POLICE AND CRIME

Although St. Louis Park wasn't exactly known for its criminal activity (other than extensive moonshining), here are some interesting accounts of the occasional transgression in days past. These incidents show us just how low key the Village was about crime. This chapter doesn't pretend to describe every incident, but perhaps this sampling will give us an idea of what the Park Police force had to contend with. As can be expected, many of the dastardly deeds described were perpetrated by denizens of Minneapolis. In fact, records indicate that a suspiciously large percentage of speeding tickets issued in the 1930s were made out to residents of the Big Town. 

The following information came from several sources, including Village/City Council minutes, newspapers, a history of the Police Department authored by retired officer Stan Currie, and police department scrapbooks shared by Joan Reamer of the St. Louis Park Police.  Also see Liquor in the Park and Early Ordinances.
Also see St. Louis Park Police Department Retiree website, www.slppd.org  This site has Officer Currie's history and hundreds of pictures.

1868

The first reform school in the State opened in St. Paul on January 1, 1868, on the grounds of present-day Concordia College.

1876

The Younger Brothers camped out with their horses in a ravine that was west-to-northwest of Lake Harriet. From there the 7-8 men went on to rob the Northfield Bank – September 7, 1876.

1878

The City of Minneapolis passed an ordinance on June 19, creating a city workhouse because the city jail was (already) antiquated and easy to escape from. Prisoners were to be “kept at hard labor…for 10 hours at least per day, except Sundays, either at said workhouse or upon the public city improvements.” This first workhouse was in North Minneapolis, and prisoners were put to farming and later brickmaking. This facility was used until 1923.

1887

The first six ordinances were passed by the Village Council on April 6, 1887. Given that the area was populated with about 350 people, most of them farmers, the topics of these first ordinances were extraordinary.  They dealt with such offenses as disturbance of the peace, disorderly conduct, lurking, lying in wait to pilfer, sweeping empty railroad cars, noise, riot, disturbance, improper diversion, open or notorious drunkenness or intoxication. It was also against the law to appear in a state of nudity, or in a dress not belonging to his or her sex; indecent exposure; obscene or filthy acts; lewd, indecent, immoral, or insulting conduct; exhibiting or offering to see indecent, obscene, or lewd books, pictures; performing in any indecent, immoral or lewd play. Additional ordinances tackled prostitution, gambling, loitering at saloons, taverns, dramshops, or houses of ill fame, and general nuisances.  For a complete summary of these first six ordinances, see Early Ordinances.

1890s +

St. Louis Park villagers elected two constables each year. Constables worked for the Justice of the Peace, and had county wide powers to serve court papers. The last Constable was Ed Warner, who worked at the creosote plant during the week, and was a “Sunday Cop” during WWII.

The Village Council President also appointed a Village Marshall, who occasionally locked up a drunk. Police officers were also hired, but on a part-time, pay-per-call basis.

1892

The Village two-cell jail was built on land provided by the Minneapolis Investment Company. Joe Williams: “While I was working at the Monitor, I also served as jailer and constable for many years. Our jail was a two room building which stood on the corner of Wooddale and Lake Street on the property where Ed and Mabel Christy later built their home. I would walk from home and carry meals to the men being held in jail. We were paid a certain amount for each meal served. The jail clients were mainly drunks and roughnecks.”

An ordinance dated September 2, 1892 regulated peddlers and hucksters. This was apparently an ongoing problem, as several similar ordinances were subsequently passed on the same topic.

1894

On December 3, the lifeless body of one Miss Catherine “Kitty” Ging was discovered on Excelsior Blvd. (then called Excelsior Road), just beyond Lake Calhoun in the vicinity of the Minikahda Golf Club. The Minneapolis Journal shouted "Foul Murder!," elaborating that "A Bullet Hole in the Head Tells the Awful Story.” William Erhart, the man who discovered the body, had left the "St. Louis car" at 31st St. and was walking home along Excelsior Ave. [Erhart had attended Pratt School.] Miss Ging, it turned out, had been murdered by the janitor of her Minneapolis apartment building (the Bellevue Hotel, aka "Ozark Flats," located at 13th and Hennepin). The janitor acted at the behest of Kitty's erstwhile friend, Harry T. Hayward, who did it for Kitty's insurance policies and for the experience of having someone killed. While the janitor drew a life sentence, Hayward swung from the gallows at the Court House (8th Ave So. And 4th Street) on December 11, 1895. In 1911, the death sentence was forever outlawed in Minnesota. For a full account, see Murder in Minnesota by Walter N. Trenerry, Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1962/1985.

1902

The municipal jail turned out to be a chronic headache to keep it up as complaints were made to the Village Council that the jail was “filthy.”

The transition from rural to town life was reflected in an ordinance prohibiting cattle, horses, swine, or poultry from running at large inside the Village limits.

1905

Art Lovejoy was paid $1.00 for cleaning out the jail in May, but in July the State Board of Health inspected and required that the jail be cleaned. Councilman Stone was empowered to secure bids for painting and putting the jail in “first class condition.” Painting was expected to cost $20.

Mrs. E. Depew was reimbursed for providing meals for prisoners.

F. W. Hudson was Marshall, and one of his duties apparently was burying dead dogs, for which he was paid $1 each.

Nationwide there were only 230 reported murders.

1907

$25 was offered by the Village Council for information leading to the conviction of anyone breaking or damaging street lamps.

1908

Apparently there was quite a gambling problem in the Park, as the Village Council appropriated $100 to gather evidence of persons residing within Village limits who are “permitting and fostering gambling and encouraging and inducing among others minors to engage in such pernicious and unlawful practice.”

1909

An ordinance was passed punishing vagrants and street beggars, which gives some indication of conditions in the Park.

"Poor charge" John Johnson appealed to the Village Council for money for a ticket back to Norway. The Council decided to give him the money, but only when he could show that he had $30 so he wouldn’t be a poor charge in Norway.

1910

An attempt was made to rob the post office, but "the burglars left without getting any loot." Postmaster Charles Hamilton ran the post office out of his Hamilton Grocery Store, located in the Hamilton Building.

1911

On April 1, burglars used dynamite to blow the door off the safe in the post office, getting away with about $50 in cash and $200 in stamps. Two mail sacks were found on the M&SL tracks, about 3/4 mile away. "Half the townspeople were aroused by the noise, but early search failed to get any trace of the cracksmen," reported the Minneapolis Journal. The thieves had apparently broken into a tool shed near the tracks to get two sledgehammers and a crowbar. It was postulated that the thieves entered the building the night before while the Ladies' Aid Society of the Methodist church had a fair in the hall above the store. The article mentioned that the Sheriff was Otto Langum.

On April 10, 1911, the Minnesota legislature abolished capital punishment in the state for good. Since Statehood in 1858, a total of 26 people were hanged for murder. The first of these, and the only woman, was Ann Bilansky of St. Paul, who murdered her husband with arsenic in 1860. The movement to abolish hanging was in part fanned by the protests of the 1906 bungled hanging of convicted murderer William Williams, who was cursed with a rope that was six inches too long. Approximately 64 people were put to death by the state before capital punishment was banned.

One Jesse Wallace was shot in St. Louis Park, and on May 29, 1911 his doctor appeared before the Village Council seeking reimbursement for expenses. He got it - $139.

1912

A need was identified for a new ordinance dealing with peddlers. The idea was to get them registered and keep them moving, hopefully out of town.

The jail continued to be a problem. At the July 5 Village Council meeting, the Recorder reported that the premises was inspected by a Mr. Foley of the State Board of Control. He who ordered the Village to repair the floor, plaster the ceiling, and “the cell containing the wood be emptied and cleaned.”

1913

In a memoir, Mrs. Dorothy Hatch Langlie remembered Gypsies traveling through town, engendering the then-common fear of baby snatching. (No such incidents seem to have been reported locally, but see 1934.)

In April, a contingent from Brookside asked the Village Council to name a resident of Brookside a police officer.

In April, John Sandberg became Village Marshall. In July, he was directed by the Village Council to “arrest all vagrants and make proper charges to the end that they secure Work House sentence.”

Tom Christensen was posted at the saloons as a habitual drunk and the Marshall was ordered to take him in whenever he created a disturbance.

1914

This curious item: The case against John and Mary Coles would be dropped by the Humane Society if they would leave town in two days.

Mark Pavey, presumably a constable, was busy catching speeders, and billed the Village for a percentage of the fines. The next year an Andrew Pavey was out “flagging autos.”

In June Village Marshall John Sandberg was instructed to confiscate all slot machines.

1915

Mr. E. Miller of the Miller Grocery on West Lake Street was held up and robbed of $19 by two masked men.

From the St. Louis Park Herald:

Blind Pig Raid

Sunday evening Mack Pavey and deputies raided the blind pig at Lake Street, operated by Hugo (Dutch) Stut, in the little tar shack near the school house.

The marshal let the prisoner in the hands of ex-Constable Bob Anderson, who in sympathy because the man needed clothes, let the proprietor go, and he has not been heard from since.

The people from church through the 4th of July had arrived beforehand and there was an abundance of popping guns, but they were of no avail as the fugitive had already taken to the timber.

Several cases of beer were confiscated by the officers.

1916

In August, Mrs. Martha Goodspeed, who owned three cottages along Minnehaha Creek, appeared before the Village Council and protested the actions of certain bathers in the creek. Probably those boys swimming neked again. No action was recorded.

On December 7, 1916, a motion was brought before the Village Council to discontinue the services of Marshall William Hudson “for the welfare of St. Louis Park.” President Vraalstad refused to entertain the motion. It came up again at the next meeting, where a petition was presented to keep Hudson, but he was fired and ordered to give the keys to the lockup to Constable Whipps.

Andy Nelson began serving Park law enforcement in 1916. He was quoted as saying “When the Park got two saloons they hired the first policeman!” Andy’s wife took the calls, and when she turned on the porch light he knew he had a call.

1917

On April 18, there were five Village policemen (no compensation): A.N. Manlove, H.E. Woerner, J.E. Pockrandt, C.H. Hamilton, and E.P. Whipps, all prominent businessmen.

In June the PTA appeared before the Village Council requesting an ordinance against the shaking of dice. The issue was referred to committee, which determined that it was the State’s jurisdiction. The PTA also addressed the issue of a curfew.

On July 18, the Village Council passed “an ordinance defining and punishing vagrancy.” Instead of being a loafer with no money, this political definition of a vagrant was anyone who taught or advocated “crime or violence as a means of accomplishing industrial or political ends.” In another section, a vagrant was one who taught or advised citizens that they “ought not aid or assist in the United States in prosecuting or carrying on war with the public enemies of the United States.”  These were the days after the Russian Revolution, and fear of communism made people a little crazy.  This culminated in 1919 with the "Palmer Raids," which generally deprived a lot of people of their civil rights.

1918

On May 16th, the Village Council passed an ordinance “relative to Fire Works and Discharge of Fire Arms Within the Limits of the Village…” No person shall…explode, burn, or fire off, any rocket, firecracker, roman candle or other species of fireworks or pyrotechnic display…. Nor shall any person fire off, discharge or explode any gun, pistol, or other weapon within the Village limits.” Special permission could be granted to fire a salute or display of fireworks. The ordinance made it clear that the use of a gun in defense of person, property, of family was exempt.

