Latest news with #DodgeStratus
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Yahoo
Minnesota sex offender escapes treatment center after strapping GPS tracker to dummy
A Minnesota man escaped a treatment center for sex offenders after strapping his GPS ankle monitor to a dummy, authorities said. Steven Loren Edwards, 53, is facing one count of escaping custody while in a Minnesota sex offender program and another count of escaping from custody under the supervision of a mental health treatment program, according to a criminal complaint obtained by USA TODAY. Police wrote in court documents that Edwards escaped from the Minnesota Sex Offender Treatment Program in Saint Peter, Minnesota, about 75 miles southwest of Minneapolis. An attorney who previously represented Edwards told USA TODAY that he was unable to speak on his behalf. Here's what else we know so far about the case. The Minnesota Sex Offender Treatment Program is a secure treatment facility that supervises people who have been deemed sexually dangerous or those who have a 'sexual psychopathic personality,' police wrote in court documents. Someone from the program contacted the Saint Peter Police Department on May 17 and said that Edwards was missing, police said. He had been committed to the Department of Human Services as part of the sex offender program since October 2011, when court records show him as being considered "sexually dangerous." Police said that program staff went to Edwards' room around 7 p.m. on May 17. Edwards' roommate said that they should check on him because he'd been 'lying in his bed and had not moved for quite some time.' That's when staff found a dummy with Edwards' GPS ankle monitor attached to it, court documents show. Staff looked at surveillance footage and saw that Edwards had left the facility without permission at 6:53 p.m. the day before, on May 16. Someone from the Office of Special Investigations, housed in the Minnesota Department of Human Services, contacted police and said Edwards called his son at 10 p.m. the night he left the facility. The office was able to connect Edwards to a phone number for someone named James Spiess, per court documents. Once police spoke to Spiess, they found out he had been at a laundromat on May 16 when he met Edwards, according to court documents. Edwards told him he was kicked out of his home and needed to get to the city of Albert Lea, about 70 miles southeast of Saint Peter. Spiess said he'd take Edwards there, though the two stopped at a casino in Iowa before arriving in Albert Lea, court documents show. Once there, Speiss got Edwards a hotel room, left him there and drove back to Saint Peter, he told police. While investigating, Saint Peter police found out Edwards bought a car while in Albert Lea. On May 18, two days after he escaped the facility in Saint Peter, Edwards' car was seen in Webb City, Missouri, where his mother lived, court documents show. Police in Saint Peter alerted the public to Edwards and his car, a 2004 silver Dodge Stratus, asking them to be on the lookout. Webb City officers went to check on Edwards' mother and found the Stratus outside her home, over 500 miles away from the facility he escaped, court documents show. Webb City officers found Edwards inside the home and arrested him. As of May 22, Edwards was still in Missouri, and Minnesota authorities plan to pick him up the week of May 26, Nicollet County Attorney Michelle Zehnder Fischer confirmed to USA TODAY. Court records show a number of prior convictions for Edwards, including assault, fleeing police and in 1991, escape from custody. Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY's NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757. Email her at sdmartin@ This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Man straps GPS tracker on dummy, escapes St. Peter sex offender center
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Yahoo
Update: Alert canceled for man escaped from state sex offender treatment program
May 18—Update: The St. Peter Police Department has canceled the alert for Steven Loren Edwards. Edwards has been located in Missouri. Original story: The St. Peter Police Department is requesting the public's assistance in locating a man who escaped from the Minnesota Sex Offender Treatment Program in St. Peter Steven Loren Edwards, 53, was last seen on Saturday, leaving the 2500 block of Bridge Avenue in Albert Lea in a silver 2004 Dodge Stratus, Minnesota plate 03900353. Edwards was last seen wearing a black sweatshirt, black pants and black tennis shoes. If you have seen or know the whereabouts of Edwards, do not approach. Contact the St. Peter Police Department at 507-931-1550.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Yahoo
Update: Alert canceled for man escaped from state sex offender treatment program
May 18—Update: The St. Peter Police Department has canceled the alert for Steven Loren Edwards. Edwards has been located in Missouri. Original story: The St. Peter Police Department is requesting the public's assistance in locating a man who escaped from the Minnesota Sex Offender Treatment Program in St. Peter Steven Loren Edwards, 53, was last seen on Saturday, leaving the 2500 block of Bridge Avenue in Albert Lea in a silver 2004 Dodge Stratus, Minnesota plate 03900353. Edwards was last seen wearing a black sweatshirt, black pants and black tennis shoes. If you have seen or know the whereabouts of Edwards, do not approach. Contact the St. Peter Police Department at 507-931-1550.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Yahoo
Man who escaped St. Peter sex offender facility is captured in Missouri
The man who escaped the Minnesota Sex Offender Program in St. Peter has been arrested in Missouri. St. Peter Police Department issued an alert Sunday morning to find 53-year-old Steven Loren Edwards, having been informed by the MSOP facility at around 5:20 p.m. Saturday that he had escaped. However, Edwards had last been seen at the facility just before 7 p.m. on Friday, with authorities saying he apparently removed his ankle monitoring device and left the campus. He had last been seen leaving the 2500 block of Bridge Avenue in Albert Lea in a silver 2004 Dodge Stratus, according to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. Details have not been provided regarding where in Missouri he was captured, nor the manner of his arrest.
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Yahoo
Sex offender arrested after escaping St. Peter treatment center
The Brief Authorities are searching for a registered sex offender who they say escaped a treatment facility in St. Peter. This is the second time a sex offender escaped from the facility this month. ST. PETER, Minn. (FOX 9) - Police say a man who escaped from a Minnesota sex offender treatment facility was arrested and is in custody as of noon on Sunday after evading authorities since Friday night. This is the second time a sex offender escaped from the St. Peter treatment facility this month. READ MORE: Potentially armed sex offender who escaped from St. Peter facility back in custody What we know The escaped offender, Steven Loren Edwards, 53, is now in custody, according to an announcement made by the St. Peter Police Department around noon on Sunday. Edwards reportedly obtained a 2004 Dodge Stratus and was in the city of Albert Lea on Saturday, according to a social media post from the St. Peter Police Department. Police say he was found and arrested in Missouri. St. Peter police say they were informed of the escapee at about 5:20 pm on Saturday, May 17. Edwards was reportedly last seen at the Saint Peter Regional Treatment Center Campus just before 7 p.m. on Friday, May 16. What we don't know Authorities have not provided details on how Edwards escaped the treatment facility. Dig deeper Police arrested another sex offender who escaped the same facility earlier this month. Beau-Jacob Edward Zimmer, 45, escaped from the facility overnight and was found later that morning. The backstory The Minnesota Sex Offender Program (MSOP) provides court-ordered treatment for people with sexual offenses. Following their prison term, individuals deemed in civil court to either be a "sexual dangerous person" or have a "sexual psychopathic personality" may be committed for an "unspecified period of time" for treatment, according to the Minnesota Department of Human Services's website. MSOP has locations in Moose Lake and in St. Peter. People typically begin treatment at the Moose Lake facility then transfer to St. Peter to work toward being released and completing their treatment. As of April 28, the MSOP houses 752 people in its facilities. Another 66 provisionally discharged people are living in Minnesota communities under supervision, and fewer than 10 people with provisional discharges are awaiting community placement, according to the DHS website. The Source This story uses information shared by the St. Peter Police Department.
