Sheriff: Dassel Man Arrested For Threatening Cell Tower Workers With Skid Loader

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The Meeker County Sheriff's Office says a man is in custody after he threatened cell phone utility workers with a skid loader -- while also under the influence of alcohol -- on Tuesday morning.

According to the sheriff's office, the incident happened around 10 a.m. at a cell tower site on the 71200 block of 240th Street in Dassel Township. There, a report was made of an individual threatening and going after utility workers at the site with a Bobcat.

The caller said utility workers were installing a conduit when the individual, later identified as a 67-year-old Dassel man, approached. The man used a Bobcat in an attempt to overturn equipment the workers were using and also threatened to overturn their work trucks, the sheriff's office said.

When deputies arrived, they found the man returning to his house. The man was stopped and deputies determined he was under the influence of alcohol. Deputies also learned that the man was upset the workers were out on the site, so he confronted them.

The man was arrested and is awaiting charges at the Meeker County Jail. WCCO does not typically identify suspects before they have been formally charged.