Man Arrested After Standoff in Holdingford

(KNSI) – The Stearns County Sheriff’s Office is releasing more information about a situation in Holdingford that caused a nearby school to go into lockdown Thursday morning.

Police say, at 6:58 a.m., they received a report of a burglary that had just happened. They say the victim discovered a man had broken into his garage and stole several tools, which he loaded into a truck. The victim confronted the burglar, who allegedly had a knife. The victim says he was punched in the face several times before the man fled the scene in a white pickup truck.

That truck was found in the area of County Road 17 east of Highway 238 in Krain Township, and when a deputy tried to pull the driver over, they say he initially complied but then took off, forcing another vehicle off the road and into the ditch. They say the suspect then continued to drive eastbound on County Road 17 toward Holdingford.

A deputy was waiting by the Wobegon Trail, and police say they spotted the truck turn off a side street and park. Officers say the man then fled on foot and went into a building at 521 Main Street in Holdingford. That building contains several apartments, one of which a deputy says they saw the suspect enter.

Police set up a perimeter around the scene and waited for other units to arrive, including the Stearns County SWAT team.

Officers say the apartment the suspect entered was his apartment, and negotiators tried making contact with the man to get him to come out, but he refused. Officers with the SWAT team eventually entered the apartment, where they say he again would not comply with police. A K9 unit was sent in, and the suspect was then taken into custody just after 11:00.

Police say the truck the suspect was driving in the first burglary was allegedly stolen earlier from a home in Millwood Township. While investigators were dealing with that, the sheriff’s office says, they got a call about a stolen snowmobile from an address just west of where they were, also in Millwood Township. Another truck the suspect was driving was also allegedly stolen from Sauk Centre. He also reportedly committed a gas drive off Wednesday night in Albany, and that vehicle was later found on County Road 186, just outside Sauk Centre.

The man is being charged with second-degree burglary, fleeing police, and criminal damage to property.

KNSI does not typically name suspects until they have been formally charged.