In June, Mr. Z.H. Pattison was appointed Village Policeman, but only for one month in September, with a salary of $150. Come October, A.J. Nordstrom and Joe Elias were named Special Policemen.

Also in October, complaints were heard of misconduct of Policeman Patterson. The Village Council took them under consideration and failed to find them substantiated.

Edward D. Stoops was appointed Marshal following World War I until the late 1920s.

1919

In June the Village Council purchased one “Hi-Way Patrol,” which is presumably a squad car. They also hired Fred Thompson as Special Policeman from June 1919 to April 1920. R.T. Witzel was given a three month trial as policeman starting in September – he had to use his own vehicle and was paid $150/month. The next year he was appointed Village Marshall for the first four months of 1920. The Creosote Plant had its own policeman.

Also in June the St. Louis Park Commercial Club approached the Village Council and requested they pass an ordinance regarding the orderly planting of trees. They also recommended that a policeman be hired year-round.

On August 21, 1919, and ordinance was passed “prohibiting persons under 16 years of age from being on the streets, alleys or public places in the Village of St. Louis Park, Minnesota, at night, after the hours of 9:00 pm , standard time." The Village Marshall, Constable, or policeman were there to enforce it, and violations brought a fine of $10 plus costs.

In October, the School Board asked the Village Council to give police powers to Janitor Tinsrud.

1920

In February, F.W. Hudson resigned as Constable.

Marshall Wetzel reported his success in collecting fines. In April he printed up fliers to hand out to the law offenders on the public highways. In July, he was appropriated $9.45 for 1,000 index cards. Unfortunately, the story behind that purchase was not recorded.

Use of the jail was limited, judging by the money appropriated for meals. In May, a suggestion was made that vines and shrubbery be planted at the jail. No action was taken, but the Village Council did order the Marshall to see that it got cleaned out once a week.

In July, perhaps in response to unruly behavior, the Marshall was instructed to attend all dances at the high school or have one of his men present.

One of the issues of the day was loose horses and cattle.

1921

The High School Mothers’ Club appeared before the Village Council asking that the curfew be strictly enforced.

1923

474 acres near Parkers Lake in Plymouth Township became the site of the new Minneapolis workhouse. The land was purchased for $121,612.50. This was also a working farm. More land was purchased in 1929.

1925

On July 1, it was reported that Marshall Stoops had trouble at O'Hearn's Cafe on Excelsior Blvd. (don't know where that was). He complained that he wasn't receiving proper cooperation. No report on how the conflict was resolved.

On April 8, Frank Murphy was killed in his home on Minnetonka Blvd. and Grant Street (Brunswick) after a drunken argument with his wife. In front of witnesses, Mrs. Murphy’s butcher knife settled the argument. Although she buried the knife in the back yard, it was discovered, and Mrs. Murphy was indicted.

1926

On August 9, the far-reaching Ordinance A-16 was passed, which basically re-wrote the laws of the Village. These rules encompassed everything from speed limits to licenses, to public spitting, which was outlawed, to the particular relief of one barbershop/pool hall keeper's son whose job it was to clean out the spittoons. For details see Early Ordinances.

In 1926, the Council appointed Earl Sewall as the Village Marshall.  Special Officers were also appointed on a per-call basis; some of the names appearing in the records of the Council in the 1920s were W. A. Ruth, Walter Moore, Frank Werner, and Andrew Nelson.

1928
13 special police officers were hired by the Village Council on November 7, but they were probably election judges.

1929

On January 22, 1929, Frank Fuhrer complained that Louise Townshend talked provokingly and slammed the door unnecessarily hard at his store, located at 3081 Gloucester Ave. This site is now at the confluence of Glenhurst, Minnetonka Blvd., Highway 7, and Lake Street. 

The Post Office was burglarized yet again.

By 1929, Village Dr. Darby reported to the council that the "Village lock-up" should be torn down.

Tony Majures was charged with assault for attacking his wife with a razor intending to do bodily harm.  His wife did not come to the trial and sent a letter asking the judge to give him another chance.  The charge was dismissed on May 22, 1929.

Theodore Winterfield was charged with disorderly conduct.  His wife tried to have him declared insane, saying he was sick and nervous.  On August 13, 1929, the court declared him sane and gave him 30 days probation and told him to keep the peace.

The Minneapolis work house, built in 1923 in Plymouth, was expanded by 11 acres at a cost of $4,500. 14 buildings were added, including a cattle barn, "piggery," and the men's facility.  The women's section was built in 1953.

1930
An article from the Minneapolis Journal dated October 1, 1930: "Park Police on Civil Service. The St. Louis Park police department will be placed under civil service beginning October 1. Pictured are Walter Erickson, Oscar Johnson and William Moulton, members of the village civil service commission. Also pictured: Patrolmen Lloyd McGary and S.J. Senander, Chief Andy Nelson, and Mayor E.W. Nelson."  There may be a problem with this date, as EW Nelson to our knowledge was Mayor from 1936 to 1938.

1931

Francis J. Senander was hired as the first fulltime police officer. Later that year, future Chief of Police Andy Nelson joined the two-man force. Nelson had worked in some law enforcement capacity since 1916.

Arthur F. "Art" Hager was appointed to serve as Marshall and Chief of Police by Mayor Kleve Flakne in May.

The Village Council passed an ordinance prohibiting “the sale or other disposal or distribution” of fireworks within the village. Violators faced 90 days and a fine of up to $100. The ordinance specifically excepted organizations such as the VFW and the American Legion.

On September 16, 1931, Park established the "School Police", i.e., the student safety patrol program. The first patrol captain at Brookside School was Tommy Bates. Bates later served as a bombardier-navigator and was killed in action over Germany in 1944. Each patrol captain had the honor of wearing Bates' original leather belt, and no matter how old and tattered it got, it was a big honor to wear it. The School Safety Patrol program was founded on February 17, 1921 by the principal of a Catholic school in St. Paul.

1932

By the end of the year, the Depression necessitated that all policemen be reduced to part time. In the 1930s, the police chief had a desk in the hose drying tower attached to the fire station at 3611 Brunswick. “It was OK if there hadn’t been a fire recently, but when they hung the hoses up to dry, it was damp,” explained longtime officer Stan Currie.

1933

A May 15, 1933 article in the Minneapolis Tribune about Art Hager stated that he was the Village's only policeman, on the beat 24 hours a day. Must have been written by Hager's mother.  Wasn't true.

On October 18, 1933, Hager gave his report as the Village Marshall: 247 radio calls, 192 home calls, found 23 stolen cars, made 7 arrests, investigated 3 holdups and 12 prowlers, helped at 23 auto accidents, and called an ambulance five times.

Mayor Sewall later demoted Hager and made Andy Nelson Chief of Police.

On August 30, thanks to tips from neighbors, Federal Postal Inspectors arrested five men at a house near Natchez and Minnetonka Blvd. for the robbery of the St. Louis Park Post Office. The robbers got in through the restaurant next door, operated by Mary Polos. They chiseled through an eight-inch concrete vault that had been built with the building in 1915 when it was the (failed) St. Louis Park Bank. They took $847 in stamps and currency; some of the money taken belonged to the Odd Fellows, and some was the personal property of the Postmaster Langdon. They also took two Colt .45 automatics from the safe. This was the second time the Post Office had been robbed, the first being in 1929. Having been caught red-handed with a strong box identified by the Postmaster, [two of] the perpetrators eventually served time in Leavenworth Prison. Ben Brown remembers a guy coming to St. Louis Park on the streetcar with the “Extras” from the newspaper. He walked toward the Center of the Park and everyone just looked at him shouting “Extra Extra Extra, St. Louis Park P.O. robbed!” There were not many homes here in 1933 and the paper man finally said “Where the Hell is the Town?”

Next door in Hopkins, another bank robbery took place on November 9, 1933 at the Security National Bank. The noontime robbery was committed by three armed bandits, with a getaway man/men in a stolen car. Over $5,000 was taken by the polite holdup men, including a 150 pound bag of silver coins. Three of the men were killed in a raid in Chicago a month later, and the other two were never identified. State police connected the men to a gang responsible for a series of six area robberies, one of which could have been that of the St. Louis Park Bank earlier that year.

1934

1934, a Depression year, was a busy one for St. Louis Park, featuring murder, gangsters, and vigilantes.  Ironically, it was also the year that the St. Louis Park Police Department started as we know it today, when, on January 3, 1934, the Village Council appointed Andy Nelson and Art Hager as full-time police officers, designating Andy as Chief. 

KIDDER MURDER

On March 4, 1934, perhaps the most sensational event in St. Louis Park history took place when local resident Theodore Kidder was gunned down in front of Brookside Drug, purportedly by (henchmen of ) Baby Face Nelson. Be sure to go to the Kidder page - it's a fascinating story.

St. Louis Park had a connection to another major crime, when one of the getaway cars of a brazen robbery was found in a ditch at the end of Cambridge, west of Texas.  As many as 8-9 men in three cars had stolen two strongboxes from two Rail Way Express agents at St. Paul Union Depot.  The car ditched in St. Louis Park had been stolen from a Minneapolis garage, and contained one of the strongboxes (empty), a pistol (taken from Brig Motes, one of the robbed men), a rifle, ammo, and clothes.  No word if the robbers got away with the approximately $5,000 in cash and thousands in securities.  The police chief in St. Paul allowed gangsters to stay there as long as they didn't do crimes within St. Paul, so this must have been an aberration. 

VIGILANTES

The Park was becoming known as "Little Cicero," after the working class suburb of Chicago where Al Capone moved his gang in 1923 to escape reformers. Reaction to this gangster activity by the Village was extreme.  The summer before, St. Louis Park Mayor Kleve J. Flakne chose a secret central committee of ten men who would aid the police in spotting unusual or illegal activity. 

Shortly after the Kidder murder, the Mayor called a meeting "to form a committee of vigilantes to cooperate with police in a war on lawlessness." Flakne was quoted as saying, "In my opinion, members of our vigilantes should be deputized, and should be given orders to shoot to kill in event of any crime." 200 citizens attended this meeting at "the school building."  The plan was for the Mayor to appoint a central committee of six, who would then appoint other men until each block had a representative.  Plans were made to purchase a machine gun for the police department, put bullet-proof armor and glass on the Village's sole police car, and put the entire village under citizen surveillance at all times.

Even the kids were in on the fun. In the spring of 1934, Mr. Roy Olson of the St. Cloud Reformatory spoke to the North Side/Eliot Mother’s Club on the present crime wave among our boys and girls.

GYPSIES

The Hennepin County Enterprise, Robbinsdale filed this report from Mountain Lake on March 8, 1934.

A gypsie who asked Reinhart Schriock for a penny to tell his fortune managed to extract $15 from his pocket in the "telling" and nearly got away with it last week. First asking Schriock for a match, the gypsie followed him into the house and started to tell his fortune. Schriock refused, but when she had left he found $15 missing from his pocket. He discovered his loss in time to catch her and get his money back, after which the gypsie hurried away in a car.

MORE GANGSTER NEWS

Edward G. Bremer of St. Paul kidnapped by the Barker-Karpis gang. His ransom of $200,000 was one of the largest ransoms in the United States up to that time. By 1936 the kidnappers had been caught and convicted. Also in 1934, "Public Enemy Number 1" John Dillinger had a gun battle with FBI agents in St. Paul on March 11 but escaped.

