UTICA, Minn. — Surrounded by a perimeter of 13 police with an armored vehicle, a Lewiston man surrendered after holing up all day in his camp trailer. Arrested was James Robbert Hernstine, age 45. This was in a quarry near Utica. During the night, about 2:30 a.m., a woman called 911 that she had been assaulted while visiting Hernstine in the camper. She said he became angry, threatened her with an axe, grabbed her, threw her out of the camper, and beat her with a broom stick. The woman, age 40, called a friend for a ride to get away. This was near County Road 33 and County Road 14 south of Utica. When deputies arrived at the camper, Hernstine’s pickup was gone. When deputies returned about 10 a.m., the pickup was back, but there was no response when they knocked on the camper door. Deputies then saw a pistol magazine in the back seat of the pickup truck. Concerned that Hernstine might be armed, deputies summoned a tactical squad and continued with voice commands for Hernstine to come out. For five hours he didn’t. Finally with the tactical squad in place — with sharpshooters, the Bearcat armored vehicle and a drone and K-9 unit from neighboring Houston County — Hernstine emerged from the camper. He was taken without resistance. He was booked 22 miles away at the Winona County jail about 4:30 p.m. The booking charges: Assault with dangerous weapons and instilling fear and harm. No weapon was found in the camper. An axe and broken pieces of a broom stick were taken as evidence
Hernstine. Ignored five hours of loudspeaker demands to surrender.