Dickinson man arrested after driving truck full of weapons to D.C. to kidnap Obamas’ dog

WASHINGTON — A Dickinson man, who had a weapons cache in his vehicle and told U.S. Secret Service agents he was Jesus Christ, was arrested Wednesday in the nation’s capital on weapons charges after agents were alerted he was there with the intention of kidnapping the Obama family’s pet dog.

Scott Stockert
Scott Stockert

Scott Davy Stockert, 49, told Secret Service agents he drove from Dickinson to Washington alone in his Dodge Ram pickup truck. He brought with him guns, ammunition and other weapons, according to court documents.

He made a series of bizarre claims to the arresting agents, including that he was Jesus Christ — and that it could be verified by his license — that John F. Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe were his parents, and that he planned to run for president. He said he was in Washington because he was going to the U.S. Capitol to advocate for $99 per month health care.

“You picked the wrong person to mess with,” Stockert told agents, according to the court documents. “I will (expletive) your world up.”

Stark County Sheriff’s Major Ray Kaylor said Stockert’s family approached their office on Wednesday morning asking for help in locating him after they’d received text messages stating he was in New York City, and that he was driving to Washington with the intention of kidnapping Bo, President Barack Obama’s Portuguese water dog.

“He said his plan was the kidnap the president’s dog, Bo. He felt the dog was being neglected,” Kaylor said, adding Stockert’s texts said nothing about harming the dog.

Bo (L) and Sunny, the Obama family's new puppy, are pictured on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington in this photo released on August 19, 2013 by the White House. A North Dakota man who allegedly plotted to kidnap one of the Obama family's pet Portuguese water dogs was arrested with guns and ammunition at a downtown Washington hotel and is facing a weapons charge, The Washington Post reported on Friday.   REUTERS/Pete Souza/The White House/Handout via Reuters    FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS
Bo (L) and Sunny, the Obama family’s new puppy, are pictured on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington in this photo released on August 19, 2013 by the White House. A North Dakota man who allegedly plotted to kidnap one of the Obama family’s pet Portuguese water dogs was arrested with guns and ammunition at a downtown Washington hotel and is facing a weapons charge, The Washington Post reported on Friday. REUTERS/Pete Souza/The White House/Handout via Reuters

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Fulfilling a favor: Paralyzed Keene man takes last mountain lion of season in N.D. with help of his friends

From left to right, Beau Wisness, Dusty Hausauer, Chase Wisness, Rusty Christophersen, Chaston Lee and Hailey Schaper pose with the mountain lion that Chase Wisness, who is paralyzed from the waist down, killed on Monday, Dec. 14, 2015. It was the last mountain lion allowed to be hunted in western North Dakota this year. Special to the Forum
From left to right, Beau Wisness, Dusty Hausauer, Chase Wisness, Rusty Christophersen, Chaston Lee and Hailey Schaper pose with the mountain lion that Chase Wisness, who is paralyzed from the waist down, killed on Monday, Dec. 14, 2015. It was the last mountain lion allowed to be hunted in western North Dakota this year. Special to the Forum

It was late July 2008 when Levi Wisness asked his friend, Rusty Christophersen, to do him a favor.

Levi wanted Christophersen to help his younger brother, Chase, hunt a mountain lion in the North Dakota Badlands.

“He goes, ‘Do you ever think we could get Chase in on one?’” Christophersen recalled on Wednesday. “I said yeah, I’ll do everything I could do to get him one.”

Levi Wisness died a week later in his sleep from complications related to a brain tumor he’d been battling for nearly a year.

At the time,17-year-old Chase’s future was uncertain.

He had been paralyzed from the waist down, the result of an auto accident in June 2007 — just months before his brother was diagnosed with the tumor.

“It was pretty cool he thought of me then and it was cool that Rusty was serious when he said we could do it,” Chase said on Saturday.

Over the past month, Christophersen did everything he could to fulfill the favor.

Last Monday, he and about a dozen friends capped off more than three weeks of tracking, scouting and hunting to help Chase, 24, of Keene, hunt and kill a 100-pound female mountain lion near Grassy Butte.

It was the last mountain lion allowed to be hunted this year in the state Game and Fish Department’s western North Dakota zone.

“It finally worked out,” Christophersen said.

Continue reading “Fulfilling a favor: Paralyzed Keene man takes last mountain lion of season in N.D. with help of his friends”

Fugitive captured: Late-night standoff ends with burglary suspect hospitalized

Law enforcement’s standoff with fugitive Jeremy Mellmer ended early Thursday when Mellmer suffered a “suspected self-inflicted gunshot wound,” according to a Dickinson Police Department report.

The Southwest Tactical Team became involved in a standoff with Mellmer at about 10:35 p.m. Wednesday outside of a house on the 900 block of Ninth Street East after receiving a tip from an owner of a vacant home on the street. Mellmer had fled custody Monday night while being detained in connection to a string of burglaries involving guns.

The standoff ended sometime between midnight and 12:30 a.m. Thursday as tactical team members gained entrance to the house and found Mellmer in the basement in possession of a firearm having allegedly shot himself.

Mellmer, 31, was taken to CHI St. Joseph’s Health in Dickinson and is in custody. His medical condition is unknown.
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Dickinson Police continue, widen search for burglary suspect

Dickinson Police continued their investigation Wednesday and widened the search for a man wanted after escaping police custody while being detained Monday night for his alleged role in multiple burglaries of firearms in the area.

Jeremy Mellmer, 31, was detained following a traffic stop around 7 p.m. Monday and had been handcuffed before he managed to escape, Dickinson Police Detective Sgt. Kylan Klauzer said. He did not say which law enforcement agent attempted to detain Mellmer prior to his escape, but said it was not a Dickinson police officer.

Area authorities are searching small towns in southwest North Dakota where Mellmer has known family and associates, Klauzer said. Police are also using electronic billboard alerts as far away as Bismarck in an effort to help find him as well.

Klauzer added that Mellmer is likely being aided by others as he evades authorities.

“He doesn’t have a vehicle,” Klauzer said. “He’s using other people to move around right now. We don’t think he’s going to be by himself.”
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After a year of plenty, Dickinson’s independent retail businesses prepare for more normal year-end sales

Out of Town owner and manager Brooke Leno, left, helps employee Chloe Jazvic as she helps a customer and Melissa Moos folds clothing on Friday, Nov. 29, 2015, at the store in the Prairie Hills Mall in Dickinson, N.D. (Dustin Monke / The Dickinson Press)
Out of Town owner and manager Brooke Leno, left, helps employee Chloe Jazvic as she helps a customer and Melissa Moos folds clothing on Friday, Nov. 29, 2015, at the store in the Prairie Hills Mall in Dickinson, N.D. (Dustin Monke / The Dickinson Press)

Holidays can make or break the profit margins of small retail businesses.

In Dickinson, the time carries even greater meaning for relatively new businesses — especially those that sprang up in recent years around the promise of the burgeoning energy industry and population growth, only to see commerce wane in the wake of the industry’s slowdown.

“In general, business is slower,” said Brooke Leno, manager of Out of Town and Out of Town Kids in the Prairie Hills Mall. “People aren’t coming in and dropping a bunch of money like they used to. They’re being more strategic about their purchases. It’s nothing that’s going to make or break us. It’s definitely slower and you can tell. But it seems like the last few days, people are getting into that Christmas shopping.”

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