The indictment alleged that Helene Teresa Mitchell-Abraham intentionally struck and killed her estranged husband, Wendall Wayne Abraham, 64, with her car in September of 2010 with premeditation.

The jury found Mitchell-Abraham guilty on Friday night, and sentencing is scheduled for July 9. The second-degree intentional murder charge carries a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison.

Police said the two men led them down Country View Trail before crashing into a field near 176th Street West in Lakeville. They they started running, ending up inside a trailer at Country View Trailer Court.

K-9 Units and the state patrol helped in the search as both men are now under arrest for fleeing. The incident is still under investigation.

Protester Nick Espinosa said Occupy Homes MN protesters are still occupying the Cruz family home, located on the 4000 block of Cedar Avenue South, and negotiating with the family’s bank, PNC.

This celebration comes after the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office made two attempts to evict protesters from the home. One attempt, which happened around 4 a.m. Friday morning, ended with five protesters being arrested.

Police said they arrested the five for failing to leave the house, which protesters anchored themselves to by means of a “sleeping dragon” – a device which is made of chains, PVC pipe, iron pipe, concrete, and duct tape.

When police made the arrests, they broke down a door, which was used hours later by protesters who brought it to the sheriff’s office, Espinosa said. The Cruz family, along with 75 protesters, demonstrated by “redecorating” the sheriff’s office with sticky notes.

Espinosa said the family wants an explanation as to why authorities want the house evicted, even though protesters are negotiating with the family’s bank.

Protesters also said that the five who were arrested Friday would be released that evening on $100 bail. “Massive public pressure,” Espinosa said, is the reason for the quick release.

As of 9:40 p.m. Friday, the five arrested were released, according to the Occupy MN Facebook page.

Initially, however, protesters said police told them the five would be released on Tuesday.

On April 26, Hennepin County District Court ordered the eviction of the Cruz house. Authorities first attempted to evict the house on Wednesday, but when they arrived at the house that afternoon, they found a large group of protesters who refused to leave. Thus, they rescheduled the eviction attempt.

Protesters recorded video of both eviction attempts.

Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Mike Tate and St. Croix County Republican Party Chairwoman Jesse Garza said Friday they’re removing their ballot photos after finding out the postings violated state law.

The law bars voters from showing their completed ballots to anyone. The intent is to prevent people from selling their votes and then showing their ballots as proof they voted as requested.

But state elections officials say they aren’t aware of anyone ever being prosecuted for posting such photos online.

Voters are casting ballots ahead of Wisconsin’s heated recall elections targeting Republican Gov. Scott Walker and several other elected Republicans.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

The Winona Daily News reports the crash happened about 12:30 p.m. Friday, when a wrong-way driver collided with a semi-trailer on Highway 61, about 12 miles south of Winona.

The semi caught fire and burned to its frame. The highway was closed for nearly 20 miles in both directions as fire and rescue crews fought the fire for over an hour. Thick black smoke could be seen from miles away.

The name of the victim was not immediately released.

The semi driver got out of the truck before it caught fire. Officials say he appeared to have no injuries but was transported to a Rochester hospital.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A female student teacher at Simley High School has been charged with two counts of stalking, a felony, and one count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, after she allegedly sent inappropriate messages containing sexual content via social media to a 17-year-old male student, according to Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom.

Police say 26-year-old Jenna Anne Schultz, of Minnetonka, sent a naked photo of herself to the boy’s cell phone earlier this month, and repeatedly sent him Facebook messages that were sexually suggestive.

According to the complaint, when asked about sending messages to the boy, Schultz claimed I “must have been really drunk.”

Schultz paid bail and has been excluded from Simley High School. She appears in Dakota County court at 1:30 p.m. on July 23 in Hastings.

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Four juveniles and one adult were arrested early Friday morning for beating a man in northeast Minneapolis.

Stash Hanks and four juveniles were arrested shortly after they pulled a gun on, beat and kicked Troy Anderson. The beating happened around 6 a.m. on the 3500 block of 3rd Street Northeast.

Anderson says he had to fight for his life just for asking what the men what they were doing in his backyard. Anderson said he noticed the group wandering from yard to yard.

