Is spelling a lost art?

Talk about it

If you try to pass yourself off as someone older so you can buy alcohol illegally, you might want to brush up on your identity. An underage UW-River Falls student allegedly tried to buy two 24-packs of Coors beer at Dick’s Plus Hometown Liquor. He used his older brother’s I.D. A suspicious store clerk called River Falls police. When officers asked the suspect how he spelled “his” first name – actually his brother’s – the young man failed. Twice. That led to his arrest.

The suspect kept insisting he was Nicholas, but left out the “h” when asked to spell the name printed on the I.D. He eventually confessed, was handcuffed, taken to the police station and given a $172 fine.

Also in the past week, River Falls police:

--Arrested two UW-RF students, a man and a woman, for marijuana possession. The two were driving west on Cemetery Road when they were stopped for a malfunctioning brake light. The male driver was also cited for driving while drugged.

--Arrested a 17-year-old Hager City boy for shoplifting electronic items from ShopKo. The boy ran away and allegedly tried to lay low at nearby Country Inn and Suites. He was later picked up, minus his hat and jacket, outside the motel’s game room. Besides a $172 fine, the boy will be asked to pay ShopKo $574 in restitution. A friend, another 17-year-old Hager City boy, was also arrested and cited for obstruction during the shoplifting investigation.

--Cited a 21-year-old local woman for slugging a 29-year-old Spring Valley man in the mouth at The Library Bar downtown. No one could explain the woman’s actions, though she claimed someone in the bar, she wasn’t sure who, had grabbed her bottom.

--Assisted on a medical call at UW-RF’s Hathorn Hall for a 16-year-old Faribault, Minn., girl who had apparently passed out from excessive drinking and was unresponsive. The girl was staying with her older sister in her dorm room. Ambulance rescuers managed to revive the girl and take her to the hospital. Later she was given an underage drinking fine. Her mother in Minnesota was phoned and told to come pick up her daughter.

For more, please read Police Beat in the Dec. 17 print edition of the River Falls Journal.

Tags: police, beat, ri er, falls, phil, pfuehler