WCCO digital update: Afternoon of May 26, 2025
WCCO digital update: Afternoon of May 26, 2025 01:41
A man is in custody after allegedly assaulting a sheriff's deputy in St. Louis County, climbing up a tree and staying there for four hours.
The St. Louis County Sheriff's Office said a deputy responded to a report of a suspicious man on the 4100 block of Willard Road in Rice Lake, Minnesota, around 1:15 p.m. Rice Lake is around 10 miles north of Duluth.
When the deputy tried to arrest him, the man became "physically assaultive," the sheriff's office says. At one point, the man allegedly strangled the deputy. He eventually left the area on foot and climbed up a 30-foot tree.
Law enforcement negotiated with the man for four hours before he came down from the tree, the sheriff's office says. He was then taken into custody without any trouble.
The deputy who was allegedly assaulted was taken to a medical facility for treatment and later released.
The Duluth Police Department, Hermantown Police Department, Superior Police Department, Rice Lake Fire Department and Duluth Fire Department assisted the sheriff's office during the incident.