“I was…making my coffee when I seen the kid walking down,” Anderson said.

Anderson said his day began with his own investigation into why someone was lurking in his backyard. He went to the alley behind his home to check things out.

“Then I watched one of the kids walk up into another yard, so that’s when I stepped out in the alley and started yelling at ‘em,” Anderson said.

He told the group to move along, and they told him they wouldn’t.

“I walked down there, got down at the end of the alley; and they pulled out a frickin’ gun on me,” Anderson said. “He frickin’ cocked it and pulled it on me, and I went tunnel vision, walked up, grabbed it out of his hands; and once I got my hands on the gun, the rest walked up and started beatin’ on me.”

He was beaten and kicked on his head, knees and elbows. Anderson bore wounds all over his body and had to get stitches in the back of his head.

“The clip fell out of the gun, so I think one of them might have picked it up and hit me in the back of the head with it — that’s how I gota cut in the back of my head I had to get stitches in,” he said.

Just as quickly as the beating began, it ended. Anderson was able to get up the alley and to his house, where he called police.

Officers eventually tracked down those involved and arrested them for aggravated assault.

Anderson says he does not consider himself a hero; he says he was just protecting his property and looking out for his neighbors.

Officers did recover a gun at the scene.

Investigators are putting their case together to present to the Hennepin County Attorney for possible charges.

Police said residents should call police if they witness suspicious activity.

Police say the man is 40 to 50 years old, 5-feet-8-inches to 5-feet-10-inches tall and approximately 220 pounds. He’s wearing a black bandanna, mirrored sunglasses and a black leather jacket, according to authorities.

If you have information about the robbery, please contact the FBI at 763-569-8000 or call the Forest Lake Police Department at 651-464-5877.

Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Lisa Kiava said the “sleeping dragon” device is a difficult to move object made of chains, PVC pipe, iron pipe, concrete, and duct tape. Protesters typically chain their hands together with the device, making it difficult for police to arrest or move them.

Police arrived to evict people from the house, located on the 4000 block of Cedar Avenue South, at 4 a.m., Kiava said. When officers arrived, they found the house’s door heavily barricaded.

Police removed a door and made their way inside, where they found 12 people – none of which were occupants of the home. Seven agreed to leave, Kiava said, but five stayed, chained in the sleeping dragon.

Police trained to dissemble the sleeping dragon did so, and officers arrested the five people. Officers booked the five into the Hennepin County Jail for “probable cause gross obstruction of the legal process,” Kiava said.

None were hurt in the process, Kiava said. However, protesters said they suffered minor injuries when officers removed them from the sleeping dragon using jackhammers and electric saws.

On April 26, Hennepin County District Court ordered the eviction of the house – an order that police had 30 days to comply with. Initially, police attempted to evict the house on Wednesday, but when they arrived at the house that afternoon, they found a large group of people – Occupy Homes MN protesters — refusing to leave. The group, which police said were not residents of the house, barricaded themselves inside it.

Occupy protesters celebrated their stand Wednesday, saying in a press release that some 100 protesters had successfully defended the house from eviction.

(credit: Occupy Homes MN)

In that release, protesters said they had been occupying the house, which belongs to the family of David Cruz, for three weeks.

During that initial eviction attempt, protesters said they tied themselves to structures in the housing using bike locks. After 30 minutes police retreated.

Protesters said the Cruz home went into foreclosure in 2011, when the family’s bank (PNC) didn’t accept an online mortgage payment. As punishment, the bank imposed a fine of two months payment. The family was unable to pay; thus the home went into foreclosure.

On Wednesday, protesters said the bank contacted them, asking for loan modification documents for the family. It is unclear, however, what came of that contact.

Protester Martha Ockenfels-Martinez said Occupy Homes wants the bank to negotiate a mortgage that allows the family to stay in their home.

“We’ll do whatever it takes for them to come to the table,” she said.

Protesters recorded video of both events.

(credit: Occupy Homes MN)

According to the criminal complaint filed in Dakota County, Alicia Jo Hall, 23, of Inver Grove Heights, has been charged with felony theft aggregating over $5,000. Police said she stole $10,000 in two $5,000 increments earlier this month from the TCF Bank located in Cub Foods in West St. Paul.

