Brown Co. Sheriff Press Release
April 19, 2020
Time: 1139 hours
Location: 29616 150th St, Comfrey MN, Mulligan Township.
Details: At approximately 1139 hours on Sunday April 19, 2020 the Brown County Sheriff’s Office and Sleepy Eye Fire Department responded to a structure fire on property owned by Cook Family Farms.
This fire resulted in the loss of an outbuilding and straw. An unknown person or persons are suspected of starting a grass fire that spread to this building, resulting in total loss of the structure. This fire remains under investigation.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Brown County Sheriff’s Office at 507-233-6720, or by emailing to the Brown County Sheriff’s Office Tip Line at tipsline@co.brown.mn.us.
Sleepy Eye Fire Department was assisted by Comfrey and Springfield Fire Departments.
The Brown County Sheriff’s Office is reminding citizens to report any suspicious activity, vehicle, or persons. If at all possible to obtain vehicle descriptions and/or license plate numbers.
Due to this event the City of Cobden will be out of power for at least 2 hours. Please avoid the area by County Road 7 and the railroad tracks.
Type of Incident: Traffic Accident: Train vs. Semi
Date of Incident: 2/19/2020
Time of Incident: 1237
Location of Incident: County Road 7 / Center Street Cobden, MN
Person/s Involved: Age: Address:
Semi Driver: Schroeder, James 49 – out of Fairfax
Canadian Pacific Train Conductor/Engineer: Names undisclosed at this time
Details of Incident:
On February 19, 2020 around 1237pm, a Central Region Cooperative (CRC) semi truck carrying a full propane tanker which was struck by a train on the tracks near the intersection of County Road 7 and Center Street in Cobden, MN. No injuries were reported by either the semi driver or train conductor/engineer. Driver will be cited for traffic infractions.
Teams are still working on clean up at the scene.
Thank you to the multiple agencies involved: Brown County Sheriff’s Office, Minnesota State Patrol, Sleepy Eye Fire Department, Mankato Fire Department Chemical Assessment Team (CAT), Sleepy Eye Ambulance, Canadian Pacific Railroad, CRC, and Maloney’s Towing Enterprises.
** Please use caution at all intersections. Come to a complete stop at all stop signs/semaphores and always check both ways when crossing a roadway or railroad tracks. This could have been a major catastrophe.
Abigail Krzmarzick and Mason Mathiowetz were this year’s winners of the Sleepy Eye Police Department’s bike raffle. Riders earned a free Dairy Queen cone and a chance to win a new bike from McCabe’s Ace Hardware if they were “busted” for riding safely including riding with a helmet on. The winners were announced at the Party in the Park event. Below, Officer Elliott Waterbury poses with the winners.
Above,
The Sleepy Eye Ambulance crew members along with police officers and firemen were present at the Open Forum prior to the start of the regular Sleepy Eye City Council meeting Tuesday night to deliver a very powerful message. In a statement read by Ambulance Coordinator and Emergency Manager Shari Hittesdorf, it was indicated Sleepy Eye may be without EMS coverage at times beginning in May due to a labor law impacting how staff is paid.
Below is what was read to the council by Shari:
In November my husband suffered a stroke. He was able to make a full recovery because of quick actions from start to finish. The Sleepy Eye Ambulance Service played a vital role in getting him to the Emergency Room on that day, within minutes of onset. Abbott Northwestern Hospital was so impressed with the way things played out, they made it a case study.
If he would have another stroke next month or anytime beyond, that prompt ambulance service response may now not be possible.
You may think this impending interruption of 24/7 ambulance service in Sleepy Eye might be because we are short staff. Well, we do desperately need emergency responders to join our team and we will give everything we have in the next few weeks to recruitment…but the lack of a response in this case is NOT being caused because of a staff shortage…it is because of an overtime labor law recently brought to light.
The Sleepy Eye Ambulance Crew members want to cover all shifts, we want to respond to all 911 pages, it’s making many of us, literally sick to our stomachs to think we won’t be able to.
But we can’t, because of this law…no one is allowed to work over 40 hours per week without overtime being paid, and according to the Dept. of Labor, our call time counts as “Engaged to Work”.
And to complicate this situation, if someone is employed by the City of Sleepy Eye including the Sleepy Eye Medical Center, Ambulance call time would need to be added to OUR work hours…making it nearly impossible to take call time… or face the consequences of the employer paying overtime.
Yes, this affects me. As the Ambulance Coordinator and Emergency Manager for this community, as the person with the most experience, the person who trains our EMTS, not to mention teaches the doctors, nurses, firemen, police officers, lifeguards and so many others with emergency response courses…I will be very limited in how often I can respond to emergencies. VERY LIMITED!
There are some tremendous implications because this situation…for our local police officers, county deputies, firemen and our local hospital…but mostly the ones that will suffer will be our would-be patients.