On April 9, 1934, Chief Nelson gave Arthur Hager a 30 day suspension for disobedience and neglect of duty and informally advised him to seek another job. Some say it had to do with his handling of the Kidder murder; others say it had to do with the amount of time spent at Reiss's. It must have been serious - Andy threatened to resign if the Council did not support him.  They did.

A "Walkathon" (dance marathon) was held in a tent on Wayzata Blvd., despite the protestations of the grand jury. 

Leonard Sengles was fined $12 plus court costs of $3 for taking radiator caps off of cars parked at the El Patio Tavern on November 22, 1934. 

1935

Village Council minutes refer to an "outrage" that took place at the Chick Inn on Excelsior Blvd. Some sort of altercation took place between County Deputy Frank Scamek and Nels Peterson, but no further information could be learned, except that the deputy apologized.

In March the Village Council appointed two special motorcycle officers whose job it was to catch speeders coming from Minneapolis on Lake Street/Minnetonka Blvd. At the time, Hennepin County had a "Motorcycle Flying Squad," which became the Minnesota Highway Patrol.  The St. Louis Park squad was discontinued when one of the men got his motorcycle stuck in the streetcar tracks at about the 4300 block of West Lake Street.  He crashed his bike and hurt himself. 

1936

"Stabbed by His Wife, Justice of the Peace Dies" screamed the headline. Mrs. Rose Elias was arrested after killing her husband with a pair of scissors during a Saturday night quarrel. J.L. Elias was a St. Louis Park justice of the peace. Mrs. Elias had her husband arrested for assault the previous June, and he did the same the following October. Mrs. Elias pleaded self-defense, but the deathbed statement given by her husband won her a conviction. 18 months later, the Minnesota Supreme Court nolled the indictment against her after it disallowed her husband's testimony. Mrs. Elias subsequently went to Oklahoma City to live with a son.

Mrs. Elizabeth Kienitz was found guilty of assaulting Mrs. A. Wyman by striking her in the face and pulling her hair on July 31, 1936.  She was fined $1 and court costs of $4.

Sometime during the tenure of Mayor E.W. Nelson (1936-38), the police force moved to civil service status. 

1937

In 1935, the street commissioner was ordered to tear down the ancient jail, but apparently it stood until 1937, when Ed Christy bought the property, tore down the jail, and built his home on the site. That building was itself torn down and replaced by a professional building.

1939

"St. Louis Park Councilmen Testify in License Quiz." An undated Tribune article reports that St. Louis Park's five-man council was called by the grand jury in an investigation into the charge that Emil Pouliot, filling station owner, paid $100 to a man not connected with the council in order to get a license. This incident took place while W.M. Martin was Mayor (1939-43), and as the councilmen kept their jobs, all must have been resolved agreeably.

Also during Martin's tenure, Patrolman Archie Brown, age 34, was hurt in a motorcycle accident at the intersection of Highway 7 and Minnetonka Blvd. Brown reportedly struck a rut in the road while chasing a speeder. Brown lived in Brookside, at 5518 Vermont Street.

1942

One night in June, two Minneapolis teens robbed Brookside Drug of over $400 in merchandise, and the adjacent Brookside Market of merchandise and $18.50 in cash. Most of the merchandise was in cigarettes, which were found in their car when apprehended by Minneapolis police a week later. Although most of the cigarettes were recovered, the thugs threw Brookside Drug owner Ralph Hunsaker's typewriter and adding machine into the river.

The Village Council read the riot act to Bunnys owner Henry Aretz that it will not tolerate the violation of the village’s liquor ordinance. Apparently an employee had sold liquor to a minor, although the article in the Dispatch was unclear on the point. Aretz promised not to operate on Sundays, which seemed to placate locals such as Mell Hobart and Lydia Rogers. Dr. L.V. Downing, however, advocating the revocation of Bunnys liquor license, as did the “Excelsior Boulevard Boosters.” Hobart, of 4327 Brook Lane and head of Ministers Life, was a frequent participant at Village Council meetings to protest the goings-on along Excelsior Blvd.

E.A. “Art” Linnee won the first of eight terms as justice of the peace. He would marry hundreds of couples in his living room, with Mrs. Esther Linnee scrambling to find a second witness.

1943

Mike Jennings paid a $400 fine in Federal court for concealing, possessing for purposes of sale, and failing to report a large stock of liquor. This stash, which was found in “one of his homes,” violated a new ruling that required all liquor dealers to pay a Federal “floor tax” on stocks on hand as of November 1, 1942.

1945

Police reported that V-E Day was the quietest day in the history of the force, with not one call received that evening.

“Park Waitress Slain by Lover Near Jordan” screamed the headline. On October 15, 1945, 28-year-old Sally Ricker, a waitress at Lilac Lanes, was found by the side of the road near Jordan, shot to death. She had taken the bus to Jordan with another waitress from Lilac Lanes to see her lover/former lover William Schaak. After a two-year relationship, the Minneapolis woman refused to marry him. The three took a ride; he stopped and opened the trunk. The girls ran, but he shot Sally in the shoulderblade near the neck with a shotgun and she fell. Her friend ran to a nearby farm for help. Schaak fled, then surrendered: “I don’t know why I did it.”

Marvin Burandt, a 24-year-old Waconia farmer, received a 90-day sentence for a hit and run in April. Patrick Butler, a 75 year old bartender at Al’s, was critically injured. Park Police traced Burandt to his home, where he initially denied his involvement until officers saw his damaged car behind the barn.

1946

The Village bought an Adams Motor Patrol for $8,433.20.

Officers Carl Iverson and Don Whalen, called to 4144 Brookside Ave on March 26, 1947, found Frank J. Probst lying in a pool of blood in his garage.  It appeared to be a suicide, as police found a gun beside him and writing scrawled on the walls of the garage saying his wife should not be blamed for what he had done.  But Probst was right handed and was shot in the left temple; that and the fact that $1,000 in cash was in the glove compartment of the man's car lead the police to continue the investigation.  Quick work by Dr. Murphy saved the man's life; indications are that he lived until 1983.   

In October, neighbors complained about rowdyness at Eaton’s Riding Stables, aka the Pastime Arena.

1947

Special police were again dispatched to Pastime Arena.

Three saddles were stolen from the barn behind Delano Dairy on Excelsior Blvd. In September, Police Chief Andy Nelson was commended for his assistance in finding the criminals.

Alfred Hay complained to the Village Council of frequent shooting at corner of Texas and Minnetonka Blvd. (not yet developed), but was referred to the Police Department.

Justice of the Peace H.J. Kuhlman moved to Morningside in June.

1948

Clyde Sorenson joined the 7-man police force.

Special police were again assigned to the Pastime Arena, and a roller rink ordinance was passed.

Shooting guns in the Village was restricted to a person’s own property.

The curfew for those under 16 was changed from 9 pm to 9:30 pm. It was marked with a siren.

Police cars were bidded out, and had to be 100 HB, 8 cylinder, Tudor, black, with overdrive. Dahlberg motors in Hopkins quoted $1663.59.

1951

Ten paid, full-time policemen and one part-time officer staffed the force. They used three radio-equipped patrol cars.

A crime wave hit Excelsior Blvd. in June when thieves hit the DS Service Station at 4701 Excelsior, breaking a glass pane in a door at the rear of the station. They next used a crow bar from the gas station to break into the Boulevard Drive-In across the street, swiping candy bars, cigarettes, and ice cream. Then they proceeded on to offices at the rear of the Joppa Drug Store by prying open a window, but didn't find anything interesting to steal. Police presumed that the thieves were kids, from the nature of the items stolen; the Dispatch deemed them "hardworking" for their efforts.

Juvenile Delinquent Thomas Kilbourne led police on a chase in a stolen Mercury. Three policemen caught the 16-year-old, first by ramming their cruiser into the Mercury's side, then firing 8 bullets, and finally causing the stolen vehicle to roll over on a hydrant at Kentucky and Cedar Lake Road. The boy was a veteran of Glen Lake School for Boys. The Mayor later praised the police for their alertness and persistency in capturing the young man.

The Brookside Dairy Bar, at 5922 Excelsior Blvd., was robbed of money and drinks on October 22. The robbers broke a back door window to get in. They absconded with $127.14, a case of beer, and a case of pop (for the getaway driver?), reported the proprietors, Mr. And Mrs. Joseph H. Gagnon.

On October 6, Mayor Hurd “expressed thorough disgust” over the fact that only 35 arrests were made during September for traffic violations. By the end of the year, 952 arrests were made, mostly speeders.

In November, thieves relieved Morton Arneson of a 400-lb. Safe. Next door, at the St. Louis Park Medical Center, the rascals took off with narcotics and cash.

On September 24, 1951, Pockrandt Lumber and Fuel wrote a letter to the Council commending police action when boys wrecked trucks at the site.

1952

Members of the police force became unionized on October 25, 1952, becoming members of Local 224, American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees. Robert Standal acted as bargaining agent.

1953

Things were no better, crime-wise, in 1953. A rash of break-ins was reported in February. First stop was the Star-Brite Co. at 4414 Excelsior Blvd. Manager Len Ring reported a loss of $122 from the night safety box.

Next was the Midwest Badge and Novelty Co. at 4420 Excelsior Blvd. Despite the break-in, owner Frank C. Collins reported no losses.

Finally, the thieves broke into the Park Boulevard clothing store, also at 4420 Excelsior Blvd. Manager Joe Ginther reported $38.55 stolen from the cash register. Many more break-ins all over the Park were reported that day. Those juvenile delinquents.

A women’s facility was added at the Minneapolis workhouse at Parker’s Lake. The cost to the Village to send a prisoner to the workhouse was upped to $3.50 per day effective October 1.

Police Chief Andy Nelson was named the Outstanding Citizen of the Year by the VFW on April 17, 1953. Here he is at right in 1956.

1954

The police force was up to 15 men and 4 patrol cars, woefully inadequate for the booming Village that was about to become a City. The officers traded off patrolling either north or south of Highway 7.

The Department bought a T 43G1 Mobile Transmitter and receiver, operating frequency of 154.310 KC, 25 watt power. Cost: $472.

The Village Council passed a Christmas Tree Ordinance in November.

In May there was a robbery at the Minnesota Silicone Rubber Co.

1955
On January 7, St. Louis Park went from a Village to a City.
 

23-year-old Dennis H. Lahr, 7515 North Street, was taken into custody for auto theft and check forgery in North Carolina in January. He stole the car from the Super Valu parking lot, from a relative he was living with. When he and the car both went missing at the same time, the chase was on.

Citizens State Bank was robbed of $9,600 on June 25. The lone armed bandit got clean away under a hail of bullets and was never caught.

[This isn't exactly criminal (well, maybe a little) but where else to put it?]  1955 was the year of the great automat debate, when inventor Louis Roberge put an automatic food vending machine in a makeshift store in a garage at Meadowbrook Manor. One of his 12 items was a paper carton of milk, and there was much skepticism about how he could keep his product fresh and the premises clean. Many folks saw this one machine as a huge threat, including the Meatcutter’s Union, Milk Drivers and Dairy Employees Union, and the Minneapolis Retail Grocers Association. One man saw this machine as a threat to “the entire working class.” Another school of criticism was that “money comes from the East, goes back East.” Another fear was that cereal could cause rust or mold. Apparently the biggest opponent was Edward Straus, who got caught by Roberge opening windows in Roberge's place in an attempt to raise the temperature. This led to fisticuffs, but no one was seriously injured. Police declined to press charges against Roberge.
 

All that notwithstanding, Roberge’s permit was approved on July 11, 1955. Such machines had previously been installed in Minneapolis and Richfield and one was on display at 33rd and Lyndale. Roberge opened his store in July 1955 – sans milk. His other products were bread, eggs, oleomargarine, doughnuts, rolls, butter, bacon, wieners, ground round steak, and coffee. That September, the City Council worked to pass an ordinance to regulate and license vending machines. They attracted national attention, as it was the first of its kind in the nation, according to the Dispatch.

In August 1955, the Traffic Violations Bureau was established.

These were apparently not Happy Days. In October, the Council was asked to pass an ordinance against “window peeping, trespassing, concealed weapons, stick knives, etc.”

One of the issues that the Council and Police faced was the shooting of guns within City limits. It appears that the right to shoot was curtailed for the first time during this time. In November 1955, Mrs. Luverne E. Noon requested permission to shoot squirrels on her property at 6232 Oxford. Permission denied.

In December, a bandit broke into the house of Mr. and Mrs. Art Drew of Golden Valley and demanded keys and the combination to the safe at Witt’s Super Value at 4100 Minnetonka Blvd., where Drew was manager. An accomplice went to the store and robbed it of $4,500, returned for the first bandit an hour later, and they fled. Drew and his wife worked free of their bonds and called police.

1956

In January 1956, a prominent Park developer was held for the shooting of Albert C. Anderson of Minneapolis, the “alleged rival for his wife’s affections” according to the Dispatch.

The Park Plaza State Bank at Knollwood was robbed of $18,195 by a lone, threatening gunman in June 1956. This was the biggest robbery in the Minneapolis area in 24 years.

Jennings was robbed of $10,047 by two “almost friendly” armed bandits.

$5,000 was stolen from a safe at Witt's Market, and $4,500 from Penney's Market's safe.  The Red Owl and Miracle Mile was robbed of $1,100. 

In about 1956, the police department moved into a Quonset Hut that was attached to the fire station next to the old Village Hall. They would remain there until 1963 when a new City Hall was built.

Park police obtained a device called the Trafficorder, which they found to be better than radar in catching speeders. Two pneumatic tubes, 40 inches apart, are stretched half way across the road. They are connected by electrical cable to the Trafficorder in a van parked several hundred feet away. The device measures the time it takes the front wheel of a vehicle to cross both tubes and from that computes the car’s mph. While radar picks up on the first or last vehicle in a group or the biggest or fastest in a group, the Trafficorder picks up every vehicle and indicates speed on a graph. The police department used this device for more than 30 years.

1957

Park’s first policewoman was hired in January. Dorothy Olson was in charge of the new FBI-approved records system and also helped search and interrogate women prisoners.

Robert Schmitz of South Street was found in Minneapolis wearing a chain after being reported missing for 10 days. His preliminary diagnosis was a nervous breakdown, and he was taken to University Hospital.

On May 14, 1957, Jerome M. Goldberg, 46, was killed with three blasts of a .12 gauge shotgun by his 16-year-old son Norman. Jerome had ordered his wife Belle and children out of the house – Norman returned and killed his father, allegedly in self-defense. Goldberg was a plumber and lived at 3041 Brunswick.

On May 27, 1957 a Mr. C.W. Hollenbeck complained of disturbances at Myrt’s Diner, a hangout catering to teenagers. The diner, located at Dakota and Minnetonka Blvd., was run by Myrtle and Truman Hedwall. Mr. Hellenbeck complained of loitering, profanity, kids out after curfew, racing, and apparently someone was out there with a bullwhip. There was some back-and-forth about whether the police were told to back off of the place or to strictly enforce local ordinances.

The St. Louis Park Theater was held up in August 1957.  Pictured is manager Martin Field looking for the loot.

Not a crime, but police responded when Herman Winkleman was trapped and rescued from a cave-in in October 1957. We just happen to have good pictures of this one - see below:

   

On November 14, 1957, 15-year-old Dennis Lepp killed his mother with a .20 gauge shotgun, reportedly because she wouldn’t let him go roller skating. The address was 3145 Texas Ave.

Lepps' house

On December 12, 1957, 57-year-old Axel Christianson set fire to his own house at 2817 Zarthan Ave. Firefighters found him drunk and angry over a pending divorce. His family was not at home at the time.

1957 was a stylish year, and the St. Louis Park Police Department followed suit.  This is a colorized picture done by Mark Muckelberg of the retired PD organization.  Pictured to the right are Officers Fred Stimson and Robert Standal.




1958

Two St. Louis Park policemen captured three suspects in the burglaries of homes in St. Louis Park, Minnetonka, Minneapolis, and rural Anoka County. The trio was nabbed at Wooddale and Lake St. as they were preparing for another breakin. The suspects confessed to breakins at gas stations, bars, and an appliance shop. When caught, police found a burlap sack under the front seat of the car containing $150 in bills and coins.

In September 1958, Mr. Harold H. Hoffman of G&K Cleaners, 4501 Excelsior Blvd., appeared before the City Council asking for damages for bullet holes when a burglar entered and fled from Jennings Liquor Store, which was across the street. Why he was asking the City and whether he got restitution are lost to history.

1959

Much excitement over a stolen car on Minnetonka Blvd. near Joppa, as Sgt. Henry Carlson fired several shots to warn the thieves to stop. Careening wildly, the car crashed over lawns on Princeton and Monterey Parkway and crashed at 28th Street. Three youths ran into the nearby swamp, but were later arrested at their homes. Turns out they had also stolen a 1958 Chevy station wagon. The boys were ages 14 and 15, and two of them were on probation from Glen Lake School for Boys.

Andy Nelson retired on June 30 at age 71, and 250 people came to a dedication dinner at the Park Terrace restaurant, sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce. The Minneapolis Auto Club News attested that Nelson had coped with the likes of John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson and other hardened criminals during his 30 years on the force. A group police force photo with Andy appeared in the Dispatch on July 30, 1959. Andy died on February 13, 1970.

Clyde Sorenson, another Brookside resident, became Chief on July 1 and served until 1974. Sorenson was first appointed as patrolman on July 1, 1948. In 1954 he was appointed as the city's first juvenile officer. He was appointed sergeant in 1956, and lieutenant in 1958. During his tenure he helped establish the first Police Explorer post in the state. Sorenson is pictured at left in February 1958.

Thomas A. Robinson, 51, had been fired from his City job for drinking. On September 3, 1959, he came to the home of City Manager Tom Chenoweth to plead his case, armed with a 7” Navy K-Bar hunting knife. According to Chenoweth, Robinson threatened to “rip me open from my belly to my throat.” Tom’s wife and a friend came in on them, and Robinson went out to his car, which contained whisky, beer, and a loaded deer rifle. The police got there pronto and apprehended Robinson, who got three years at Stillwater for his trouble. The Dispatch took on a tabloid approach to reporting the story: “Vengeful Ex-City Employee Assaults Tom Chenoweth With Hunting Knife; Wife’s Arrival Averts Tragedy!”

One Rex Roger requested a special permit to erect a radio transmitting and receiving mast in connection with a home occupation, namely detective radio dispatching, at 7709 W. Lake Street. The request was subsequently withdrawn.

1960

Local courts changed from Justice of the Peace to Municipal Court on January 1. When a recalcitrant defendant charged with speeding demanded a jury trial on December 31, 1959 and when only eight jurors showed up, Judge Anton Yngve ordered the bailiff to use a little-known law to grab jurors off the street in order to hear the case before the JP's authority ended. The instant jurors consisted of a salesman on a business call in City Hall and three others on their coffee break in a nearby cafe. Mrs. Genevieve C. Mengelkoch was found guilty of doing 40 in a 30 mph zone and was fined $20.

$14,034.17 was pilfered from the School District by 23-year-old payroll clerk LoRayne Beverly Godfrey over a period of three years.

Twin sisters Jane and Janet Goblirsch, 28, were caught with $8,000 worth of goods stolen from 35 stores (not in St. Louis Park). They gave their address as 4425 – 36-1/2 St.

Two children were shot dead in separate shootings that took place two blocks and two months apart. 2-year-old Scott Langbehn was killed when a revolver he was playing with accidentally went off. Robert Jerome Halvorson, 16, was found dead of a shotgun blast.

In August 1960, a Metropolitan Police Radio System was approved to be purchased by the City Council.

"Halloween Hoods Fire Park Home" screamed the headline on November 3. On Halloween night, vandals started three fires in a vacant dwelling at 4525 W. 38th Street. The building was owned by Jerry Holt of Holt Construction Co., 6100 Excelsior Blvd. The fire was being investigated by Chief Williams and the Minnesota fire marshal's investigators. Damage was estimated at $2,000.

On November 23, 1960, Acme Stone and Lumber commended police for work done in saving their property. 

1961

$10,000 in New Year’s Eve proceeds was stolen at gunpoint from manager Paul B. Haugejordan from Al’s Bar in the early hours of January. Paul didn’t see his assailant’s face, as he wore Groucho glasses.

On April 3, 1961, residents appeared before the City Council to commend police officers for excellent work in the solution of serious crimes.

In August, Roger R. Connly of Bloomington embezzled almost $25,000 as secretary/treasurer of Patchin Appraisals over the course of three and a half years. He was given 3 years probation.

The Police Department had two patrol units on the street.

1962

In April, Patrolman Paul Gramer sold his dog Spook to the City for $1. Gramer had worked with Spook for four years, practicing finding lost kids with Patrolman Percy Morris’s 3-year-old son. The 90 lb. German Shepherd took commands in German so shouts of “sic-em!” wouldn’t set him off. He was used periodically in Minneapolis, which had no dogs – St. Paul had several.

On August 2, 1962, a thief took $545 from Perkins Pancake House, 4150 Excelsior Blvd. He must have cut himself in the process, as blood was left at the scene.

In October, Mr. and Mrs. Leonard G. Peterson made the inflammatory charge that St. Louis Park was the home of two teenage gangs: the Baldies, who shaved their heads and wore steel-toed shoes, and the Animals, who had razor blades in their shoes and bit their victims with their filed teeth. The City Council, the Police, and the School Board hotly denied the existence of these gangs – said to number 75-100 each – in the Park.

In November, thieves took off with $1,000 from the Post Office.

The Police Dept. annual spring smelt fry was discontinued in December 1962.

1963

In January the force added 10 new officers, bringing the total number to 41 [23, 33]. The new men were chosen from 140 candidates. Beginning pay was $452/month.

In April, Park obtained radar technology, and used it to write up ticket after ticket.

Citizens State Bank was robbed of $10,000 by a lone bandit in June. The robber got away, despite the four shots from a deer rifle that came from Bank President Allan R. Burrill. The license number of the getaway car had been jotted down by an alert employee, but the car was found abandoned in Minneapolis.

The Police Department moved from Fire Station 1 to the new City Hall in October. The new digs included a new jail – in the past, perpetrators had to be taken downtown to the Hennepin County hoosgow.

Patrolling the City on Halloween were six cars of ham radio operators from the Minnesota Emergency Communications, Inc. In 1964, 9 cars hit the streets.