Using video surveillance, investigators saw Hall twice put $5,000 in cash into her purse, on May 3 and on May 7. Police said Hall admitted to taking the $10,000, using $2,000 to pay off some bills. She said she gave the remaining $8,000 to her boyfriend, who she was unwilling to identify.

Hall is in custody.

Brown County Sheriff’s Office said the burglars pried open one of the concession stand’s sliding windows in the town located just outside of New Ulm.

Authorities said evidence was collected from the scene and it will be taken to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension in St. Paul for processing.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Brown County Sheriff’s Office at 507-233-6700.

Senser was convicted May 3 in the hit-and-run death of 38-year-old Anousone Phanthavong, who was killed last August along Interstate 94 near the Riverside exit.

Days later, attorneys learned of a note the jury sent to the judge, which said jurors believed Senser hit a vehicle, not a person. Senser’s attorney says there’s not enough evidence to support the jury’s verdict.

WEB EXTRA: Read Prosecution’s Response To Appeal (.PDF)

Documents from prosecutors argue that Senser should not be entitled to a new trial because “none of the grounds specified by the rule are applicable to this case.”

Prosecutors also insisted that the jury’s instructions regarding Senser’s knowledge after striking Phanthavong were “proper and agreed to by defense counsel.”

The document says Senser should not be entitled to a new trial based on “abuses of discretion.”

Senser is the wife of former Viking Joe Senser. She is scheduled to be sentenced July 9.

(TM and © Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

Police responded to the 2500 block of Stinson Parkway at about 9 p.m. on a report of a shooting.

When authorities arrived, they found an adult female who had been shot.

She was transported to Hennepin County Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.

On Friday, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner identified the victim as 25-year-old Antoinette Dana Hawkins.

On Thursday, police said they had no suspects in custody. They did say the shooting was not random.

LA CROSSE, Wis. (AP) — Prosecutors in La Crosse have filed new charges against a man who allegedly stole a camcorder and then filmed himself revealing his name, admitting to the theft and taunting police.

Twenty-year-old Houaka Yang was initially charged with carrying a concealed weapon and two counts of being party to misdemeanor theft. Prosecutors this week added five theft charges and a bail-jumping charge.

Yang and a teenager are accused of breaking into unlocked cars and stealing GPS units, cash and anything else of value. A surveillance video allegedly shows them stealing a camcorder from one car.

Police used the video to arrest them and return the camcorder. The owner says he was stunned when he later found Yang’s incriminating video.

A message left with Yang’s public defender was not immediately returned.

Dawn Sommers, a spokesperson for the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, said park-goers at the North Mississippi Regional Park reported suspicious containers at the Camden boat launch around 8:45 p.m.

Park police responded and found many bronze vases matching the description of those reported missing from Glen Haven Memorial Garden within the containers.

The vases were sent to the Minneapolis Crime Lab for further investigation, Sommers said.

On Wednesday, Crystal police asked the public’s help in finding bronze vases allegedly stolen from Glen Haven Memorial Garden. At eight pounds each, the vases appear to be disappearing at an alarming rate: more than 100 have been stolen since May 15.

Replacement of the vases, even at wholesale, will cost each affected family about $200. However, cemeteries are offering a replacement plastic version (at no cost) to fill the need created by the upcoming Memorial Day weekend.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that several vehicles had to dodge the man in the city’s north side on Wednesday.

A witness told police the man had been running into traffic and was holding the baby out toward cars.

When police found the man, he refused to give the 8-month-old girl to them. Officers eventually grabbed him and the baby. Officers later learned the girl had a recent heart transplant.

He was arrested on an accusation of recklessly endangering safety.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

The incident reportedly happened early Monday morning near East Lake and 21st Avenue South. A 17-year-old girl told officers she took a ride offered by the suspect. He allegedly took her to another location and sexually assaulted her.

The man is described as white man, close to 6-feet-tall, around 250 pounds with short brown hair and a large bump on his nose.

The car is a white Dodge Intrepid with a partial license plate is 777.

Contact police or the Sex Crimes Unit at 612-673-3790 if you have any information.

