Wanted Man Escapes Into Corn Field Near Dassel

(KNSI) – Authorities in Meeker County are searching for a man who ran from deputies twice Sunday afternoon and disappeared into a corn field near Dassel.

The Meeker County Sheriff’s Office says a deputy stopped a vehicle in the 100 block of 3rd Street South in Dassel at 4:07 p.m. on October 4th. The driver gave the deputy a false name and then took off on foot into a nearby corn field.

Deputies say the man came out of the field a short time later and was picked up by a friend. Deputies stopped that vehicle, but the man ran into the corn field again.

Officers set up a perimeter and searched the area with drones and a Minnesota State Patrol helicopter, but they did not find him.

The sheriff’s office has identified the man as 52-year-old Steven Oachs of Watertown. He has multiple warrants out for his arrest on drug-related charges.

Court records show Oachs was sentenced in March to 10 days in jail for violating his probation on a fifth-degree drug possession charge. He was put back on probation under his previous terms.

The Wright County Sheriff’s Office and Litchfield Police assisted at the scene.

Anyone with information about Oachs’s whereabouts is asked to call the Meeker County Sheriff’s Office at 320-693-5400. There’s also a confidential tip line at 320-693-5411.

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