In December, an armed robber accosted the manager of the National Food Store (3704 Highway 100, next to Topps) at his house and forced him to drive back to the store and open the safe. The robber, drinking heavily, then forced Manager Robert Bagan to drive him to 17th and Queen Ave. No. in Minneapolis.

1964

The new Police Headquarters included an indoor pistol and rifle range, which was used by kids enrolled in a gun safety class offered by the VFW.

In May there was a rash of burglaries of women’s shoes – pairs and singles - in the Westwood Hills area.

On May 18, Patricia Schilken, 21, was shot dead in the head by her estranged husband, Stanley S. Schilken, 29. Her companion, Edward Benson, 21, was also shot in the chest and paralyzed. Patricia had just moved into a basement apartment at 3390 Louisiana from her home in Maple Grove, living with her sister and one of her young children. Stanley was a graduate of the Glen Lake School for Boys and had previously been up on charges of exposure and molestation of a 14-year-old girl. He suspected that his wife was having an affair with the owner of the painting business he worked for. He was captured the next day in a garage in Minneapolis, convicted of 2nd degree murder, and given 40 years.

“Gypsy Fortune Teller Sought by Park Police” ran the headline in June. “Sister Mary” had allegedly bilked $3,000 from a Minneapolis woman. Police warned the populace not to turn to Gypsies for roofing, painting, car work, or blacktopping. They were also known for pickpocketing, especially at Twins games.

Beware of knife-wielding blondes: a man from out of town chatted up an attractive blonde and treated her to dinner at Mr. Q’s, after which she robbed him of $200 at knifepoint.

August 27: Police Chief Warns Against Shooting Dogs, citing an expensive French poodle had been badly injured by a bb gun.

The drug epidemic starts in November 1964 with glue sniffing.

An “Indian Spiritualist Reader” took $7,000 from an Edina woman to lift a curse on her home. The perpetrator was a “Mrs. Kay,” a/k/a Katherine S. Reed or Katherine Santello, who lived at 4113 Excelsior Blvd. Mrs. Kay had advised the woman to mortgage her house, then took the money to a Pow Wow to be blessed.

Park National Bank, 5219 Wayzata Blvd., was robbed of $55,000-$60,000 by two armed men. The two were arrested in Wyoming and Montana. At the time it was the third largest ban robbery in Minnesota bank history.

1965

In January, a kangaroo court was convened to pass judgment on retiring municipal judges Anton Yngve and John C. McNulty, who were accused of conspiracy to practice justice. Yngve’s court-appointed lawyers were his sons, John and Albert. Kenneth Wolfe served as prosecutor. Character witnesses came forward and sang the praises of the retiring judges. After a proposed necktie party was defeated, “Judge” (City Attorney) H.H. Burry imposed the sentence: “The best of luck and continued success in your practice of law.”

On February 4, 1965, it was reported that at least 25-30 Parkites were using narcotics, including codeine, pep pills, glue, and goof balls.  The City Council put Gene Strommen in charge of a council committee on narcotics.

Kids were getting rougher, with reports of them hanging around Miracle Mile and Knollwood, smoking, harassing customers, and blocking sidewalks.  At Halloween the Minnesota Emergency Community Corporation helped the police spot Halloween vandalism.

An ordinance prohibited motorized vehicles on any body of water in the City.

In May, Mrs. Violet E. Bonini was found near the edge of a swamp on 27th St. between Colorado and Dakota. The victim, age 46, was divorced with three kids.

Also in May, three 18-year-olds were arrested with $4,000-$5,000 in narcotics that had been taken from the St. Louis Park Medical Center. One suspect had been released from Willmar State Hospital for narcotics addition and was turned over to the Youth Conservation Commission. The other two were released to their parents.

Shoplifting was getting to be a real problem – a couple of stores were so plagued that the City was considering raising the retail license fee to recoup police costs.

Police had one car with a Stephenson radar unit, which supplemented the department’s electronic speed check equipment (two hoses spaced in the road).

Harold Gene Leach was charged with burglary, possession of burglary tools, assault stemming from a bar fight, and intimidation of a Federal witness. He was sent to Stillwater State prison, to be handed over later to Federal authorities.

In June, the Citizen Subcommittee on Narcotics stated that 50 St. Louis Park citizens have been connected with narcotics abuse in one form or another. Of those, 8 were identified as addicted, heavy users, and 15 were under age 18, including 3 girls. They stated “every addict brings in three victims in a period of 1-1/2 to 2 years.” One problem was that codeine was still over-the-counter. Assistant High School Principal Andrew Droen said that he found no evidence of narcotics abuse at school.

July brought an ordinance controlling codeine, barbiturates, and glue, although it may have been that these products could not be in self-service displays. Minneapolis had such an ordinance – Park was the second jurisdiction in the area to follow suit.

By December, narcotics thefts from pharmacies had doubled in the past three months. At that time, narcotics were not locked up behind the counter.

Wolfe Lake was the place for kids to gather and drink, smoke, and who knows what all. In July, 45 kids from a Minneapolis dance hall made their way to the scene, only to be confronted with the police.

In August the police department got a new motorcycle, allowing them to catch speeders on Highway 100 who were going 60 in a 45 mph zone. Remember, 100 still had a fair number of stoplights along the way.

Someone threw a Molotov cocktail at Betty’s Cafeteria, located on the Minnesota Rubber compound. Damage was minor and limited to the door. The action may have been related to a strike of about 300 workers that started on July 29, 1965.

On October 14, Orlo A. Hemstock of 3400 Xenwood was arrested with his 18-year-old son and two other young people (one age 13) for more than 20 burglaries in St. Louis Park, Minnetonka, Hopkins, and Edina. Hemstock, 52, was given 5 years in Stillwater – the others were given probation. The judge was incensed, telling Orlo, “nobody is going to miss you” and that he was “no good to his family or society and was an evil influence on his children and neighbors.” He also told one of the young defendants to “get a haircut.”

Dr. Fred Lyons, the first president of the St. Louis Park Human Relations Council, was arrested in Alabama for practicing medicine without a license.

1966

On the morning of July 25, Eugene Kilmer shot and killed his wife near her home in Minneapolis. A few hours later, Kilmer called his pastor, Rev. Ralph Erickson, and told him he was at Knollwood Plaza. Police and Erickson found Kilmer there, threatening to commit suicide. With the help of Erickson and Hennepin County Deputy Sheriff Joseph Jeremko, who was a friend of Kilmer, he surrendered without further incident. Kilmer was charged with first degree murder and held on $30,000 bond.

There were 12 shoplifting cases in one week in September 1966. Most took place at Target and Shoppers’ City.

Hoigaard’s was robbed of $1,100 in hunting equipment and vending machine coins by burglars who gained entry through a ventilator fan in the roof. They did not get the safe.

Brookside Drug was robbed of narcotics in January by David Michael Kluck a/k/a David Espejo. He robbed pharmacist James S. Straun with a nickel-plated handgun, demanding all of the Class A and B narcotics. He was later found, shaking, and gave himself up.

1967
Gun Control and snowmobiling ordinances were passed in 1968.

1969

A three year old girl was kidnapped from her bedroom during the night of May 27-28. She was found on June 3 in Oak Hill Park, naked, bruised, and with a broken jaw. There were no immediate suspects.

On November 21, 1969, three men were arrested in a brawl at George’s in the Park, which apparently was not unusual. As many as 20 people took part in the melee, and two employees were injured. One of the suspects got away, but got in another fight in the middle of the street and was apprehended.

1970

In October, police obtained Vascar technology – that’s Visual Average Speed Computer and Recorder. The system was not radar, but used landmarks to check speed. The Department used it to rack up 50 tickets in six weeks.

The first wire tap used in Minnesota, conducted in April 1970, helped apprehend a 29-year-old Minneapolis woman on May 12 at the Ambassador Motor Hotel, 5225 Wayzata Blvd. Ruth Ann Schlosser was convicted of prostitution and possession of hashish.

Crime had become a serious problem for retailers, so the Chamber of Commerce sponsored a Security Seminar, attended by 100 businessmen, on November 10, 1970. The seminar, held at City Hall, featured speakers on shoplifting, bad checks, and internal security. In a related item, the Pinkertons were actively recruiting in the area.

Michael Ross Mastrian, 29, was captured at Perkins Cake and Steak (4150 Excelsior Blvd.) after robbing First Federal Savings and Loan of $2,179 on November 13, 1970. He was arrested by the FBI, with the assistance of St. Louis Park Police.

Perhaps in response to flower power, the department moved away from black and whites and started using cars in various shades of blue, thus portraying a "softer image."  The blue cars lasted over 20 years.  Here's a patrol car from 1973.  (from slppd.org)

1971

George Schaumberg, owner of George’s in the Park, was robbed in his home of $1,400 in cash and jewelry. His assailants were described as armed and potbellied.

Roy Anderson of 3305 Zarthan shot at his wife with a rifle. She ran across the street to call Police, but he got off 14 shots before he was subdued and charged with aggravated assault.

There were 157 domestic violence calls in 1971. At the time the issue was treated lightly, with men joking about Maggie and Jiggs, two characters in the comics who beat each other constantly.

1972

Brookside Drug was robbed of three bottles of codeine and six bottles of morphine. Owner Nate Goldstone was robbed at gunpoint, and said that the bandit didn’t want money, just “dope.”

In April, an 18-year-old was kidnapped at knifepoint in St. Louis Park by two men asking directions to Rose Street. They rode around for awhile and dropped him unharmed in St. Paul, sans shoes and billfold.

In August, a gunman ordered four employees of the PDQ at 4611 Excelsior Blvd. into the office and took 14 bags of money from the safe. He also took $100 from the cash register.

After polishing off a steak dinner, a robber relieved the Embers at 3924 Excelsior Blvd. of between $75 and $112 on August 5, 1972.

Five armed robbers hit Zayre Shoppers’ City for $22,000 in cash and checks – one of the largest robberies in St. Louis Park history. Robbers handcuffed employees to pipes. One took the time to rob the barber shop of $100, and another paid cash for an album before the heist.
The perpetrators either wore heavy white makeup or were “very very sick.”

A two-way Motorola radio valued at $75 was swiped from the caboose of a Minnesota, Northfied, and Southern train in April 1972.

One day in April, Lawrence A. Larson had had enough at the Royal Crown Restaurant at Knollwood, but when he was cut off, he pulled a gun on the manager. Employees got the gun away, and Mayor Frank Pucci helped restrain him until the cops came. He was charged with aggravated assault.

1974

Police Chief Clyde Sorenson retired after 14 years on March 15, 1974. He had joined the force in 1948, become Chief in 1959, and in all his years he never fired a gun at anyone or been fired upon. His next job was director of security for the Cedar/Riverside housing development.

Richard Setter became the new Chief in 1974 and served until August 1984, when he resigned to become the Chief of the Minnetonka Police Department.

In tune with the streaking fad, Donald A. Omestad, 24, was charged with indecent conduct after being apprehended while riding his bike near Louisiana Ave. and Cedar Lake Road. He was buck naked – and laughing.

A raid of the home of James Charles and Sandra Lee Kraft (2904 Rhode Island) yielded 11lbs. of marijuana and ¼ oz. of pure Mexican heroin. Kraft had been arrested at Minnetonka Blvd. and Dakota, and Mrs. Kraft let the police in the house. Also confiscated were two sets of scales, baggies, two rifles, a shotgun, and a pistol.

