Arrest - An arrest in

Arrest - An arrest in the Sjodin case:

A convicted sex criminal was arrested Monday night at his Crookston home and charged with kidnapping Dru Sjodin, who remains missing.

Alfonso Rodriguez Jr., 50, was arrested at 7:20 p.m. Monday on a warrant from the Grand Forks County State's Attorney's office and signed in Grand Forks District Court, according to Grand Forks Police.

He is, of course, innocent until proven guilty.

I'm trying not to get a sinking feeling about this. But with statements like these:

"Out of respect for the Sjodin family and in the interest of the integrity of the investigation, no further information will be released at this time," police said in a news release Monday evening.

Allan Sjodin, Dru's father, said late Monday after news of the arrest, that "we are going to reserve comment until tomorrow morning. We want to assess the situation and set up for tomorrow. We are going to go about searching again tomorrow morning. That is the only comment I can give."

...it's just not easy.

By the way - Rodriguez would not seem to be an example of Minnesota "Catch and Release" correction:

Rodriguez grew up in Crookston and first was convicted of attempted aggravated rape and aggravated rape in 1974 in Crookston and sent to prison. During a furlough from prison in 1979, he attacked another woman, attempting to abduct her from a city sidewalk in Crookston. He was convicted of attempted kidnapping and aggravated assault in 1980.

He remained in prison from 1980 until May 1 of this year.

State officials say Rodriguez previously was known to one victim and attacked two other women who did not know him, according to state correctional officials.

This is the part that I'm making sure my kids know all about - especially in light of the other, less-publicized case in Fertile, MN:

Wayne Swanson, who prosecuted Rodriguez in 1980 and served as Polk County attorney from 1979 to 2002, recalled the case Monday night.

"He attempted to abduct a woman off the street," Swanson said. "She fought him. He stabbed her. She did get away from him. She was not about to go with him. She was a pretty gutsy lady."

The case in Fertile is less well-known because the girl fought back, and got away. That seems to be the case with many such crimes; if you fight back against aggravated assault, kidnapping, attempted rape, robbery or other violent crimes, you are 1/4 as likely to end up dead than if you don't fight back. (If you use lethal force, of course, the odds are 1/7 - but don't tell the good folks at Citizens for a Supine Safer Minnesota). Anyway - the lesson for the kids today - always fight back. Never get in the car while you have the strength to keep yourself out. Scream and holler, and if the perp pulls a gun or a knife, run for it - your chances are much better than if you get in the car.

If Sjodin turns up dead - and I'm praying for a miracle here - look for a renewed call for the death penalty - in Minnesota.

Posted by Mitch at December 2, 2003 06:06 AM