The Free Press, Mankato, MN

Local News

January 7, 2010

Skid loader incident brings charges

Lake Crystal man accused of felony assault, DWI

By Dan Nienaber

LAKE CRYSTAL — What a victim described as erratic driving with a skid loader has landed a 51-year-old Lake Crystal man in jail facing felony assault and terroristic threats charges.

Alcohol was a factor, according to the criminal complaint, which also charges Jerry Curtis Lewis with third-degree driving while intoxicated, a gross misdemeanor.

The incident was reported at about 8:30 p.m. Monday by a man who was removing snow from the BlueStar Power Systems property on Commerce Street in Lake Crystal. That man was using a backhoe to load snow into a truck and reported someone he knew only as “Tweet” had rammed a wheel on his machine with a skid loader.

When the victim, identified only as J.A., attempted to get down from the cab of the backhoe, “Tweet” drove toward him and attempted to hit him with the bucket of the skid loader.

The victim jumped out of the way, then over the top of the skid loader bucket to confront the driver while he was still in the cab of the skid loader. During a verbal altercation, the victim, “noticed an ‘enormous’ odor of alcohol coming from Lewis’ breath,” the complaint said.

“Lewis then gave J.A. the finger and drove away.”

Lewis was gone when a Lake Crystal police officer arrived. The victim said he thought Lewis had driven toward him from the nearby Industrial Fabrication Services business.

The officer went to a house where he thought Lewis was living. The house was completely dark inside, but a yellow John Deere skid loader was parked in a nearby shop. The lights of the skid loader, which matched a description given by the victim, were still on, the officer reported.

Blue Earth County sheriff’s deputies were called to assist with the search for Lewis, but he wasn’t found, the complaint said. He was arrested and booked into the Blue Earth County Jail the next morning, according to jail records.

Lewis’ bail was set at $25,000 during a court hearing Thursday.

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