Shakopee law targets gift card fraud

SHAKOPEE, (AP) — A new ordinance in Shakopee requires consumers to show a picture ID to buy Visa, Mastercard or American Express gift cards with a credit card at stores.

The move is aimed at reducing fraud, which is among the city’s top three reported crimes and increased 17% last year alone, eating into his department’s time, Police Chief Jeff Tate told the Minneapolis Star Tribune .

The ordinance passed by the City Council earlier this month also prohibits buying the three types of gift cards in a self-service checkout lane.

Vehicle slides down embankment, kills man

MORRIS, (AP) — A man who was fishing in western Minnesota was killed when he was struck by a vehicle that veered off a parked pickup truck and plunged down an embankment.

The Stevens County Sherriff’s Office says 32-year-old Nicholas Hervin, of Morris, was fishing on Long Lake Wednesday evening when he was struck by a vehicle driven by 40-year-old Joshua Dewald, of Brooten.

The release says Dewald had been driving east on County Road 10 when he drifted into the westbound lane and hit the parked pickup. That caused Dewald’s vehicle to slide sideways down the embankment.

Hervin died at a local hospital. Authorities said Dewald was arrested on several outstanding warrants.

The case remains under investigation.