The chief then lost the man and girl companion in an auto chase from Farmington over back roads to an intersection north of Rosemount. He suffered the twisted hip as he tripped over a flower pot while chasing his assailant on foot. Klotzbeacher was hit in the mouth, and this knocked off his glasses, which he stepped on, in the fracas. “Farmington Police Chief Jake Klotzbeacher suffered a cut lower lip, broken glasses and a twisted hip, as he was struck attempting to break up a fight and wild party in the rear apartment at the northeast corner of Fifth and Main streets in Farmington on Saturday at 6 p.m. Police Chief, Breaking Up Fight, Hit In Face The following articles and excerpts from “police reports” provide insight about 50-year-old crimes in a small, midwestern town where churches still far outnumber the bars After retirement, he drove a school bus and helped deliver mail.
He often said that during his tenure, there were no pedestrian or cyclist deaths on the streets patrolled by his men and there were no armed robberies or murders in the town.
Once he became chief, Klotzbeacher helped streamline the force which grew to five officers and a clerk. Jake would find a phone to call the operator for details and catch a ride or walk to investigate the situation. The light would never be confused with the “Bat-Signal” projected into the skies over Gotham City. When Jake was needed, the telephone operator would turn on a light outside Hagen’s Coast-to-Coast hardware store at the corner of Third and Oak. When he retired on December 31, 1972, following a 25-year career as Farmington’s top law enforcement officer, Jake recalled that the department did not have a squad car when he first started as a patrolman. I continued my subscription to The Dakota County Tribune into the 1970s primarily to read the weekly “police report.”įarmington Police Chief Jake Klotzbeacher was my hero. Getting one’s name in the paper was a special event, unless it appeared in the police report. In the early 1950s, I grew up in Farmington, Minnesota. Residents want to feel safe and secure in their homes and neighborhoods.Ĭrime reporting in small town newspapers is also taken very seriously, but can be trivial and often hilarious. Criminal activity in large cities is a serious matter. The local Police Blotter can be found in every edition of The Clairemont Times. In December 1972, Chief Jake Klotzbeacher retired after 25 years of service with the Farmington Police Department (Dakota County Tribune)