The history of the Anoka Sheriff's Office is uncovered

Have you heard about the alligators that escaped from an Anoka amusement park? Or about Sheriff Uriah (Red) Pratt, known for gun battles that left the department's Model A Fords riddled with bullet holes?

Or the old county jail that was condemned after only seven years because so many prisoners escaped from it?

Anoka County Historical Society Program Manager Vickie Wendel will be spinning these yarns and more at the society's annual meeting Tuesday. She'll be sharing more than two years of research into the history of the Anoka County Sheriff's Office, spurred by its 2007 sesquicentennial celebration. The information will go into a book, though Wendel said she's not sure whether it will be widely marketed or made available only at the society's headquarters.

What has she found? Poor record-keeping, actually.

Old County Board minutes make tantalizing references to monthly reports made and filed, but where? Files stashed in old jail cells were destroyed by water. Sheriff Mike Auspos' son, Mike, swears his father filled notebooks with details on each call. The problem is, nobody knows where they are now.

"We're not real good as a society at keeping our records," Wendel said.

But with three-quarters of her research behind her, Wendel is getting into an era that some actually remember.

She has listened to stories from department veterans. Dave Hoagland has shared stories from his years as a deputy, from 1949 to 1954. And old newspaper clippings have offered material.

In 1957, for example, the three O'Kasick brothers, on the run for weeks after killing a Minneapolis police officer and wounding another, were cornered in Columbus Township. A hostage, Eugene Lindgren, was killed in the crossfire. Two of the brothers also were killed. A third was captured. He was convicted but committed suicide in prison.

Pratt's deputy, Hans (H.T.) Hanson, was known as Minnesota's only flying deputy. He used his plane to chase down bootleggers, Wendel said.

As for the alligators, after they escaped from Santa Town in the early '50s, a deputy wrestled one back into captivity; the other two were left to fate in an imminent Minnesota winter.

Pratt was in and out of office in the teens and '20s. Despite his penchant for firing out of car windows, there's no record of a bystander ever being injured on the roadside.

Wendel would dearly love more stories, letters, photographs or records of the Sheriff's Office's doings.

"I'm always hunting for more things," she said.

Residents with information to share can call Wendel at 763-421-0600 or e-mail vickie@ ac-hs.org.