A former Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College football player was arrested Saturday, Aug. 14, for possession of a felony amount of marijuana and fleeing police on foot.
Terance Terrell Neal, 22, was charged in Carlton County District Court Aug. 17 with one count each of controlled substance crime in the fifth degree, fleeing on foot and obstructing legal process.
According to the criminal complaint, Minnesota State Patrol Trooper David Vereecken was on duty Saturday, Aug. 14, when he received a call from a Cloquet police detective that Neal had just met with a woman at the B&B parking lot off Big Lake Road and had taken possession of a felony level amount of marijuana.
Vereecken was nearby and drove to the parking lot, where he saw Neal (whom he knew from a previous contact) and the woman. The trooper immediately noticed a large bulge in the front pocket of Neal's pants, so he approached the pair to ask questions about possible marijuana possession.
At this point, according to the complaint, the former FDLTCC lineman turned and ran from the trooper. Vereecken told him to stop, but Neal didn't and the trooper gave chase. He couldn't use his taser because Neal was too far way, and the chase continued into the woods west of Perkins.
ADVERTISEMENT
Eventually, the report says, Neal got caught up in the trees and brush and fell to the ground. When Vereecken apprehended him, he did not have any marijuana with him. However, by retracing the course of the chase, Vereecken found two large baggies and three smaller baggies that ultimately contained 56 grams of marijuana. Vereecken had observed Neal throw something from his person during the course of the chase and when Neal was booked into the jail there was "marijuana shake" in the pants pocket where the trooper had initially noticed the bulge.
Although Neal was on the FDLTCC football team last year and was a student at the community college in Cloquet, he is not on the team this year, said new coach Keith Turner. Neal was also pictured in last year's FDLTCC basketball roster, but Coach David Wilson said the young man didn't actually play and only practiced for about a week last year.
According to the Thunder basketball roster, the 6-foot-3 Neal graduated from South Division High School in Milwaukee, Wis.
Neal's next appearance in Carlton County Court is set for 9:06 a.m. Sept. 1. He had a request for continuance Aug. 20. Bail was set at $1,000.
