato chip bags on the ground next to him and the numerous potato chip crumbs visible around his mouth gave him away. The suspect was arrested by Hokanson and charged with the theft of the potato chip bags and
placed in detox.