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Just the Facts
M a y
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V o l u m e
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I s s u e
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Operating Over the Legal Limit Can Affect Your Ability to Drive—
Friday, May 15
to
Thursday, May 21

Busiest Day of Week:
Friday— 145 events

Busiest Hour of Day:
2:00 PM— 44 events

Total # of Events:
647

Average Events/Day:
92.43

Average Events/Hour:
3.85

Average Traffic Stops:
1.21 per hour

DWIs for the week: 1
Department News—
Officer Sean Cooper has
been transferred to the
Detective Bureau. Sean
has been with the department since 2007. He
most recently was a patrol officer and served as
a Field Training Officer
and Gang Intelligence
Officer.
On Thursday, several
members of the department served on two interview panels as we search
for our newest police officer. A police officer vacancy arose when Officer
Said Hilowle resigned
from the department.
Last Saturday evening, an Owatonna officer observed a vehicle approach a stop sign at a high rate of speed and travel through the
intersection without coming to a complete stop—the officer later
observed the vehicle cross over the center line. The officer attempted to stop the vehicle and had to activate his siren before getting
Michael Sorensen
the vehicle to stop. As the officer began to approach the vehicle on
foot, he observed the reverse lights on the suspect vehicle come on and the vehicle to begin backing.
The officer yelled for the driver to stop, but not before backing into the front end of his squad car.
While speaking with the driver, the officer noted several signs of intoxication. The driver performed
road-side field sobriety tests which he failed. Michael A. Sorenson, age 43, was placed under arrest on
suspicion of drunk driving and brought to the
Steele County Jail for further DWI testing. Once at
Officer Zack Schumaker Day—
the jail, Sorensen took a breath test which revealed
a breath alcohol content of .24 or three times the
At Tuesday night’s Owatonna City Council
legal limit to drive. Sorenson was formally charged
Meeting, Mayor Thomas Kuntz read a proclawith (2) counts of 2nd Degree DWI—gross misdemation announcing Thursday, May 28th as
meanors, No Proof of InsurZackary Schumaker Day in honor of Zack being
ance and Failure to Stop for a
named by the Moonlighters Exchange Club as
Stop Sign. Sorenson’s vehithe Owatonna Police Officer of the Year! As a
cle, a 2001 Ford Expedition,
member of the department, Zack has worked
was seized and is subject to
his way up the ranks so to speak. He was
forfeiture. The officer in this
hired in 2011 as a community service officer,
case was not injured, but the city’s squad car relater in 2011 as a part-time police officer and
ceived an estimated $2400 damage from the
a full-time officer in 2012. Zack has been accrash.
tive in the Owatonna community with the Po-
Late Night Burglars Arrested—
Late Monday night, our officers were called to the
Pit Stop Laundry on Mound Street for a suspicious
person call. When we arrived, we found
an adult male and a juvenile male outside the building. Officers found the
pair carrying folding knives and learned
they had used the knives to attempt to
Michael Hokanson gain access into vending machines in
the laundromat—both admitted they intended to
steal from the business. Both parties were arrested; however, the juvenile was later released to a
parent. Michael T. Hokanson, age 20, was formally
charged with 2nd Degree Burglary and Possession
of Burglary Tools—felonies. Formal charges are
expected on the juvenile.
lice Explorer Program, Shop with a Cop, Steele
County Safety Camp and donates his time as a
fishing guide for the live auction winner of a
package offered by the police department to
the Big Brothers Big Sisters Evening for Kids’
Sake—all the while performing his police officer duties at a high level and putting an emphasis on DWI enforcement. Congratulations
Zack on this
wonderful
honor. In this
photo, Zack is
pictured during a Shop
with a Cop
event.
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