River Falls cops: Don’t call them amigos and play dumb about English

Talk about it

Say you’re a burglar. Would you break into someone’s car, leave a trail of possessions from that car on the road, sidewalk and stairs leading to an upstairs rental duplex, kick open the door there, splintering the frame, leave the door ajar, go to a front-room couch, fall sleep smelling of booze with your clothes caked in dirt and burrs? Police officers say it was evidence of this sort that led to the arrest of a burglary suspect in the 300 block of North Clark Street around 3:30 a.m. Saturday.

Having allegedly left behind a trail of glaring evidence, the 24-year-old Woodbury, Minn., male suspect apparently decided he could outfox our local officers.

At first he wouldn’t wake up on the couch. When he did, police said the young man acted as if he was unable to grasp the English language. Instead, he responded in Spanish, using common words like “Si” and “Amigo” and the phrase, “My compadres, amigo.”

The Woodbury man kept repeating these words yet never spoke fluent Spanish. Officers also noted that the suspect was clearly not of Hispanic descent.

After getting his driver’s license, police were able to call the suspect’s mother. She said her son was perfectly capable of speaking English, was supposed to be in Woodbury, and she hadn’t a clue how he ended up in River Falls.

Because of the level of intoxication, it took two officers to “escort” the suspect to a waiting squad car. By this time he was speaking some English. However, when told he was going to jail, he said, “Si.”

Two male occupants from the burglarized duplex were gone at the time. It was also their parked car that was broken into. Neither said they had ever met the burglary suspect before.

River Falls police also:

--Arrested a 29-year-old local woman for drunk driving-4th offense and driving while revoked after she parked and walked away from her car in the 100 block of East Walnut Street last week Wednesday morning. Police were tipped off about an impaired female driver in the downtown area. The woman allegedly could barely walk. She was taken to the hospital for a blood sample and then to county jail in Ellsworth.

--Arrested a 17-year-old Somerset girl just before 3 a.m. Friday for drunk driving and driving while suspended near Johnson and State streets. The girl, who said she was moving to River Falls, allegedly stole a 1992 Chevy Blazer from a man who lives on State Street. She was driving around in it, but then got out and ran. Officers chased and caught the teenage girl in an apartment building in the 300 block of Charlotte Street.

--Arrested a 17-year-old female student at the high school last Wednesday afternoon for disorderly conduct after she allegedly punched another girl in the face in the school hallway. The two were arguing about a lewd picture that was allegedly texted by a male student that both girls were friends with.

--Cited a 14-year-old middle school male student for substantial battery at the school last Wednesday afternoon. The 14-year-old allegedly punched another boy in the face and broke his nose.

For more, please read Police Beat in the June 1 print edition of the River Falls Journal.

Tags: crime and courts, river falls, news, crime, fccnetwork