At this time, I do not have a plan in place to cover all the time slots in May that I otherwise would have been able to place our current staff in. I do not know who will respond to immediate life-threatening emergencies. And, I don’t know if our lack of response will prompt legal consequences.
What I do know is myself and our five boys were so incredibly blessed that our husband and father had the prompt care he got that fateful day in November. Not lucky, blessed…because luck would imply it happened by chance…he received proper treatment because of the training, hard work and dedication of a lot of people including my teammates on the Sleepy Eye Ambulance.
We got home from an Abbott checkup a few hours ago with basically a clean bill of health.
There are several people in this room right now who too have had positive outcomes to their medical emergency, in part because of the quick response of our local EMS agency
But come May…Well, I can’t help but wonder….
Which families will be blessed and which will have to rely on luck?
I am begging you, the council, to HELP your community in any feasible way, resolve this pending catastrophe.
St. Mary’s High School Theology teacher and cross country coach, Neil Kirchoefer, has been charged with Possession of Pornographic work involving minors. St. Mary’s did place Kirchoefer on leave last fall after discovering the material, after which time he resigned his position. He has been a member of the staff since 2016.
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Sleepy Eye Police Press Release
2-8-19 Press Release
On 11-28-18 the Sleepy Eye Police Department was contacted by St. Mary’s School Administration. Administration was informed by a teacher that possible child pornography was viewed on one of the school’s laptop computers. Administration brought the laptop computer with them and turned it over to the Sleepy Eye Police Department for investigative purposes. The laptop computer was given to teacher Neil Kirchoefer by St. Mary’s School for school use.
The Sleepy Eye Police Department conducted an investigation that included interviews with the teacher that saw the suspected pornographic image and Neil Kirchoefer on 11-28-18. On 11-28-18 a search warrant was completed on Neil Kirchoefer’s residence in Sleepy Eye that resulted in the seizure of a cell phone and an additional laptop computer. St Mary’s school voluntarily turned over 2 additional electronic devices that Neil Kirchoefer used while working.
The Sleepy Eye Police Department was assisted by the Brown County Sheriff’s Office in the analysis of the electronic devices. The Brown County Sheriff’s Investigator transported all the electronic devices to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office to be analyzed by an Internet Crimes against Children expert.
On the evening of 2-7-19 the Sleepy Eye Police Department received the computer analysis from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office through the Brown County Sheriff’s Investigator. Based on the information in the report and in consultation with the Brown County Sheriff’s Investigator and the Brown County Attorney’s Office Neil Kirchoefer was arrested and placed in the Brown County Jail the morning of 2-8-19 and charged with Possession of Pornographic Work Involving Minors, MN statute 617.247, and Use of Minors in Sexual Performance Prohibited, MN statute 617.246.
St Mary’s School has provided quality assistance and information that helped bring this case to light and assist in charges being brought against Neil Kirchoefer. St. Mary’s School Administration has kept in communication with the Sleepy Eye Police Department throughout this investigation.
At this time there is no information that any juveniles from Brown County were victimized by Neil Kirchoefer. This investigation is ongoing and anyone with information about this case is asked to contact the Sleepy Eye Police Department.
St. Mary’s School Press Release
Brown Co. Sheriff Press Release
On Wednesday October 17, 2018 at 11:02 a.m. the Brown County Sheriff’s Office, Sleepy Ambulance Service, and Sleepy Eye Fire Department responded to a residence in Stark Township, 17003 255th Ave, Sleepy Eye, for a farm accident. Kaleb Fischer (19), was found by family, and sustained critical injuries while repairing a manure spreader. Fischer was airlifted from the Sleepy Eye Medical Center to HCMC where his condition was critical.
On Friday October 19, 2018 the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office notified the Brown County Sheriff’s Office that Kaleb Fischer passed away at 6:54 p.m., this date, from the critical injuries sustained in this tragic accident.
The vehicle being loaded onto a flatbed truck following the incident
Five Sleepy Eye High School students escaped injury Tuesday night when their vehicle went out of control on icy roads and rolled into a field.
The five teenagers, Jake Lang (driver), Josie Lang, Jake Berg, Cassidy Hoffmann and Palmer Hittesdorf were returning from the sub-section championship basketball game Tuesday night when, at approximately 9:30 p.m., the vehicle they were traveling in came upon an ice covered stretch of Highway 14 just west of New Ulm (near CR 12). The car went sliding then air-bound, landing on its roof in a field on the north side of they road. The youth were left hanging upside down with their seat belts holding them snugly in place.
All were able to exit the vehicle safety. They were examined by Allina Ambulance staff with no one needing transport to a hospital.
The community breathed an extra sigh of relief with this accident as it occurred one day shy of the four-year anniversary of a similar type of crash that left four local young men dead and a fifth seriously injured.
The teens took to Twitter following the incident to express their gratitude:
