Benjamin Maurice Mitzel, 24, of Detroit Lakes has been charged in Becker County District Court with felony violating the predatory offender registration law and felony escape from custody.
According to court records, on Jan. 30, a Detroit Lakes police officer discovered that Mitzel had cut his GPS-monitoring ankle bracelet and taken off.
The ankle bracelet was tracked to its last reported position, at Holiday convenience store in Detroit Lakes, where it was found in a garbage can.
Mitzel is required to register for life as a predatory offender, and wearing the ankle bracelet was a condition of his prison release.
The police officer went to Mitzel’s residence and was told by a family member that he hadn't been staying there. A friend at a different residence said the same thing.
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The Minnesota Department of Corrections issued a warrant for Mitzel’s arrest, and he was apprehended in North Dakota several weeks later. He is now in state prison at Stillwater for violating conditions of his supervised release.
A hearing on the two felony charges was set for May 27 before Becker County District Judge Jay Carlson.
Man charged for heroin, meth, pills after Becker County traffic stop
Jeffrey Scott Dorr-Slowey, 41, of Minneapolis has been charged in Becker County District Court with felony second-degree controlled substance crime, two counts of felony third-degree controlled substance crime, and misdemeanor DWI.
According to court records, on April 5 he was pulled over by a tribal police officer on Becker County Road 34 for not wearing a seatbelt.
The officer smelled marijuana in the vehicle and called in a “drug recognition expert” officer, who searched the vehicle.
He found 7.5 grams (with packaging) of a brown powdery substance that tested positive for heroin; a marijuana grinder with marijuana; three small micro baggies of meth that had a total weight of 10.2 grams with packaging; and a sandwich bag with multiple Gabapentin pills.
There was also $1,237 in cash, two scales, multiple microbaggies, and other items consistent with drug sales, according to the criminal complaint.
Dorr-Slowey admitted being heavily under the influence of drugs, and a blood sample was submitted to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for testing.
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On April 7, District Judge Gretchen Thilmony set cash bail for Dorr-Slowey at $4,000 or bond at $40,000, with standard conditions of release, or bond at $80,000 with no conditions of release.
Felony charges filed after woman drives head-on at former lover
Billy Jo Weaver, 33, of Park Rapids, has been charged in Becker County District Court with felony second-degree assault, felony threats of violence, gross misdemeanor child endangerment and misdemeanor fourth-degree property damage.
According to court records, on April 4, she was angry about a recent breakup, and drove her van headlong towards an oncoming pickup truck, driven by her former domestic partner of four years. It happened on Becker County Road 26, and forced the pickup to drive into the ditch to avoid a collision.
Weaver then turned around, parked in front of the pickup, got out with a silver folding knife and threatened him with it, then used it to puncture a tire on his pickup. The two have kids together, and several were in the van with her at the time.
The couple had broken up two days earlier, and Weaver admitted she drove towards his pickup on impulse when she saw it coming towards her on the highway, upset because she believed she knew whose house he had just been visiting.
On April 5, District Judge Waldemar Senyk ordered Weaver released without bail, under standard conditions of release, or under $15,000 bond with no conditions of release.
Man accused of beating up girlfriend
Kevin Jerome Basswood Jr., 26, of Ponsford, has been charged in Becker County District Court with felony threats of violence and two gross misdemeanor counts of domestic assault.
According to court records, on Feb. 21, he assaulted his girlfriend at her home in Detroit Lakes, shoving her repeatedly in a sore spot on her ribs where he had assaulted her several weeks earlier.
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He was trying to keep her from leaving the bedroom during an argument and was blocking the door. He slapped her across the face, threw her on the bed, and held her down with a forearm while punching her multiple times on the top of her head. When she yelled for him to stop, he pulled her arm behind her back and threatened to break it. He eventually got up and left, and she called a family member to take her to the emergency room.
On April 9, District Judge Jay Carlson set cash bail for Basswood at $250 or bond at $5,000, with standard conditions of release, or bond at $20,000 with no conditions of release. A court hearing is set for May 10.
RELATED: See other Becker County District Court news here
