Alleged Thief's Getaway Thwarted By A Big Pile Of Manure

An alleged burglar ended up in deep ... stuff ... last week after his getaway truck got trapped in manure, according to police.

Matthew Allen Bloomquist, 29, and a friend had stolen some lumber and other items out of a man's shed during the night in Maine Prairie Township, according to the Stearns County Sheriff's Office. When the man noticed the theft in the morning, he called police but also reported one of the suspects remained on his property after the vehicle had gotten stuck in a manure pile.

"When deputies arrived, they found a man standing on the side of the road, smoking a cigarette, covered in manure from his waist to his shoes," Sheriff Don Gunmundson said in a newsletter about the arrest.

The man was wearing jean shorts over long underwear, but had no shoes. Deputies "assumed they were somewhere in the manure pile."

The man, later identified as Bloomquist, told deputies that his friend had told him he had purchased the lumber and he had only been helping him move it, police said. The second suspect fled the scene after the two were unable to get the vehicle out of the manure pile.

"It appeared they had been working for a considerable amount of time to free the truck," the statement from police said.

Bloomquist was taken into custody and charged him with third-degree burglary and possession of stolen property. The deputies who accompanied him to Stearns County Jail rode with the windows open, the sheriff's statement was sure to note. 

Before Bloomquist was booked into custody, Deputy Craig Pogatshnik used a water hose in the squad garage to hose him off.

The second suspect in the case has been identified by police but hadn't been arrested as of Friday afternoon, according to the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

Bloomquist was previously convicted of burglary in 2012 and has two other arrests for possession of burglary tools, the paper reported.

[Photo: Stearns County Sheriff's Office]