HAM LAKE, Minn. (WCCO) – Police say they found a teenager who invaded a home in Ham Lake and robbed a couple at gunpoint thanks to a Craigslist advertisement.

A man with a handgun busted into the home on the 1000 block of 173rd Lane NE early last Thursday morning, and took cash and other items from the couple who were there.

“They were awakened by the male, brandishing a gun and pointing it at the two complainants and demanding cash and property. He basically held them at bay with a gun while committing this crime,” said Commander Paul Sommer of the Anoka County Sheriff’s Department.

On Wednesday, one of the victims noticed a listing for a camera on Craigslist that matched the one that had been stolen the week before.

“There’s virtually thousands of cameras listed on Craigslist,” said Commander Paul Sommer of the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office. “But there was a certain way (the victims) had attached a strap to their camera that made it unique to all the others out there, so they were fairly certain it was their camera.”

He called the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office, which set up a meeting with the seller, a 17-year-old boy from Andover.

An undercover officer met the teen at a McDonald’s, where the officer confirmed it was the stolen camera. The teen was arrested, and deputies say they found a gun in his car.

A search of the teen’s home uncovered more property from the robbery. The boy’s parents cooperated with authorities, according to the sheriff’s office.

“If this person at this age is willing to go to these extremes there’s no telling at what point he would have stopped,” Sommer added.

Charges are pending.

Jeffrey Luke Boemer is a white male, 44 years old, six-feet tall, 235 pounds and has blue eyes.

Boemer has been known to use public transportation to travel from Minneapolis to the western suburbs, police said, and the public is asked to call the Minnetonka Police Department at 612-720-4456 with any information on his whereabouts.

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (AP) — A 23-year-old Minnesota man accused of illegally capturing a bald eagle in North Dakota says he will plead guilty.

Aaron Reiling, of Halstad, Minn., is charged in federal court with unlawful taking of a bald eagle. Authorities say he was trapping without a license and trespassing on private land near Hillsboro in December.

A game warden reportedly discovered a bald eagle with one leg caught in Reiling’s spring trap, which was about a foot from where a deer carcass had been illegally placed. The eagle did not recover from its injuries and was euthanized on Jan. 14.

A plea agreement in the case calls for a sentence of probation and a $1,000 fine. A plea hearing has not been scheduled.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Authorities are investigating after they say a woman was shot to death in northeast Minneapolis Wednesday night.

Police responded to the 2500 block of Stinson Parkway at about 9 p.m. on a report of a shooting. When authorities arrived, they found an adult female who had been shot. She was transported to Hennepin County Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.

Police said there are no suspects in custody at this time and they don’t have a lot of information about the incident. They did say the shooting was not random.

The victim’s identity has not yet been released, but police say she was 28 years old. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Minneapolis Police at (612) 692-8477.

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – It is “definitely gross,” “disgusting,” and an outdoor “ashtray,” according to people we talked with. Cigarette butts are the number one form of litter along our nation’s roadways.

But is it illegal to toss a cigarette on the ground? Is law enforcement doing anything about it? And how long does it take for cigarettes to break down and biodegrade?

“It really is a pet peeve of mine, because they’re so small no one is likely to take the time to pick them up,” said Natalie Wires.

But one Maplewood man, Roger Svendsen, does pick them up.

“Some refer to me as the butt man,” said Svendsen, who is a one-man cigarette butt clean-up crew.

“I think they throw the butts, thinking they’re nothing,” he said.

Svendsen walks around Lake Phelan every day, and says he picked up 65,000 butts in a year. One day he said he picked up 2,074 in one day.

“People obviously don’t consider butts to be even litter,” he said.

But police think differently.

“It is. It’s littering,” said Lt. Eric Roeske, a spokesperson for the Minnesota State Patrol.

Minnesota state statue 169.42 specifically mentions “ashes” and “cigarette filters.” Littering is a misdemeanor, and it goes on your driving record. A second offense has a minimum fine of $400.

So why doesn’t the State Patrol do anything?

“Actually we do,” Roeske said. In the year between May 2011 and April 30, 2012, the State Patrol issued 195 citations for littering and 388 warnings.

“Most of those are for cigarette butts,” he said.

