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Court News: Man arrested after high-speed chase

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Frank Joseph Ortley, 32, of St. Paul, was charged in Becker County District with felony fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle and gross misdemeanor charges of giving a false name to a peace officer and driving after his license was canceled.

According to court records, on Feb. 5 Ortley was pulled over by a trooper, who said he clocked Ortley driving 79 mph in a 60 mph zone on Highway 34 in Becker County.

After being pulled over, Ortley got out of his vehicle to talk to the trooper, then got back into it, ignoring threats of being subdued by a stun gun, and sped away, according to court records.

The trooper ended the pursuit after identifying Ortley as the driver.

Later that day, Ortley was seen at the Shooting Star Casino in Mahnomen, according to court records. His vehicle was stopped, but he refused to get out of it and officers used a stun gun. Ortley had to be pulled out by multiple law enforcement officers. He was arrested and taken to jail.

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Ortley appeared in court Feb. 7 before District Judge Gretchen Thilmony, who set cash bail at $20,000 or bond at $20,000, with standard conditions of release, or bond at $50,000 with no conditions.

Two face felony charges after being found in stolen car

Two people have been charged in Becker County District Court with felony receiving stolen property after a stolen car was found in a ditch by a White Earth tribal police officer.

Shania Brook Higdem, 18, and Landyn Delon Roberts, 29, both of Fargo, N.D., appeared Feb. 14 before Becker County District Judge Mike Fritz.

Fritz set cash bail for Higdem at $200 or bond at $1,000, with standard conditions of release, or bond at $10,000 with no conditions.

Cash bail for Roberts was set at $100 or bond at $1,000, with standard conditions of release, or bond at $10,000 with no conditions.

According to court records, on Feb. 12, a tribal police officer responded to a report of a vehicle in a ditch off 370th Street. It had been stolen in Cass County, N.D. Higdem was in the front passenger seat, and wouldn’t say who had been driving the vehicle. Roberts was in the back seat and said he and Higdem stole the car at the Fargo Best Buy store. He said she convinced him to get in the driver’s seat and leave the parking lot, and they stopped twice after they left Fargo to pick up other people.

Man faces three felony charges for death threats

Lawrence Charles Mechura, 44, of Appleton, was charged in Becker County District with felony stalking and two felony counts of making threats of violence.

According to court records, on Feb. 10 his wife, who lives in Becker County, reported receiving about a dozen threatening texts from Mechura, telling her he was going to have her killed.

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On Feb. 2, District Judge Gretchen Thilmony issued a warrant for his arrest.

Man arrested after high-speed chase near Pine Point

Joseph Dion Coleman, 49, of Minneapolis was charged in Becker County District with felony fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle.

According to court records, on Feb. 5 an agent with the West Central Minnesota Drug and Violent Crime Task Force was in Pine Point, looking for the Chevy Suburban that Coleman was driving. The agent spotted it and called for a deputy to pull it over, but the Suburban fled from the officer at speeds up to 92 mph, and stop sticks had to be deployed on the Hubbard County line to stop it.

The driver, Coleman, was arrested and was taken to a hospital because he had eaten meth and fentanyl prior to being arrested, according to court documents. He was later taken to the Becker County Jail.

Coleman appeared in court Feb. 7 before District Judge Gretchen Thilmony, who set cash bail at $2,000 or bond at $15,000, with standard conditions of release, or bond at $40,000 with no conditions.

Conditions met, felony theft charge dismissed against Wadena man

A felony theft charge was dismissed in Becker County District Court against John Daniel Waln, 45, of Wadena, because he met the conditions laid down by the court.

According to court records, on July 27, 2016, Detroit Lakes police spoke to a man who had a consignment agreement to sell his 1985 Chevy Monte Carlo street rod through Central Minnesota Motors, owned by Waln.

On July 22, the man drove to Detroit Lakes to pick up his car for a car show. An employee at Central Minnesota Motors told him the car had an oil leak. The man found there was no oil pressure in the engine when he attempted to start the car. He said there hadn’t been an oil leak when he dropped it off in May of 2016.

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The man told Waln that the business had ruined his car. Waln told him he would buy the car from him and wrote him a check for $14,500.

The man went home and got a call from a Central Minnesota Motors employee informing him that the business was not going to honor the check Waln had just issued. It was declined at the bank the next day.

Waln told the man his consignment agreement ran until Aug. 4 and he was concerned about the man cashing the check before then. On Aug. 9 the man demanded payment. It was made through civil matters in 2018, according to court records.

On Feb. 13, Becker County District Judge Jay Carlson dismissed the charge because conditions of the court have been met.

Conditions met, assault charges dropped against DL man

Two counts of misdemeanor domestic assault were dismissed in Becker County District Court against Tyler Ray Kertscher, 27, of rural Detroit Lakes, because he met the conditions laid down by the court.

A felony third-degree assault charge was dropped in a plea agreement.

According to court records, on Jan. 30, 2016, during an argument at the Riverview mobile home park he grabbed a woman’s hair and slammed her to the ground. They continued to argue on the way to their Detroit Lakes residence and he slammed her face into the steering wheel and pushed her around using her seatbelt. The woman suffered a small nose fracture, raised red marks on her neck and bruised cheeks.

Kertscher successfully completed conditions of the court, including following the recommendations of a domestic abuse evaluation.

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