Updated: Man 'Cremates' Cat in Grill: Fridley Police Blotter

Here are items selected from information provided by the Fridley Police Department.

UPDATE on the first item: Capt. Bob Rewitzer provided the following details:

Sgt. Jim Mork was dispatched to a call of someone burning a dead cat in a grill in the playground area just north of West Circle in Fridley Terrace. On arrival he spoke with a Fridley Terrace maintenance worker who told him that he found a man that lives in Fridley Terrace burning a dead cat in the grill at the playground area. Sgt. Mork checked the area around the grill and did not locate any damage to property or any evidence of an animal that had been recently killed. Sgt. Mork went to the man’s residence and learned that the family cat of 15 years had just died. The man said that he was cremating it so that they could have its ashes in their home. Sgt. Mork admonished the man for burning the dead cat in a grill in the playground.

(Note: Commercial pet-cremation services are available locally, including those provided by VHA in South St. Paul.)

March 8:

• A man burning a dead cat in the grill near the playground in the 7400 block of W. Circle NE told an officer that it was a cremation ceremony.
• A woman complained that an animal was stuck in an egress window in the 6700 block of Washington Street NE.
• A male and female in the 100 block of Island Park Drive NE had a verbal argument over a cat.

March 9:

• A snowblower went missing from a storage room at an apartment building in the 5800 block of E. River Road.
• A Fridley officer and K-9 partner Kona helped Blaine police search outside the Northtown Mall for a suspect in a second-degree assault, without success.
• A Fridley officer checked an address in Fridley for the registered owner of a vehicle left running in the 4000 block of Central Avenue in Columbia Heights but no one was home.
• K-9 Kona found drugs or drug paraphernalia in a Columbia Heights residence while assisting the Anoka/Hennepin Drug Task Force with a narcotics search warrant.
• A female tried to get gift cards from Walmart, 8450 University Ave. NE, using a stolen credit card.
• A male predatory offender came to Fridley police headquarters to register an new address in Fridley where he said he had already been living for two days, leading to charges for failing to register.
• A burgundy Impala reported to be illegally parked in a handicapped parking space in the 6300 block of Fifth Street NE was not there when an officer checked.
• Someone passed a counterfeit $100 bill at WalMart, 8450 University Ave. NE. 

In all incidents where an arrest occurred, a charge is merely an accusation, and not evidence of guilt. The arrested person is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Incidents generally appear in the order in which they were reported, not necessarily the order in which they occurred.