Clark’s Submarine Shop at 4300 Excelsior Blvd. was held up on a regular basis.

The Body Shoppe Sauna, 4414 Excelsior Blvd. had a constant battle with the law. The shoppe offered “sensitivity sessions,” where employees used feathers to caress customers. A sauna, shower, and massage cost $15/hour, of which the employee got $2. For some reason, the Body Shoppe was a heavy advertiser in the TV Times, with up to six ads in an edition.  From there we find there was a second location in Fridley.  Police inspected the premises on Excelsior Blvd. once a month since it opened, and employees were regularly arrested for prostitution. In September 1978, two men robbed and raped and employee, and it wasn’t long, until owner Sandra Johnson closed and sold it on February 6, 1979. It was reopened in February 1980 by Pamela Pryor as a “rap parlor,” where clients would pay $20 for a ½ hour of conversation – the “selling of free speech.” Among the amenities was a personal exercise room. Another two employees were arrested for prostitution. The Body Shoppe was out of business by July 1, 1981.

Also under fire was Kimiko’s Sauna, which offered professional Oriental massage. Kimiko’s was staffed by Vietnamese women and located in the McBee Building on 36-1/2 Street.

On August 26, 1974, Park National Bank, 5219 Wayzata Blvd. was robbed at gunpoint. Police arrested 10 suspects.

Two gunman, armed by a shotgun and a pistol each, burst into Reiss’s Restaurant and robbed the till and the customers. As a parting shot, they made everyone strip naked, leaving with “thanks for everything.”

The Minneapolis workhouse at Parker’s Lake was transferred to Hennepin County.

1974
The City Council saw fit to pass a new nudity ordinance "designed to limit the expanse of bare skin that nightclub and bar employees may display on duty."  The ordinance defined nudity and approved of pasties.  The ordinance was in response to establishments like Duff's in the Park that offered lingerie shows and "body painting."  Joseph Duffy said he was already in compliance:  the body painting models wore opaque bikinis and the lingerie models wore opaque panties and pasties under see-through gowns.  Richard Graves cast the sole dissenting vote, saying "If a person wants to go to a lingerie show, no one should prevent it." 

Daniel E. Brummer was arrested in connection with an armed robbery on April 18, 1974 at Snyder's Drug Store in Miracle Mile.  The lone gunman took prescription drugs.

1975

Aquila School teacher Margaret Hattel, 33, was stabbed to death at about 6am on January 27, 1975 in her security apartment at the Fountain Woods Apartments, 6710 Vernon in Edina. She had been at a School Board meeting until 10:30 the night before. She had been bludgeoned, then stabbed, and was found nude in the bathroom. Miss Hattel had been a teacher at Aquila, Brookside, Oak Hill, and Park Knoll. Robert John Reid, 25, was arrested on June 27 and charged with the crime. Reid and his wife were resident managers, and she had discovered the body. She later called police and said she feared for her life, which led them to her husband. He was only charged with third degree murder.

On April 9, 1975, two gunmen held up Bunny’s and forced the employees in a cooler. The headline read “Robbers Keep Victims Cool.”

In May, a bomb went off in the parking lot behind City Hall, slightly damaging a squad car. It had been taped to the car, and went off when the car pulled away. The blast could be heard to Excelsior Blvd.

Things were rough on Excelsior Blvd., apparently. A 22-year-old man was walking along the Boulevard at Monterey one September night when a man grabbed him by the collar and demanded his wallet. The bad man ran away after collecting the $10 in the wallet, not to be found.

A 45-year-old man was arrested for the murder of his wife, who was found dead of gunshot wounds on October 10, 1975. The woman, age 27, was a native of Romania. The couple had three children. Two years earlier, the man was accused of assaulting his wife with a hammer, but she refused to press charges and he was given probation. [Names have been redacted at the family's request.]

On November 24-25, 242 color TV sets were stolen from Zayre Shoppers’ City on Highway 100. The trailer full of TVs was picked up by a tractor that had been stolen from Minneapolis. The tractor trailer was found in Minneapolis on the 25th.

Farming operations at the Parker's Lake Work House were suspended.  The Minneapolis facility was transferred to Hennepin County.

1976

Clark Scott Richardson, 19, shot his father, Merle Richardson, to death in August 1976. He was charged with first degree murder.

Peggy Shriver Parranto, 24, was shot to death on November 11, 1976 in Las Vegas. She had lived at 26th and Xenwood, although she graduated from Minnetonka High School in 1970. She was a sales representative for the Flamingo Capri Hotel in Las Vegas. Her survivors included a husband and small child.

While the 1975 crime rate was up 11 percent, the 1975 rate was down 12 percent. Operation ID was given part of the credit for the decline.

1977

A bomb was taped to the underside of a police car at police headquarters, rigged so that it would go off when the car was moved. The explosion could be heard for blocks, but fortunately the officer was not hurt. The perpetrator was identified four months later, a demolition expert in the Army. He said it was a practical joke. He was charged with a misdemeanor.

On March 7, David Anthony Gutberlet and an unnamed juvenile orchestrated an armed holdup of the Falcon Oil station at 3920 Excelsior Blvd. Gutberlet was described as at-large and out-of-state.

The Park Tavern was held up by a couple of masked men. No one was convicted, but the owner thought that the criminals were later convicted of armed robbery in Nebraska.

After an 11 month investigation, 11 people were arrested after making drug sales to agents of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Investigation in St. Louis Park. The perpetrators, which included 3 juveniles, were accused of the sale of LSD, cocaine, marijuana, hashish, and PCP. They were arrested in May after a raid on a house in Minneapolis. The confiscated drugs, which included a 23 lb. cube of marijuana, had a street value of $35,000. Sentencing was deferred for one year.

1978

In January, 25 arrests were made in a 7 month drug investigation, which also involved armed robbery and fencing stolen property. Drugs found included marijuana, cocaine, angel dust, speed, and methamphetamine. Relatives of those arrested made complaints of police harassment.

Sometime before 1am on February 16, 1978, Elayne Galleries was struck by thieves who took off with 7 Norman Rockwells worth $145,000 and a Renoir valued at $150,000. Many of the pieces were on loan from Brown and Bigelow. They were insured. The Art Crime Law dictated that the theft was in the jurisdiction of the FBI. Elayne bounced back with a Rockwell show on February 14, 1979, displaying 232 works valued at $500,000.
 

Ah, the internet: On December 13, 2001, three Norman Rockwell paintings stolen in 1978 were recovered from a Brazilian farmhouse owned by an art dealer. The three paintings – "The Spirit of '76," "So Much Concern" and "A Hasty Retreat" – were returned to their owner, Brown & Bigelow Company, a Minneapolis calendar publisher. The works, worth $700,000 to $1 million, were among seven stolen in 1978 from the Elayne Galleries in St. Louis Park, Minnesota ("National Briefing Midwest: Stolen Rockwell Paintings Found," NY Times. 13 December 2001). Thanks to Keith Meland for spotting this.

Keith also reports that on the same night as the Elayne Galleries theft, the home of Mr. Fred Riggs, on the 3200 block of Rhode Island Ave., was robbed of his collection of military paraphernalia, including helmets, uniforms, swords, guns, and medals.  Riggs was frustrated at the lack of attention the SLP PD gave his case, and was asked to produce an inventory of the items stolen.  Unfortunately, one of the items was a Medal of Honor - while it was legal to buy and sell other military medals, it was against the law to buy or sell a Medal of Honor.  Riggs' case was turned over to the Army, but no charges were filed. 

In April, there was a bomb scare at the Shakey’s Pizza Parlor at 6501 Wayzata Blvd. On a tip, police found a fake bomb in the trash can in the men’s room. The 88th disposal unit for Twin City Arsenal was sent to retrieve it, and it was sent to the FBI in Washington, DC for analysis.

Home Federal Savings at 3915 Highway 7 was robbed on a fairly regular basis. In July they fled on bikes. In January 1979 a Nazi helmet was left behind.

1979

City Manager John Elwell resigned after he lost a city car. Apparently he had picked up a hitchhiker at Lake and Hennepin, and the guest helped himself to the wheel and took off. This happened on March 29, and the car was found at the Parkway Motor Hotel, Hiawatha and Minnehaha Parkway, on October 1. Elwell tendered his resignation immediately, withdrew it a week later, but later resigned.

Employees of Citizens State Bank were stunned when fellow employee Ruth Barthel, the bank’s chief bookkeeper, pled guilty to embezzling $259,632 over a six year period. Much of the money went for trips to Las Vegas, Germany, and the Caribbean. The loss was insured. Barthel was found out when examiners checked the bank’s records on a day she called in sick.

A five-month investigation resulted in the arrest of 14 people on drug-related charges in late May/early June. Most of the perpetrators were from outside of St. Louis Park, but had plied their wares here. Seized were marijuana, cocaine, PCP, hashish, meth, and LSD - $46,000 worth in all. One of the kids arrested was “the biggest dealer of chemicals at St. Louis Park High School.”

On October 15, 1979, a makeshift bomb was found at Westwood Jr. High. Five students were found to be responsible.

In December, vandals smashed 25 windows at Ethel Baston Elementary School. The previous year someone got in and stole musical instruments.

1980

On January 24, Jay Terrence Lunow, 42, pulled a gun on a guard at Snyder Drug at Miracle Mile. He had hidden the shotgun in a duffle bag.  The area was cordoned off, but he got away.  Officers Gary Therkelsen and Thomas Hocking thought the description of the assailant was Lunow, and they went to the home of his parents where they knew he lived looking for him twice but the parents said they hadn’t seen him.  The following day Lunow went to his ex-wife’s home and stole her car. She reported it and Lunow was stopped by the Golden Valley Police on Winnetka and Golden Valley Road. Lunow pulled out the .410 shotgun and fired on police. They returned fire killing him. Lunow’s parents told Therkelsen that he had been hiding in the garage with the shotgun when they had stopped by the night before but they were afraid to tell police as they feared there would be a shootout.  Jay Terrance Lunow was well known by the St. Louis Park police department.

From December 28, 1979 to January 6, 1980, the City was under siege after four rapes had been committed in quick succession. Police apprehended Thomas Scott Wagner, 26 on March 13. A plea bargain resulted in his being charged with burglary and receiving and concealing stolen goods – but not rape. He was given 10 years at Stillwater for each count.

1981

Cheryl Rossi, 23, was found in a vacant lot in North Minneapolis with a gunshot to the head. She was alive, despite spending three nights in single-digit cold for three days.

The City ordinance outlawing massage parlors, saunas, and escort services became effective on April 1.

Radio Station WWTC, located at 2309 Brunswick, was burglarized twice in July, with losses estimated at $14,000. The thieves got away with radio and testing equipment and satellite system circuit cards.

The Bunny Hutch was owned by Daniel Bahler, 37, of 2544 Zarthan. His business operated out of 3130 Excelsior Blvd. in Minneapolis. He advertised: “a lovely woman to listen…to gently massage…to share your pleasures.” A notable feature was that his employees were eligible for Blue Cross/Blue Shield. The FBI investigated, and got him on insurance fraud: $10,000 fine and five years probation. His lawyer was Ellis Olkon. He was also prosecuted for promoting prostitution and attempting to distribute cocaine. He sold the Hutch in 1981.

