A farm accident involving livestock took the life of a local farmer. Rice County Sheriff’s deputies responded to Dennison Blvd and Goodhue Avenue just before noon on Friday. 69 year old Daniel Koester was injured while tending to livestock in a pasture. Sheriff Dunn reports, “he was moving cattle across a creek and he had a heifer that didn’t want to come across so they tied a rope to it and hooked it up to the tractor and then pulled it across. And then when he went to remove the rope the animal either became startled or agitating and ran towards him
with the rope that was tied to the tractor and struck him and knocked him backwards into the tractor and he suffered a significant head injury”. Dunn added, “it’s probably something he’s done a time or two before and never had the issue and this time it went significantly worse. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family”. He was airlifted to North Memorial where he died several hours later.
Man writes 17 forged checks in one month
A check forger with an affinity for Kwik Trip is in jail. A man reported his checkbook stolen after receiving letters from Kwik Trip demanding payment on several check from an account he had closed. In all, 46 year old James Joseph Schmidt Jr., of Bloomington, is accused of forging 17 checks throughout the month of October at various Kwik Trips in Faribault and Northfield. The total came to $1163. Schmidt used a made up drivers license number for the first forgery and then used a DL from a deceased person. He’s been charged with 2 felony counts of check forgery. Schmidt’s initial court appearance is December 28th. He remains in the Rice Co. jail. Schmidt 3052
Young victim leads officers to juvenile crime spree
Faribault police busted a trio of juveniles following a crime spree that started in Ohio. Last Tuesday 12/14/17 evening, a 13 year old boy approached a taxi driver in southern Faribault saying he’d been assaulted. The boy gave police details about the 2 males, that pulled up to him in a truck asking him for money. The boy started to run, they caught up to him, the driver got out and choked the boy, giving him a large bump on his head. They also produced a handgun. A few hours later there was a Jeep reported stolen, an hour later, police spotted the pickup truck, attempted to make contact and the juveniles took off. After a chase, Officers and Deputies had the trio stopped at 180th St and Roberds lake blvd. Three 16 year olds, 2 male, 1 female, were taken into custody. Chief Andy Bohlen reported that all three were active “Runaways” and suspected of being involved in multiple crimes between Minnesota and Ohio. The truck they were driving was a confirmed stolen vehicle out of Illinois. In the truck, officers discovered three stolen guns from a separate theft in Illinois. All three are in metro area holding facilities. Bohlen added that the department is also truly grateful for the young victim’s detailed information. Sheriff Dunn said the victim, “showed a lot of maturity and courage for someone his age to step up and give a great description which led us to put the pieces together”. Charges are expected to be filed with the Rice County Attorney’s Office soon.
