If you have a tip concerning a crime, call the St. Joseph Police Department at 320-363-8250 or Tri-County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-255-1301 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.
March 1
3:07 a.m. Suspicious vehicle. 25 College Ave. N. While patrolling in the alley between the 10th block of Minnesota Street W. and Ash Avenue, an officer saw a vehicle with an Alberta, Canada license parked and running. The vehicle was unoccupied. Officer located the driver, who was picking up some friends.
March 2
12:40 a.m. One-vehicle crash. CR 75/CR 2. Officers responded and spoke with the individual involved. One of the officers learned vehicle #1 was traveling eastbound on CR 75 approaching CR 2. The driver of vehicle #1 advised his vehicle started to wobble and then he lost control. Officer also learned the vehicle turned sideways and hit a street sign in the middle of the passenger side. The vehicle continued and ended up stopping in the median approximately 60-70 feet east of the intersection. In speaking with the driver of vehicle #1, officer observed signs of impairment. The driver was ultimately arrested on suspicion of DWI. Vehicle was towed.
March 3
5:04 p.m. Found dog. Iris Lane E. A 1-year-old female German shepherd was found with no tags in a man’s yard. While driving around looking for owner, an officer met with owner who was driving around and missing his dog. Returned dog to owner.
March 4
12:53 a.m. Unlocked business. Second Avenue NW. While checking business doors, an officer located an open door. There were no signs of forced entry. Units walked through the business and did not locate anything suspicious. Officers were able to secure the door and did not need a keyholder to respond. The keyholder was contacted via email.
March 5
8:50 p.m. Bomb threat. Elm Street E. Dollar General staff said a man called in and was breathing heavily on the phone, said “bomb,” and then hung up. The phone number the person called from appears to be out of Mexico. While arriving on scene, an officer observed a vehicle parked at an odd angle on Northland Drive, and then it drove away from the area. Units did not stop the vehicle. Officers spoke with staff, who just wanted the incident documented. No suspicious persons had been in the store, and they suspected it may be a prank call.
March 7
10:55 p.m. CO alarm. Ash Street E. Complainant stated the house was very warm, and they turned off the thermostat. Officers arrived on scene and spoke with complainant who feeling ill. Fire arrived on scene, used their CO detector and determined zero readings of CO.
March 8
12:28 p.m. Wellness check. Graceview Drive. An officer was dispatched to a behavioral health call. The caller wanted to verify her Uber driver was who he says he is. Officer called the complainant’s number, but they did not answer.
March 9
1:34 p.m. Suspicious person. Callaway Street E. The caller said he saw a man walking around the Government Center area with a small sword that resembled a katana. He said the sword appeared to be in sheath. He stated the man looked nervous and walked behind a vehicle on First Avenue SE. Officer attempted to make contact with the residents with negative contact. They checked the area and was unable to locate the man.
March 10
8 p.m. Ordinance violation. 16th Avenue SE./Dale Street E. An anonymous ordinance-violation complaint was called in for a property on 16th Avenue SE. on the west side of the road from 304 16 Avenue SE. The property does not have an address. An officer drove past the property and observed what appeared to be gardening supplies such as pots, buckets, wire arches and more. There is some sort of structure on the property. Officer forwarded the information to the community development director.
March 11
7:41 a.m. Medical. Lanigan Way SW. Caller state he was experiencing stomach pain. When officers arrived on scene, they obtained patient information. Rescue and ambulance arrived and took over care. Man was transported to the hospital.
March 12
10:15 a.m. Suspicious person. 20th Avenue SE. The complainant is the manager for the Army Reserve Center and reported a woman in her mid 40’s carrying a black coat was acting strange and was talking about Chinese nukes and Ukraine and would not leave. She eventually did leave and was last seen walking westbound toward Kwik Trip. Officers checked the area but could not locate the woman. One of the officers stood by in the area for a bit to see if she would show up.
