Frazee woman charged in assault of DL man

Duane John Kueber of Frazee was sentenced in Becker County District Court for theft while he was an employee of the Wolf Lake Liquor Store.

Kueber, 37, stole electronic pull tab cash from the Wolf Lake Lions Club on April 12, 2021, according to court records. He was caught pocketing money multiple times by surveillance cameras.

According to the criminal complaint, a deposit in the amount of $1,355 was short $1,229.

Kueber was subsequently fired from his job due to theft.

He was found guilty of felony theft by a Becker County jury, but was sentenced for misdemeanor theft due to a paperwork technicality.

Felony theft is determined if the stolen property was more than $1,000. 

However, on the verdict paperwork, the jury mistakenly indicated the total value of property taken was less than $1,000.

A yes or no answer to the question is needed and an attempt to rectify the error was made, but the original answer of “no” was held up allowing the sentence to be at the misdemeanor level, according to the Becker County Attorney’s Office.

Kueber was sentenced to 90 days in jail by Becker County District Judge Gretchen Thilmony, stayed one year in a remote hearing on May 9 and ordered to pay $125 in court fees and a $50 fine with a restitution hearing scheduled for Wednesday, July 13. He was also placed on unsupervised probation for one year.

Frazee woman charged in assault of DL man

Patrick Charles Bonga, 40, of Detroit Lakes, Alicia Lizzett Alaniz, 32, of Frazee and Brooke Kathleen Saunders, 24, of Detroit Lakes have been charged with felony assault charges in Becker County District Court.

Bonga was charged with felony first-degree assault, felony second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon, felony first-degree aggravated robbery, and felony false imprisonment.

Alaniz and Saunders were charged with first-degree assault, first-degree robbery, and false imprisonment.

Detroit Lakes police were dispatched to the Essentia Health emergency room in the early hours of Thursday, June 7, after a report of a serious assault, according to court records.

Police found a man in obvious pain with multiple marks and burns on his upper body. The man reported being beaten up by the trio at Bonga’s Detroit Lakes home on the 300 block of East State Street.

The man reported being chained to a banister, choked by a chain, hit with wooden dowels and being attacked with boiling water.

According to the report, the man had red marks on his head and around his neck, on his left knee, an open laceration on his head along with bruises and blisters on his left arm.

Allegedly, the man was walking in Detroit Lakes and encountered Alaniz. She invited him to Bonga’s residence, where she was staying. The assault began after he identified himself upon arrival.

The man stated all three individuals participated in the beating, noting at one point Bonga held a running circular saw to his face.

He managed to escape when the battery died on an electronic lock on the chain around his neck. The man left without some belongings, a cell phone, headphones, a phone charger and $76, which were allegedly taken by Alaniz.

Cash bail or bond for Bonga was set at $500,000, with conditions, or $1 million with no conditions on Friday, June 8.

The following day, cash bail for Alaniz was set at $7,500 or bond at $75,000, with conditions, or $250,000 with no conditions. Cash bail for Saunders was set at $7,500, or bond at $75,000, with conditions, or $200,000 with no conditions.

Due to the nature of the crime, the Becker County Attorney’s Office is seeking an upward departure from state sentencing guidelines for all three individuals, noting the victim was treated with particular cruelty and those involved tried to blame each other, according to court records.

An omnibus hearing was set for Bonga and Alaniz on June 11, and a hearing was set for Saunders on July 25.