David Corum of Brooklyn Center made his way to the Meadowbrook Women’s Clinic at 6490 Excelsior Blvd. and threatened to detonate a bomb, which turned out to be made of soap, gas, water, and a double boiler. He thought an ex-girlfriend might get an abortion there, and he was demonstrating against convenience abortions. At the time, Meadowbrook was the region’s largest abortion clinic.

Rina B. Fuff, 1840 Jersey Ave., was found stabbed and asphyxiated in her home. Police responded to an anonymous tip and also found her husband, Irvin, who was unconscious from the gas but was revived. He was charged with first degree murder and subject to a $150,000 bond. Mrs. Fuff worked at Qualitone Hearing Aids on 35th Street.

On November 15, 1981, Lauren Gail Andersen of 4246 Vernon Ave. disappeared from her parents’ home and was never seen again. Police arrested a suspect in her murder, but without any physical evidence, no charges could be filed.

1982

Alfred Clinton Trenholm shot wife Mary Ann three times with a shotgun on January 25, 1982, after she had served him with divorce papers. He was charged with attempted first degree murder. A Clinton A. Trenholm and wife Mary Ann are listed in the 1980 directory as living at 3311 Xenwood Ave.

In the continuing struggle to regulate prostitutes out of business, the City Council did give beauty salons the go-ahead to provide therapeutic massages as an incidental service accounting for no more than 20 percent of gross receipts. The change in the 1980 ordinance prohibiting massages except at health clubs by health care professionals was successfully lobbied by Eleanor Winn, who operated Body Dimensions, 5407 Excelsior Blvd.

Park school officials cracked down on student smoking with a vengeance.  In the 1970s, smoking in the bathrooms was a common occurrence.  Officials also tried designating an outdoor area where students could smoke, but that soon became a "pit."  Now students were issued tickets and faced suspension if they were caught.  Going to McDonald's was infeasible too, as Park police were stationed there and ready to issue tickets.  Principal Wanio reported that there was little opposition to the new policy.

Vandals caused $1,700 in damage at the Westwood Hills Nature Center by using a tree branch to break windows. The culprits escaped on a yellow moped. Honeywell had just donated an alarm system to the Center the previous June.

Robert Eisenberg, 50, strangled wife Harriet to death at their home at 2067 Utah. Harriet, 50, was found beside her car. The Eisenbergs’ two grown children tried to convince the judge to reduce the charge to manslaughter, but Robert killed himself by carbon monoxide poisoning in his garage on December 7 while awaiting trial.  Additional details come from Office Gary Therkelsen:

Early morning of March 2nd, 1982, I was patrolling in the “3941” district. I drove into the industrial area south of Cedar Lake Road and Edgewood and saw a car in the middle of a field with the dome light on and a door open. It had snowed that night and there were not tire or foot impressions visible so the car had obviously been there most of the night. When I approached the car I saw a partially clothed body of a woman who was later identified as Harriet Eisenberg who had turned 50 the day prior. The crime scene suggested criminal sexual conduct (rape) and murder. This was apparently staged to deflect suspicion from her husband.

 

Investigators were frustrated by the inability to connect anyone to the crime until they secured and performed a search warrant of the Eisenberg home. That didn’t reveal any real evidence until Investigator Pat Collins crawled into the attic and found the clothing that was missing from the crime scene and other evidence. Eisenberg was arrested, charged and ultimately committed suicide.

On December 1, the City’s 911 equipment came on line, as demonstrated by a picture of officer Percy Morris in the Dispatch on November 24. A “911 Telefair” on November 30 launched the new service. The fair featured a five store hot air balloon, a 12 minute slide presentation, and a “911 Cheer” by the Parkettes. The Minnesota legislature had ordered statewide 911 service by December 1986, and in the Twin Cities area by December 1982.

Ronald Peterson’s Hair by Big Kids, at 4816 Excelsior Blvd. was cited for violating the City’s new massage parlor ordinance. The shop offered a tanning booth and massage.

Don't know if this is true, but we read a rumor that there was a murder on the 2nd floor of Benigan's, 6465 Wayzata Blvd.  Maybe that's why it's been vacant for so long.  Don't know when this would have been, but the building was supposedly built in 1982. 

1983

The Tri-State Agencies, Inc., 4412 Excelsior Blvd. was owned by Dale Thomas McCauley. He and three employees plead guilty to forgery and theft by forging the signature of an 80-year-old woman on a Medicare supplement insurance policy. Another employee fled to avoid prosecution.

It was a bad night at the Classic, that March 16, 1983. Employee Mark Holdridge was found yelling and intoxicated by police after they responded to a call about a broken window at 3:45 am. Holdridge pleaded guilty to breaking the window and was given a 10-day suspended sentence. Then, the restaurant’s manager was fined $110 for allowing unauthorized persons on the premises after hours. Two other employees were fired, and the manager, Michael Zachar, was busted down to bartender. In response to this mayhem, the City Council voted to suspend the bar’s liquor license on June 15, 1984.

After buying stolen goods for 15 months, undercover officers, Police executed a successful sting on April 19, 1983.  The investigation focused on burglary, fencing, and sale of drugs.  Warrants were issued for 91 individuals, and police recovered $175,000 of stolen property, including cars (including a Corvette with 18 miles on it), photographic equipment, video equipment stolen from a WCCO van, computers, firearms, musical instruments, and jewelry. Marijuana, cocaine, speed, and PCP with a street value of $100,000 were also confiscated.

91 people from 10 communities were arrested under Operation UNICORN. Perps were taken to the Rec Center for fingerprinting and photographs. The average age was said to be just over 21, with several juveniles held. 96 percent of those arrested were white males. 

The sting was the culmination of a 15-month investigation involving the FBI, ATF, U.S. Postal Inspector, Minn. Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, Hennepin County Sheriff, and the Minneapolis, Hopkins, Bloomington, Richfield, Golden Valley, Minnetonka, New Hope, Plymouth, and Edina police departments. Once the results of Project Unicorn (Undercover investigations Centering on Residential Neighborhoods) were announced, callers flooded the phone lines to see if their stolen property was recovered. 81 of the 91 arrested were convicted.

In 1983 the police department had 65 employees and 35 volunteers

Four men were arrested on August 6 at the K-Mart (formerly Shoppers’ City) parking lot at 3700 Highway 100. Over $31,000 in cash and 140 pounds of marijuana were seized. None of the men were from St. Louis Park.

Police busted the folks at 1805 Idaho Ave. in September and harvested their marijuana for them. Some of the plants were 7 feet high. “The amount will not be known until the police department dries and weighs the plants.” UhHuh. The paper provided a picture of a police van filled with reefer.

Leaning Post owner Phil Eder was arrested on December 26, 1983 for resisting arrest and assaulting an officer. A call was received that a waitress had been assaulted by two female customers after they were cut off. When officers arrived, Eder tried to prevent them from talking to the waitress. Incidents like this undoubtedly led to the reputation of the Leaning Post as a tough bar.

A brou-ha-ha erupted over a billboard advertising the Lion’s Club Pancake Breakfast in April. Naegele Outdoor Advertising erected the sign on the property of S&D Cleaners, 4501 Excelsior Blvd. The sign was in conformance with the City’s ordinances, but might not have been had the City acted on a revised code tabled in 1979. Neighbors were up in arms about its proximity to their property and about 60 of them came to a City Council meeting to register their views.

1984

The cremated remains of a man’s mother, stowed in a gym bag in the back of his car as he stopped in St. Louis Park for the night on January 7, were stolen. Later, other items in the gym bag were returned, but no mom. That April, a member of the Minneapolis Park Police found the urn in a city park and turned it over to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner. The ashes finally made their way to Lakewood Cemetery.

FBI agents confiscated more than 12 pounds of heroin – originating in Bangkok – from a footstool in a Cadillac at an Amoco Station on Wayzata Blvd. The heroin was found to be 90 percent pure, with an estimated street value of $50 million. The heroin was contained in an elephant-shaped footstool which came to the Cities by rail. It was then kept in a storage facility on the 6300 block of Cambridge Street. Park officers kept an eye on it while one of the suspects put the footstool in a Cadillac and parked it at an Amoco station at 7005 Wayzata Blvd. On June 19 the officers searched the car and found the footstool. One of the suspects was a 26-year-old Park resident.

Mancel Mitchell became Police Chief on October 1, 1984

1985

Chief Mancel Mitchell started up a rash of personal arrests when he collared a Federal fugitive who had shoplifted clothes from Knollwood. Then on March 28, he spotted three armed robbers driving on Cedar Lake Road and made chase. And on November 18, Chief Mitchell spotted suspects while riding in his unmarked police car, pulled them over, and arrested them. This time, he heard a call go out for a car carrying three women who had forced themselves into an elderly woman’s house and stolen her checks. After the collar, the press and Park police officers started referring to Mitchell as “Chief Earp.”

Robbers took off with over $10,500 in a March 16 robbery at Snyder Drug in Miracle Mile. After asking for foot powder, the man forced a female employee to give him the money, then bound her with fiberglass tape.

Gypsies were back! In May, a homeowner at 32nd and Alabama had her house ransacked by a Gypsy woman in her late 40’s, dark-skinned, speaking with a foreign accent, and wearing a hat with a 2-inch brim. Police warned residents against such scam artists, who sometimes tried to sell shrubbery or lightning rods. See 1913, 1934, 1964

The City installed its first yellow and white Neighborhood Watch sign at the corner of Hamilton and Zarthan in June. The program had started in 1983.

On August 23, police estimated that about 100 pro-lifers picketed Methodist Hospital to protest abortions performed at Meadowbrook Women’s Clinic. The group claimed that the clinic was owned by Methodist, a statement denied by the hospital. The 3-1/2 hour rally was the first of many demonstrations planned by Peace of Minnesota. The group claimed that 120,000 abortions had been performed at Meadowbrook since it opened in 1972.

Three officers of the St. Louis Park firm Kitco, Inc. a/k/a Krown Manufacturing Co. were issued a permanent injunction and were ordered to pay the FTC $531,949 in damages for losses suffered by the company’s customers. The company was accused of defrauding customers by selling them machines to make plastic paint roller trays and signs and falsely promising to buy back their products. The three officers were Duane F. Snelling, a/k/a Harvey Butterfield of Los Vegas (owner and president), Craig A. Jesinoski, and John E. Farkas of Minnetonka.

1986

Police Chief Mancel Mitchell, already known for three arrests since his tenure began, made another on April 22 when he heard a call on the way to work and arrested a youth in a stabbing incident. Then on July 9, he arrested three teens trying to cash a forged check at the Twin City Federal branch at Knollwood.

Dr. Paul L. Warner, a psychiatrist working at the Christian Mental Health Center in St. Louis Park, had his license restricted by the state Board of Medical Examiners because he had sexual contact with two female patients between 1972 and 1977. He said he had been involved with the Christian evangelical movement for many years.

The body of St. Louis Park resident Marjorie Ann Buscher, a 19-year-old hitchhiker with a mental age of 12, was found by the side of the road in Sumter County, off I-95, stabbed several times in the chest and back. She had been traveling the U.S. since September 1985 – before that she had been confined to a state mental hospital. Police explored the possibility that she was murdered by a serial killer that focused on redheads.

Former St. Louis Park councilman Jerrold Martin was accused of receiving favorable treatment on personal real estate transactions from two developers after voting in favor of the developers in their dealings with the council. The Star and Tribune reported that Martin was a real estate agent and former police officer. He served on the city council from 1977 to 1985, stepping down voluntarily at the end of his term. The developers involved were the Darrel A. Farr Development Corp. and Shamrock Builders, Inc.