Many smokers think the cigarettes are just paper – and degrade quickly. But according to the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, they have a serious environmental impact.

A single butt is tiny, and has no impact; but in the aggregate, about 1.7 billion pounds of butts are tossed on the roads, sidewalks, and beaches in the U.S. every year.

The filters don’t ever really degrade, and their chemicals are just absorbed into the soil and water. Researchers have found dangers for waterways and fish.

State Troopers have bigger safety issues than cigarette butts, but they say they do pull people over.

“It can be an indication about someone who just doesn’t care about other traffic laws,” Roeske said. “Some night shift troopers have arrested drunk drivers on littering stops when they see those cigarette butts fly out the window.”

Kimberly Michele Burkett, 33, of Browerville, faces one count of theft and one count of theft by swindle, according to documents filed Wednesday in Todd County. If convicted of both counts, she could face a sentence of up to 20 years in prison and/or a fine of up to $40,000.

According to court documents, the charges stem from an investigation conducted by the Otter Tail County Sheriff’s Office and the Todd County Sheriff’s Office.

Investigators were first tipped off about the alleged misconduct after a bank called the chamber, saying there was an overdraft on one of the chamber’s accounts.

An investigation revealed that funds were missing from three chamber accounts over which Burkett had exclusive credit card access.

Chamber account statements showed that Burkett had written checks to herself (not regular payroll) and used account funds to fill what appeared to be personal needs. The statements showed payments to Victoria’s Secret, tattoo removal facilities and nail salons.

Chamber bank records also showed that Burkett made car payments on her husband’s vehicle using chamber funds. He husband is Nathan Burkett, the Todd County Administrator.

The chamber estimates that Burkett embezzled $29,191.68.

Records showed that suspicious transactions took place shortly after Burkett was hired in July 2011 and that they continued through April 30, 2012.

Police arrested Burkett on May 11 and brought her to the Otter Tail County Detention Facility, court documents said.

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – The number of homes sold due to foreclosure or short sales is the lowest it’s been in more than a year. Economists say that’s a good sign for Minnesota’s housing market.

In fact, home sales across the country are up 3.4 percent. And in Minnesota last month, foreclosures and short sales were just 20 percent of all houses sold. That’s the lowest it’s been in 17 months.

While the numbers seem to indicate foreclosures are finding a bottom, a day in the Hennepin County Housing Court suggests the crisis isn’t over.

A WCCO-TV camera was allowed into a courtroom as part of a pilot project ordered by the Minnesota Supreme Court.

“Good morning everybody,” said referee Mark Labine. “All of you are here either because a landlord or owner is seeking possession on breach of a lease.”

Labine heard 43 cases before noon the day cameras were allowed in court. He says the housing court is one of the fastest courts in the state.

“Housing court is very fast,” he said. “There’s no other court in the state where things happen so fast. In a lot of countries it takes a year or two to evict somebody from a home, and in Minnesota it takes about two weeks.”

In Minnesota, most cases settle, Labine said.

“But over 90 percent of the cases involve non-payment of rent, and it’s pretty straight forward. If you don’t pay the rent, you’re probably going to be evicted.”

Of the 43 cases Labine heard,, 23 were settled with agreements, 16 led to immediate evictions, and only four went to trial. Although that seems like a lot of work, Labine says the numbers are down.

“In 2008, we had about 11,000 cases in housing court,” he said. “And we’re going to be lucky to hit 8,000 this year.”

Watch the video above to get a pulse on the pace of Minnesota’s housing court.

CRYSTAL, Minn. (WCCO) — Police in Crystal are asking for the public’s help in finding suspects after more than 100 vases were stolen from a cemetery in the city on Tuesday.

Police said the incident happened at the Glen Haven Memorial Garden on the 5100 block of West Broadway. Vases were stolen from the cemetery on three separate occasions, with the most recent incident happening Tuesday.

“The ones we noticed missing had the flowers thrown to the side and the vase was totally missing,” said Washburn-McReavy’s, Dale Carlson.

Two of Washburn-McReavy’s cemeteries, Crystal Lake and Glen Haven Memorial Garden, have been targeted by thieves looking to cash in on the bronze. At eight pounds each, the vases are disappearing at an alarming rate. More than 100 have been stolen since May 15.

