ST. CLOUD - Something didn't smell right when Stearns County deputies were called to a report of a burglary of lumber and other items from a farm shed on Wednesday morning, Aug. 29.
The case quickly began to stink even more.
The caller said the pickup was still on his property and it was stuck in a huge pit of manure, made messier because of heavy weekend rains, with one man still in the vehicle.
Another man had fled the scene.
When deputies Craig Pogatshnik and Shirley Zwack arrived, they found the one man who had been in the vehicle standing on the side of the road, smoking a cigarette and covered in manure from his waist to his shoes. He was wearing jean shorts over long underwear and no shoes, which the deputies assumed were somewhere in the manure pile.
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The suspect said his friend had told him he purchased the lumber from the owner and was only helping him.
The deputies said the two men got stuck when they tried to leave the scene.
It appeared they had been working for a considerable amount of time to free the truck, thus becoming covered in manure.
The man at the scene was identified as Matthew Allen Bloomquist, 29, of Hawick in neighboring Kandiyohi County.
He was arrested and taken to the Stearns County Jail in St. Cloud.
The other man has been identified but had not been arrested as of Friday afternoon, said Stearns County Chief Deputy Jon Lentz.
The case that smelled from the beginning wasn't over yet, however.
Before bringing Bloomquist to the booking area, Pogatshnik stopped at the squad garage and made use of the water hose to remove some of the manure from the man.
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The deputy also said the trip to the jail was made with the windows open. Days later, Pogatshnik said his squad windows are all still open and he doesn't have enough Febreeze to combat the aroma.
Bloomquist was booked on charges of burglary and possession of stolen property. He was released the same day. He has another burglary conviction on his record in 2012 and has been arrested twice for possession of burglary tools as well as a couple of driving after revocation tickets.
