Body found near homeless camp

MAPLEWOOD (AP) — Ramsey County sheriff’s deputies have recovered a man’s body from a pond near a homeless camp in Maplewood.

The sheriff’s office said deputies responded at 7 p.m. Thursday to the pond near the Maplewood Library after a 911 caller reported finding a body there. Officers recovered the body and turned it over to the Ramsey County medical examiner.

Deputies had gone to the same location at 4 a.m. Tuesday after hearing that a person from the homeless camp went underwater in the pond and did not resurface. Authorities searched the pond Tuesday but could not find a body. The sheriff’s office said murky water and dense weeds made the initial search “very challenging.”

Children safe after 15 hour standoff

HASTINGS (AP) — A 15-hour standoff in Hastings ended early Friday with one man in custody and two children safe.

Police Chief Bryan Schafer said officers were sent to a Hastings mobile home park around 11:30 a.m. Thursday to check on an altercation between a man and a tow truck driver. Officers attempted to separate a man and a woman to get more information. The woman left the home with two children, but the man grabbed two other children, took them back inside the home and barricaded himself inside.

A SWAT team rescued a 13-year-old from the home around 10 p.m. Thursday. After efforts to get the suspect to release a 4-year-old failed, SWAT officers entered the residence around 2:30 a.m. Friday, rescued the child and arrested the 36-year-old suspect.

The case will be forwarded to the Dakota County Attorney’s Office for charges.

Several SWAT officers suffered heat exhaustion because of the hot weather. A dozen were treated at the scene and at least three were hospitalized.

Naked man rescued from Duluth sewers

DULUTH (AP) — First responders have pulled a naked man out of the downtown Duluth sewer system.

The rescue came Thursday evening after authorities got a report Wednesday that a person had entered a manhole in downtown. City spokeswoman Kate Van Daele said his clothes were found near that manhole.

Authorities searched for several hours Wednesday, but called off the search when they could not find him.

But Van Daele said a passerby heard someone calling for help from a manhole outside the Wells Fargo building just after 5 p.m. Thursday. First responders pulled him out.