“To find out that your personal property has been stolen right from the gravesite of a loved one, it’s very sad,” said Carlson.

Crystal Police believe that the bronze vases are being sold for scrap metal. Local salvage dealers have been notified to be on the watch for suspicious customers looking to unload scrap bronze.

“It’s pretty low,” said Debbie Mauch, who just learned of the thefts as she and her family came to Glen Haven to decorate the grave of her daughter. “First, I was surprised! Why would somebody do that? I would hate to come out to find out that it was gone.”

Replacement of the vases, even at wholesale, will cost each family about $200. Washburn-McReavy is offering a replacement plastic version at no cost to fill the need created by the upcoming Memorial Day weekend.

Still, it’s the loss of respect for this very sacred and solemn place that carries no price tag.

“It’s tragic, it’s tragic when they come out at a time like this to have that happen,” Dale Carlson added.

To help solve the thefts, Washburn-McReavy is offering a $1,000 reward for information that leads to the arrests of those responsible.

“They’re worth a lot of money,” said Deputy Chief Stephanie Fealy of the Crystal Police Department. “So we are really looking for the help of the public.”

NewsRadio 830 WCCO’s Steve Murphy Reports

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Crystal Police tip line at 763-531-1020.

In an email to parents, Eastview High School said two students released over-the-counter pepper spray into the school’s main office and C2 hallway following an “exceptional” student awards ceremony. Students and faculty began to feel irritation in their eyes and throats around 10 a.m.

There were no “medical injuries,” the school said. But Apple Valley firefighters responded to the scene.

The school said the two students involved were immediately identified and reported to Apple Valley police.

The school sent the email to parents at 1 p.m.

Wednesday’s decision means Nicole Marie Beecroft is eligible for a new trial.

The 21-year-old was convicted of premeditated first-degree murder in the 2007 death of her newborn daughter and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Authorities said she stabbed the girl 135 times. Beecroft claimed the baby was stillborn.

The Supreme Court found that some officials — including the chief medical examiner in St. Louis County — discouraged experts from testifying on Beecroft’s behalf.

The court’s opinion says that because of some officials acted improperly, a reversal was warranted “in the interests of justice.”

Washington County Attorney Pete Orput says his office is planning to retry the case.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Jason Styrbicky was convicted by a Dakota County judge of three counts of criminal vehicular homicide and one count of careless driving.

He was indicted on the charges in May 2011 after he rear-ended a group of stopped vehicles that were stopped on Interstate 35 near County Road 70 in Lakeville on May 24, 2010. He was driving about 68 miles per hour as he approached the stopped vehicles, which were behind a semi-trailer carrying dozens of crates of live bees. Those bees were released in the crash. Traffic had been stopped on the interstate because of a lane closure.

The accident killed 50-year-old Pamela Brinkhaus of Elko, 24-year-old Kari Rasmussen of St. Anthony and her unborn child.

The charges accuse Styrbicky of driving in a grossly negligent manner. Police at the scene said he was not wearing prescribed glasses or contact lenses when officers got to the scene, and none was found in his truck. He told authorities he was trying to grab an energy drink that had fallen to the floor of the cab in his truck.

Styrbicky is scheduled to be sentenced July 31.

Police say it appears that a thief or thieves have been driving up to boats and pontoons tied up to docks on Watab Lake and Rassier Lake. Both are located in St. Wendel Township.

Police think the thefts must have been carried out from someone approaching the targets from the water.

Gas cans and batteries were stolen from the boats and pontoons.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Stearns County Sheriff’s Office.

In the 79-second video, the suspect says, “”This is my house, yes, and a stolen camera that I stole. But it’s OK, the cop won’t figure it out.”

Later he adds, “Oh yeah, to introduce you, my name is Houaka Yang.”

The 20-year-old is scheduled to make an initial appearance Wednesday on three misdemeanor charges, including two theft charges. Online court records didn’t immediately list a defense attorney.