March 13
6:24 p.m. Property dispute. 13th Avenue SE. The caller reported she was trying to move out and was having a dispute over property. It should be noted, dispatched advised caller may be having behavioral health issues because she was talking about Bible verses with them. One officer responded and made contact with the home owner who advised caller had rented from him for approximately three months. He stated caller and another renter of his don’t get along. Officer made contact with caller in her downstairs bedroom, spoke with her for several minutes and she spoke about all kinds of random stuff and was citing Bible verses. Caller ultimately said she has rented since Jan. 7, 2025 and doesn’t feel safe there. Officers offered to give her a ride to the Place of Hope and she accepted. While signing in, caller advised she wanted to now be brought to a truck stop. Officer attempted to speak with caller about staying at the Place of Hope. Caller then decided she was going to walk someplace and ended up leaving. Officers had no reason to further detain her as she didn’t appear to be an imminent threat to herself or others.
March 14
7:04 p.m. Intoxicated person. Cypress Drive. The complainant said her boyfriend took 90 gabapentin and consumed alcohol. Officers arrived on scene and talked with both parties. Complainant said boyfriend has started drinking again after one year of sobriety. She said he told her he took 90 gabapentin and wanted to harm himself. An officer spoke with her boyfriend who said he started drinking after being sober for one year. Boyfriend said he took his prescribed medication as directed, and did not take more than prescribed. He stated he had no intentions of hurting himself or others. He said the complainant hit him in the face, but thought it was just her trying to control him. Officer did not observe any marks on his face at the time of contact. Neither party wanted to leave. Boyfriend advised he would walk away to cool down for a while. No crime committed.
March 15
6:33 a.m. Clogged storm drain. First Avenue NE./Ash Street E. Caller said a storm drain is clogged and water is pooling. An officer advised public works of the issue.
March 16
3:28 p.m. Property damage. College Avenue S. Caller reported a vehicle that had been egged. Spoke with the owner of the vehicle who said sometime in the past 24 hours someone had thrown eggs at the rear of his vehicle. There was egg stuck to the car in a few places. There was also broken egg shells around the vehicle. Caller’s vehicle was the only one in the lot that was hit. The officer asked if he had any suspicions on who would have done it and he stated maybe one of his ex-girlfriends. Follow-up: Caller called back and stated he washed the car. He stated there is new paint damage, and maybe new scratches. Caller stated he would go to a body shop tomorrow to get an estimate. This information will be passed on.
March 18
3:06 p.m. Unwanted person. 20th Avenue SE. Management stated there was a strange man wearing a suit acting suspicious at Vista apartments. The man had a large amount of belongings and it appeared he was attempting to move into a unit. When management confronted the man, he became verbal with them. When he was asked to leave, he then left the premises. He left all of his belongs. Renter said the man is a friend and would watch over his property. The officer then located the man at The Oaks apartments. He was jittery and appeared to be under the influence. He stated he just got out of prison and was going to stay with renter to get on his feet. The officer explained management doesn’t want him back on the property and he stated he was going to continue walking and stop at Kwik Trip to make some phone calls. He was informed he could face legal action if he returns.
March 20
9:47 p.m. Animal complaint. CR 75 W. The complainant said she had her dogs out at the dog park at Millstream Park and when she was leaving the dogs got away from her. An officer was by the softball fields and saw the dogs. He was able to catch both.
March 21
8:14 a.m. Abandoned bike. College Avenue N. The complainant said a green bike had been left behind the Kay’s Kitchen building on the north side. Officers arrived on scene and collected the bike and brought it to city maintenance. The bike is a green Huffy Alpine.
March 23
10:02 a.m. Suspicious activity. Delta Circle. The complainant is the Battery Wholesale business owner. He said he saw on a camera an early 2000s silver car driven by a man with a green safety shirt which drove behind the building and owner said he believed he may have been casing businesses. He said the vehicle left the business. The officer responded to the area and drove around through all the businesses that were not fenced off and did not locate anything suspicious or see anyone.
