Law enforcement authorities are searching parts of Chisago and Isanti counties this afternoon for a fugitive with Duluth ties, wanted on a probation violation for a seven-year-old federal firearms conviction.
Authorities say they attempted to apprehend Shawn Olthoff, 26, this morning in North Branch when he fled in a vehicle.
"(U.S. Marshals) were going to attempt to pick the guy up, he fled in a car and ended up crashing ... into a cornfield and fled from the car" near the corner of Blackhawk Road and Little Pine Lake Trail, off state Highway 95 about 8 miles northwest of North Branch, said Chisago County Sheriff Rick Duncan. The crash occurred about 9 a.m., and as of 3 p.m., Duncan said there had been no sightings of Olthoff since the crash.
"We searched all the area residences," Duncan said, and determined he was no longer in the cornfield -- an effort involving his deputies, the Isanti County Sheriff's Office, U.S. marshals and Minnesota state troopers.
Deputy U.S. Marshal Tom Volk said Olthoff was being sought on a federal probation warrant stemming from a firearms-related violation in 2004.
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Court records from 2004 show Olthoff pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to a charge of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and was sentenced to 92 months in jail and three years' supervised release. He was ordered to consume no alcohol. News Tribune records show Olthoff was living in Duluth in 2003 and 2004.
In July of this year, court records state, Olthoff was taken into custody in Duluth after being found "walking the streets in a highly intoxicated state," with a blood alcohol content of .231. On July 18 he was ordered to spend up to 180 days in a residential re-entry center.
Olthoff also has previous convictions in St. Louis County on charges including theft and criminal damage to property.
Volk said they were not necessarily considering Olthoff "armed and dangerous," but "he obviously fled from police and was involved in an accident -- that in and of itself represents some danger to the community.
Check back for updates later today.