The camera belonged to Chris Rochester. He says police initially tracked down the suspect from surveillance tape of Yang allegedly stealing the camera from the car of Rochester’s boss.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Pope County Sheriff Timothy Riley said Wednesday authorities arrested the 39-year-old man after he was spotted in a car in Anoka County Tuesday evening. Riley says his investigators worked with the state Department of Corrections fugitive task force to locate the man who was on the run about a week.

Authorities say the suspect, Dennis Wayne Aasen, broke into the home of his former girlfriend near Clontarf May 17, abducted her, beat her and took off with her in her SUV. The woman was found later that day along Highway 10 near Walker with her broken-down vehicle.

(TM and © Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – WCCO-TV’s investigation into an airline’s pricing problems got the attention of the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Last week, WCCO-TV exposed how some Delta frequent fliers were paying more for plane tickets. The company blamed it on a computer glitch that went on for 19 days and that stopped when we contacted them.

Now, the department is looking into what happened.

Returning from a Delta flight from Dallas, John Bucher displayed the frequent flier card he flashes a few times each week.

“I just thought I was going to be treated fairly,” Bucher said. “I didn’t know there were two standards out there.”

His status makes him one of the airline’s top customers.

“I do about 90 percent of my flying on Delta,” he said.

So when he heard our report last week, he wanted his own records reviewed.

Patrick Smith and his business partner happened to book trips side-by-side. They discovered that logging into their Sky Miles account sometimes meant paying hundreds of dollars more.

Bucher wanted to know if the same thing happened to him. He says he called Delta three times last week, and no one at customer service knew about the computer glitch.

“Being a partner, I would just expect a little higher service and standard,” Bucher said.

In a blog, Delta now says it did not sell the same flight itinerary to different people for different prices. That’s not technically possible. Delta says it was testing a new search function on its website that could only be seen by customers who weren’t logged in, so as not to disrupt the shopping experience for its best customers.

So while the different prices appeared to be for the same trip, frequent fliers who clicked to the next screen would find they were actually getting better return flights. The company says sometimes those trips cost more, sometimes less.

In all of our checks, the frequent flier never got the better deal.

Charlie Leocha contacted the Department of Transportation after our story. He’s the director of Consumer Travel Alliance in Washington, D.C., an advocacy group for travelers.

“Now, all of a sudden, to get the price of travel you have to get out a spreadsheet,” Leocha said. “It’s worse than a mortgage.”

Leocha wants the Transportation Department to review how all airlines display prices, including extra fees. He says that if you could compare trips across the board, the pricing glitch at Delta would have been noticeable right away.

“Then you could actually see what the true cost of travel is — and that’s the problem: we can’t do that today,” Leocha said.

That’s a call for change customers like Bucher will wait for. He is now questioning Delta’s image and the customer status he thought meant so much.

“I’m just hoping they can be more open and straight forward with us in the future,” Bucher said.

Delta told Bucher it will review his transactions. The Department of Transportation investigation into Delta will likely take months. Delta has added contact information to its blog, so you can ask to have your flight’s price reviewed.

To contact the Transportation Department, click here.

The search for 39-year-old Dennis Wayne Aasen ended Tuesday, after the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension called off the search.

The bureau said Aasen was found in Anoka County.

Aasen is accused of kidnapping his former girlfriend last Thursday. She was found later that night inside her Chevy Suburban.

The victim was found wounded, but the Pope County Sheriff’s Office would not talk on the extent of her injuries.

She was reported missing and her car stolen Thursday morning when she failed to show up for work.

Cass County Attorney Christopher Strandlie says 31-year-old Robert Joseph Jones was sentenced Monday.

A jury had convicted Jones of making terroristic threats, a felony.

According to the criminal complaint, the deputy was called to a fight in front of a Cass Lake home last December. Jones was arrested on an outstanding warrant and taken to jail. The complaint says Jones made several threats to the deputy, saying he was affiliated with the Native Mob gang and would find out where the deputy lived.

Jones’ 29-month sentence is consistent with Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines.

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Soloman Daniel Campbell, 28, of St. Paul, Arlin Maurice Thunder, 39, of Redby, and Robert George Head, 27, of Brooklyn Park, have each been charged with first-degree assault, second-degree assault and first-degree burglary.

