If you have a tip concerning a crime, call the St. Joseph Police Department at 320-363-8250 or Tri-County Crime Stoppers at 320-255-1301 or access its tip site at tricountycrimestoppers.org. Crime Stoppers offers rewards up to $1,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for a crime.
Jan. 11
2:44 p.m. Fraud. Hickory Court. The complainant came to St. Joseph Police Department to report a fraud. On Nov. 15, the complainant received a priorty USPS package from a Lili Neumann from Santa Ana, California. The package contained two checks, each $4,700 to the complainant. No letter and no information was included. The complainant suspected fraud and verified the checks and business name on the checks were fake. The complainant is not out any money but wanted the incident documented. The checks and package were scanned and destroyed.
Jan. 12
8:48 a.m. Vehicle in ditch. CR 3/CR 75. While on patrol, an officer located a vehicle in the ditch at county roads 3 and 75. The officer spoke with the driver who said he was eastbound on CR 75 and lost control on an icy area. Another motorist who was driving a truck pulled the vehicle out of the ditch. Driver advised he didn’t need a crash report as he thought there was no new damage. The officer stood by until both lanes were open.
Jan. 13
10:17 p.m. Medical. College Avenue S. While on a medical at St. Ben’s, life safety approached the officer with concerns of a student. The student was intoxicated and blew a .24 on the preliminary breath test. They were concerned she couldn’t take care of herself. The officer spoke with the student identified who was able to talk to the officer and handle day-to-day tasks. The officer informed the life safety that she was able to care for herself and they would not be able to bring her to detox. Student was already in her dorm room when the officer spoke with her.
Jan. 15
11:16 p.m. Abandoned vehicle. CR 75 W. While on patrol, an officer noticed a vehicle parked in the Mill Stream Park. The vehicle was unoccupied, and the inside of the vehicle was filled with discs for disc golfing. Footprints led from the vehicle to the course. The officer checked the area of the park and had negative contact. Officer checked the park throughout the night, nothing further.
Jan. 16
5:59 p.m. Domestic. 20th Avenue SE. Officers were dispatched to a domestic. The female victim said a male suspect was yelling at her and had raised an arm in the air with a closed fist like he was going to hit her. Victim said suspect left the scene in a gray Chevy suburban prior to officer’s arrival. The officer took a statement from victim about the incident. Another officer responded to the domestic. An officer had arrived prior to that and said the male had left the scene prior to the officer’s arrival. Officer was advised to get a statement from the female while the other officer went in and attempted to look at the video at Kwik Trip, where the incident took place. Officer met with assistant manager who said camera footage would not show anything from where they were parked. However, assistant manager said he was outside when this all happened and the officer took a recorded statement from him.
Jan. 17
11:29 a.m. Verbal. Iverson Street W. Officers were dispatched to a verbal. A unidentified male called saying there was a lot of yelling and pounding coming from this unit. Two officers responded. One officer did not hear anything when they walked up to the door before knocking. A child came to the door before peeking through the window. Tenant answered the door and stated she was feeding the kids breakfast and they were jumping around and being loud. She said there was no issues in the home. Officer observed two children peaking around the door by tenant. No issues were seen or heard.
Jan. 20
11:34 a.m. Wallet located. College Avenue S/Baker Street E. City public works staff located a wallet at the crosswalk to St. Ben’s campus just north of Baker Street E on College Avenue S. The maroon wallet appeared to have been run over. Inside were three small keys and two larger keys. Also inside was a student ID. Officer called St. Ben’s security who notified the student to come pick up the wallet.
Jan. 22
10 a.m. Crash. College Avenue N/CR 75. Officer was dispatched to a crash. Officer responded and met with individuals involved. Officer learned that vehicle one had been traveling eastbound on CR 75 and was stopped at a red light at College Avenue N. Vehicle one was stopped in the left lane. Vehicle two was coming up behind vehicle one and attempted to brake. Vehicle two started sliding on the snow and ice-packed roads. Vehicle two ended up hitting the back of vehicle one. The driver of vehicle two estimated he was going 5-6 mph. No injuries. Pictures were taken and accident information was shared.
Jan. 23
6:28 p.m. Crash. I-94/ Hwy 23. Officer was dispatched for a crash that occurred in the eastbound lanes of Highway 23 on the overpass of I-94. Officer responded and upon arrival observed a vehicle was facing westbound in the eastbound lanes. The driver of the first vehicle said he was driving in the left lane when he felt his tire start pulling to the left. He said he struck the left guard rail, lost control, hit another vehicle and then struck the right barrier. Driver of the second vehicle said she was in the right lane next to first vehicle when he lost control; she stated first vehicle had tapped hers. There was minimal damage to second vehicle. First vehicle had severe damage. Officers collected driver and insurance info from both drivers. A witness said he was behind both vehicles and saw first vehicle lose control, hitting the left barrier, then hitting second vehicle before first vehicle hit the right barrier. Andy’s Towing towed first vehicle due to the damage.