Brown County District Court

• Michael Eric Blomquist, 53, 316 South German Street, New Ulm, was charged Wednesday with felony first-degree damage to property. A remote Zoom hearing was set for 8:30 a.m. March 26.

According to court documents, Sleepy Eye Police Officer Amber Meyer was working the day shift Dec. 30 when the Double B Wash owner told her the car wash was damaged and a storage area was entered at about 5:30 a.m. that morning.

Sleepy Eye Police Investigator Shawn Bohnen reviewed the case that included clear images of the suspect and the suspect’s vehicle. Investigator Bohnen sent two images of the suspect and two images of the suspect’s vehicle Jan. 2 to southern Minnesota investigators including the Minnesota South Central Investigators Coalition.

Montevideo Police Investigator Carmen Beninga sent Investigator Bohnen images of a Running’s store theft case later with a limping suspect, identified as Blomquist. Bohnen was familiar with Blomquist due to multiple contacts with New Ulm Police and the Brown County Sheriff’s Office.

Investigator Bohnen requested and received more video of the suspect from the Sleepy Eye victim and learned a damage estimate to repair the car wash was $1,200.

Investigator Bohnen reviewed the video from Investigator Beninga sent of the suspect and noticed a distinct walk favoring the suspect’s left leg to his images of the suspect and found both had facial hair and a similar body size.

Investigator Bohnen consulted with New Ulm Police Investigator Tara Martin who worked on a case involving Blomquist. Investigator Martin positively identified the suspect in the Montevideo police image as Blomquist and sent video to Investigator Bohnen who again found a similar gait that caused him to believe the suspect in both cases as Blomquist.

Reviewing digital photos Montevideo Police took while executing a search warrant on Blomquist’s vehicle showed Blomquist was wearing gloves similar to those found in his vehicle that appeared to be similar to glove worn by the Sleepy Eye car wash investigation suspect.