According to the complaint, St. Paul Police were dispatched to a South St. Paul residence at about 10 p.m. on May 18 and saw four men exiting the residence. After commanding the suspects to stop, only Campbell did, and he was holding a laptop computer in his hands.

Police tracked down two of the remaining three who fled – Head and Thunder – and recovered a bloody metal pipe and a handgun that the suspects had tossed while running away.

Thunder also had blood spatter on his clothing at the time of his arrest, according to the complaint.

Once back inside the house, police found one victim with several wounds on his head and neck. The victim said he was attacked at gunpoint when the four suspects broke into their home. A second victim was unconscious and covered in blood from several head wounds. Both victims were transported to Regions hospital.

The first-degree assault charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and/or a fine of $30,000.

The second-degree assault charge carries a maximum sentence of seven years in prison and/or a fine of $14,000.

And the first-degree burglary charges carries a maximum charge of 20 years in prison and/or a fine of $35,000.

Molly Shannon Flaherty, 41, was charged with one count of second-degree assault with a deadly weapon and one count of third-degree assault substantial bodily harm for her attack on Chrishaun McDonald.

Although the assault occurred in Minneapolis, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office asked Washington County to handle the case to avoid a conflict of interest, because Hennepin prosecutors were charging McDonald for the murder of Dean Schmitz in the same incident.

According to the criminal complaint filed May 11 by the Washington County Attorney’s Office, McDonald, a transgender African-American woman, and her friends were walking along 29th Street shortly after midnight on June 5, 2011.

A small group of people were standing outside the Schooner Tavern and some of them began yelling racial, homophobic and transgender slurs at McDonald and her friends, according to the complaint.

McDonald and her group approached the other group, and Flaherty broke a bar glass across McDonald’s face.

McDonald needed 11 stitches to close the cuts on her face, according to the complaint.

Flaherty made her initial appearance on May 16 and has an omnibus hearing on June 15.

KCRG-TV reports officers arrested 56-year-old Jerald Reiter on Sunday night in the parking lot of the Dog House bar. Officers gave him a field sobriety test and charged him with drunken driving.

Reiter, of Cascade, disputes the arrest, saying he was about to let a passenger begin driving.

He says the zebra and macaw parrot are pets and like riding in the truck. Sometimes the bar lets them inside, but they had to stay outside this time because the business was serving food.

People were taking photos of the animals, and Reiter says he thinks a spectator reported him to police.

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Jeffrey Luke Boemer is a white male, 44 years old, six-feet tall, 235 pounds and has blue eyes.

Boemer has been known to use public transportation to travel from Minneapolis to the western suburbs, police said, and the public is asked to call the Minnetonka Police Department at 612-720-4456 with any information on his whereabouts.

On Monday in federal court, Joel Grogan Zigler was sentenced to the prison term on one count of production of child pornography. Zigler was indicted on Sept. 20, 2011 and pleaded guilty on Jan. 30, 2012.

In his plea agreement, Zigler admitted to inducing minors to engage in sexually explicit conduct while recording it with a digital camcorder. He produced the videos in a Hibbing motel room.

The videos, camcorder and other media was seized from Zigler’s parents’ residence during the execution of a search warrant, where Zigler was staying, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

According to the criminal complaint filed in Dakota County, 36-year-old Sourisack Sihanantharath is accused of fifth-degree criminal sexual conduct.

The alleged victim told investigators that she saw Sihanantharath leering at her at the Apple Valley fitness club on May 15, to the point that she was uncomfortable.

She told police that he then approached her and asked if she was single. She said she told him it was none of his business and went to the pool area.

He followed her there, according to the complaint, and continued harassing her, asking her when she usually came to the gym. She told police she then left the pool and went into the hot tub.

Sihanantharath allegedly followed her into the hot tub and grabbed her hand, shoving it down his shorts. The victim said he then held onto her from behind as he put his hand down her swimsuit.

The victim went into the locker room and asked someone to call 911.

Employees were able to identify the man for police.

When officers arrived at his house, Sihanantharath’s wife said he had left with their two children. He returned a few minutes after, though, and told police that the encounter had been consensual.

If convicted, Sihanantharath faces up to a year in prison and a $3,000 fine.