1988

A four-month sting operation yielded 13 arrests and recovery of more than $110,000 in stolen property. About half of those arrested that February were from St. Louis Park. Included in the dragnet were six vehicles, several boats, motors, sports equipment, cash, credit cards, and drugs.

1989

On October 27, 1989, a crowd of 50-150 youths gathered outside of the Roller Garden. Several fist fights broke out, and an officer was struck while making an arrest. Five juveniles were arrested.

On November 5, 1989, police were again dispatched to the Roller Garden. Shots were fired from two cars in a dispute that somehow had to do with someone’s sister. Five men were arrested and three weapons were seized.

On November 12, 1989, acting on a tip, police approached a group of men on the street outside the Roller Garden and confiscated a number of weapons. One arrest was made.

1990

More trouble near the Roller Garden, where three people from St. Paul were hit with two shotgun blasts. Owner Bill Sahly had hired off-duty police and changed formats to more family fare to try to cut down on the violence, and the City had moved a bus stop to prevent milling around. The City also raised Sahly’s license fee, citing costs to police the area, which Sahly vehemently protested.

Ron Wilson was sentenced to 450 months in prison for killing his estranged wife, Cynthia Schlegel-Wilson in July. The victim had been bound, beaten, and stabbed in her home at 7845 – 13th Lane. The couple had a history of domestic violence and he had been under a restraining order.

The jail and locker room of Police headquarters in the basement of City Hall were condemned. From May to December, prisoners were sent to the Hennepin County jail, and officers changed in a conference room.

John Heidelberger went to Federal prison on charges of mail fraud and mail theft. The 37-year-old mailman had been stealing credit card applications from people along his route and buying things with them. Police identified 44 credit card applications stolen from patrons in the northwest part of the Park. To conceal the existence of the credit cards, he stole monthly bills and other correspondence from the credit card companies, and even sent change of address notices to the companies to divert the monthly bills. The scheme went on from July 1986 to February 1990, and he and his wife charged approximately $155,000 worth of merchandise and cash.

1991

Park police took possession of 3,712 pornographic videotapes from an apartment at Menorah Plaza, 4925 Minnetonka Blvd. A 52-year-old man was caught trying to sell them through the newspaper, from a building next to the police station. Selling adult movies is not illegal unless they are pirated and/or the actors are underage.

1992

Police confiscated 50 pounds of marijuana from the folks at 3720 Quebec and from a storage locker on Louisiana Ave. They also took $1,500 in cash, a 1990 Harley Davidson motorcycle, and a Thompson semi-automatic machine gun. Raymond Earl Bennett was arrested.

St. Louis Park native Brian Maas was shot and killed at the gun shop where he worked on June 23, 1992.  They were employed at Lloyd's Sport Shop, 4831 Lyndale Ave. No.  Thieves took as many as 100 guns in the robbery.  Maas was a 1974 graduate of St. Louis Park High School.

1993

Somewhat related to police and crime was the Women’s Gun Shop, which operated at 4530 Excelsior Blvd. It was opened in August by 21-year-old Nikole Christianson, who wore a loaded .38 Colt in the waistband of her jeans. The shop concentrated on education, providing pamphlets, books, and a four-hour self defense course for $99, taught by Christianson and John Holm. Holm taught martial arts for over 40 years, and both he and Christianson taught the judo class in Adult Extension at the U of M. They also taught defense tactic classes to both police and FBI.

In July 1993, over 200 protesters belonging to several "pro rights groups" (as reported by the Sun-Sailor) chanted, blew whistles, beat drums and shouted at members of Calvary Temple, 9500 Minnetonka Blvd., arrived for services.  They were opposing the church's support of the Operation Rescue anti-abortion demonstrations, one of which was held at an abortion clinic in Robbinsdale the day before.  The church’s pastor, Rev. Lawrence Reves, had helped coordinate Operation Rescue activities. Seven people were arrested at the Calvary protest, including an Associated Press photographer, some under the state's new stalking law.  Police from Robbinsdale, Maple Grove, Edina, Minnetonka, Minneapolis, and the State Patrol responded to the situation, escorting church members and using mace to subdue protesters.  Many of the protesters were from out of state; some men wore dresses and wigs, and some women held a "kiss-in" during the protest. 

St. Louis Park attorney Edward M. Cohen, Sr., 61, was disbarred by the Minnesota Supreme Court, and faced four felony charges of theft by swindle. 13 allegations of unprofessional conduct were filed against Cohen, who lived in Minnetonka and practiced at the Parkdale Plaza Building at 1660 Highway 100. He was accused of taking $290,000 in client funds. He also took more than $100,000 from his mother to replace funds he’d taken from his clients. The charges also stated that he had engaged in misconduct with clients, violated court orders, neglected client matters, overcharged clients, forged signatures, liked to clients, and impeded the investigation against him.

The owner of Airlink Travel Agency, 4820 Excelsior Blvd., pleaded guilty to federal mail fraud in connection to a bogus insurance claim operation involving bogus accidents in Nigeria. Akindele A. Akinola and two others operated the scam out of the Airlink office. They also submitted false claims to airlines claiming lost luggage. Akinola told an informant, “It’s the American way.”

St. Louis Park Police moved into their new headquarters at 3015 Raleigh Ave., across the parking lot from City Hall, where it had been located since 1963. The new $3 million police station was dedicated on September 19, 1993. It was the first time that the police department had its own facility. The architect was Boarman, Kroos, Pfister and Associates, and the builder was Adolfson and Peterson, Inc.

Minneapolis police raided Duggan’s Bar and Grill in November 1993, seizing gambling sheets and paraphernalia. The case started when a Minneapolis police officer on another case followed his suspect into Willie’s Bar in the rear of Duggan’s. At that time, he witnessed illegal betting on football, with waitresses and bartenders as participants.

1994

Seven employees of Musicland, 7500 Excelsior Blvd., were charged with stealing compact disks and players from the warehouse. Surveillance cameras helped identify the thieves.

Rev. Gordon and Nancy Peterson, pastors at Calvary Temple, flew to Norway to attend the Olympics in March but were denied entry into the country. The Petersons and 10 other Americans were anti-abortion activists, invited by Norwegian clergy to participate in pro-life activities. The next day, the painting “The Scream” was stolen, and one of the Norwegian ministers told the press that it might be returned if an anti-abortion film “The Silent Scream” was broadcast on national television. Although they were detained, suspicion was pointed at the Americans, who had spent time in jail before for anti-abortion activities.

1995

John Bryson Vogel, 52, was accused of printing more than $19 million in fake bills in January 1995. Some of the fake bills were seized from a mini-storage facility in the 3800 block of Louisiana Ave. in St. Louis Park. Vogel confessed that he passed the counterfeit bills throughout the United States for the past 1-1/2 years. He was released on bond January 17. He failed to show at his court hearing on January 23, and the chase was on. Cut to July 12, when he held up the First Federal Savings and Loan in downtown Sioux Falls and led police on a 50-mile car chase, that ended in Rushmore, Minnesota when he shot himself to death in the head.

The Northwest Metro Drug Task Force carried out one of the largest drug busts in Twin Cities history on May 30, 1995. Cops seized 659 pounds of marijuana, a pound and a half of pure cocaine, and a pound of meth from an apartment at 6850 Meadowbrook and two storage facilities, one in St. Louis Park and one in Minnetonka.

Fantasy Gifts was owned by Robert, Colleen, and Stevie Beritno. The store, which sold adult novelty lingerie, toys, and gifts, first came to St. Louis Park in 1983, located at 5810 Excelsior Blvd. In 1995, the shop moved to 4814 Excelsior, and at that point the City filed an injunction, saying the store was in violation of the city’s adult-use ordinance. The judge disagreed, and the business was allowed to continue.

1997
Nursing director Mark E. Wetsch was convicted of misappropriating nearly $1.4 million from Shalom Home West from 1997 to 2005.

2005

Shalom Home Nursing Director Mark E. Wetsch was sentenced to three years and 10 months in prison for stealing $1.4 million from the facility from 1997 to 2005. He used the money for home improvements, vacations, four vehicles, three snowmobiles, a private running coach, private school tuition, tickets to sporting events, and things: he sold a pool table, kayaks, skis, watches, and golf clubs to pay restitution.

2009
MoneyGram was fined $18 million for failing to protect its customers from losing more than $80 million in a scam. 

For more fun and games, see Liquor in the Park.

For information on the history of the St. Louis Park Police Department in more detail that described here, see www.slppd.org, the unofficial site of retired officers. 
 

CHIEFS OF POLICE

Andy Nelson (1888-1970) became Chief of Police in 1933 and served until 1959.

Clyde Sorenson became Chief on July 1, 1959. He retired as Police Chief on March 15, 1974, to work for the company that supplied security for Cedar/Riverside.

Richard Setter became the new Chief in 1974 and served until August 1984, when he resigned to become the Chief of the Minnetonka Police Department. Lieutenant Percy Morris served as Acting Chief.

Mancel Mitchell was sworn in as Chief on October 1, 1984. Mitchell served until 1997 when he resigned to become Chief of the Metro Transit Police. Captain Rod Walker served as Acting Chief.

John Luse, a sergeant in the Department, was appointed Chief in 1997 and is the current Chief of Police.

Also see Hennepin County Sheriffs.
 

JUVENILE DELINQUENCY

Juvenile Delinquency was on the minds of many parents, as the teenage culture was born in the mid 1950’s and Elvis and his ilk frightened many an upright citizen. Such concerns first surfaced during the war, as children grew up with absentee soldier fathers, and war working women. Girls were also picked up trying to hitchhike to army camps to see their boyfriends. In November 1943, Earl Hoskins, liquor control commissioner, praised the Village Council on “efforts to help exterminate juvenile delinquency by the appointment of Mrs. Mildred Fagin, Policewoman.”

There was good news in 1951 when a U of M study found juvenile delinquency was at an “amazingly low level.” A 1955 ad for National grocery stores took credit for turning potential JD's into bag boys and checkout girls - 5,655 of them. In 1963, an article in the Dispatch declared “Blame is Placed on Home Life!”

Bad boys from St. Louis Park were sent to the county-run Glen Lake School for Boys (formerly a TB sanitarium). A third offense took you to Red Wing. For girls, there was the Penn School for Girls, but that was shut down in 1951. Hennepin County operated a small girls’ school, but it was abandoned in 1953. [These may be the same facility.] After that, bad girls were sent to private institutions, foster homes, or to the State-operated Home School for Girls at Sauk Center. An unfortunately undated article in the Minneapolis Tribune discussed a forthcoming county facility for delinquent girls at Glen Lake, making it a co-ed institution. The plan called for five new boys’ cottages (24 per cottage) and two cottages for girls. An educational building would be built and the building then serving boys would be an administrative office. Whether this plan was implemented is unclear. Mrs. Sally Olson of the League of Women Voters, speaking as a private citizen, challenged the plan, saying that the county should be planning space for three times the number of girls and that the State, not the county, should be responsible.

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This information comes from a variety of sources: newspapers, books, yearbooks, phone directories, interviews, etc. Given the varied sources, we cannot guarantee that all of this information is correct, and welcome any additions and corrections. Please contact us with your contributions and comments.