North Dakota
Appeals court revives part of civil rights lawsuit surrounding Suburban snowbound during DAPL protest
BISMARCK — An Arizona couple who lost a federal lawsuit over a vehicle that was rented during the Dakota Access Pipeline protests in south-central North Dakota have had part of their case revived.
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently sent part of Michael and Jessica Wood’s case back to U.S. District Court in Bismarck, reopening the door for the couple to pursue monetary damages from a Bismarck rental franchisee and two of its employees. Trial has been scheduled for Nov. 18.
Michael Wood Jr., of Glendale, Arizona, a former U.S. Marine and Baltimore police officer, rented a Suburban from Hertz in 2016 when he came to Bismarck as part of an effort to bring hundreds of military veterans to a DAPL protest camp. The goal was to support opposition by tribes and environmentalists to the oil pipeline being routed near the Standing Rock Reservation and under its Missouri River drinking water supply.
The vehicle became snowbound in a blizzard and wasn’t returned to the rental company. The dispute that followed between Wood and Hertz resulted in Wood being charged in January 2017 with felony theft. Wood and his wife, Jessica, were detained at the U.S. border in California when returning from a Mexico vacation in August 2019, though they were not arrested.
Prosecutors in March 2020 dropped the theft charge, but Wood and his wife sued in March 2021, alleging Hertz Corp. officials falsely accused him of stealing the Suburban in retaliation for his social media criticism of the company’s service or his support of the pipeline protest. The defendants disputed the retaliation allegation.
U.S. District Judge Dan Traynor later in 2021 dismissed the City of Bismarck and two police officers as defendants in the civil rights lawsuit, along with two Hertz employees in Oklahoma. The Woods voluntarily dropped Hertz as a defendant after the company declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy amid the coronavirus pandemic. That left Bismarck franchisee Overland West Inc. and two of its employees — Alexandria Huber and John Kaelberer — as the only remaining defendants in the suit that sought unspecified monetary damages.
Traynor about a year ago ruled against the Woods on all of their claims — malicious prosecution, negligence, breach of contract, infliction of emotional distress, and negligent training and supervision. The Woods appealed.
A three-judge panel of the 8th Circuit recently upheld Traynor’s ruling that Overland did not breach its rental contract with the Woods. But the panel ruled that the Woods had presented enough evidence to possibly convince a jury of their claims of malicious prosecution, negligence, and negligent training and supervision.
The judges concluded “the Woods presented sufficient evidence that Kaelberer lacked probable cause to believe that Wood had stolen the vehicle when he contacted police,” and that “further, a jury could infer malice based on Kaelberer’s testimony that he filed the police report to collect a debt, and testimony that Overland employees were aware of Wood’s negative tweet and considered it harassing and threatening.”
The judges also said there was enough evidence that a jury might conclude Overland employees’ efforts to reach out to Wood before contacting police were insufficient, and that Overland failed to properly train its employees regarding the filing of stolen vehicle reports.
The Woods’ attorney, Roberto Alejandro, said, “We agree with the 8th Circuit’s decision and now turn our attention to preparing for trial.”
Defendants attorney Joel Flom did not respond to a Bismarck Tribune request for comment before being withdrawn from the case. The defendants’ new attorney, Bradley Beehler, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
North Dakota
HIGHLIGHTS: North Dakota St. gets its revenge, dominating UND 41-17
FARGO, N.D. (Valley News Live) – It is sweet, sweet revenge in 2024 for the North Dakota State Bison. A year after UND blew out NDSU in Grand Forks, the Bison do the same to the Fighting Hawks in Fargo, winning 41-17 Saturday.
The rivalry win is a meaningful one for North Dakota St., but it came at a cost in the second half, when star QB Cam Miller suffered an ankle injury and left the game in the third quarter.
Head Coach Tim Polasek said postgame Miller was not severely injured.
“It’s a just an ankle,” Polasek said. “We’ll know more later. He could’ve come back and he would’ve went into the game and played.”
Aside from the injury, Miller had a milestone day, scoring his 100th career touchdown in the second quarter, then tallying his 42nd career rushing touchdown in the third quarter, breaking Bison legend Easton Stick’s MVFC record for rush TDs by a QB.
”Everything this kid’s going to get, in my opinion, is because he stayed here and played in a system that’s his,” Polasek said. “The system is now his.
“What another great story to deflect the portal. Just stay and be coached and work and finish what you start. I’m so freaking happy for that guy, he means everything to me.”
As for UND, it was obviously a rough day with the 24-point loss, but for the Fighting Hawks, it’s onward to a bye week and a matchup with Northern Iowa Oct. 19.
”How we respond to this is really important,” UND Head Coach Bubba Schweigert said. “We talk to our guys about, we go through events, and our response is our thing that we can control, and we’ve got to do a good job of how we respond to this.”
As North Dakota begins a bye week, North Dakota St. heads to Carbondale Oct. 12 for their next contest, a 2:00 p.m. battle with Southern Illinois.
Copyright 2024 KVLY. All rights reserved.
North Dakota
Portion of Highway 2 closed in Williams County due to fires as of Saturday evening
WILLIAMS COUNTY, N.D. (KFYR) – The Williams County Sheriff’s Office says there are two large, active fires in the Ray area as of 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
They say one fire began northwest of Ray and the other began south of Highway 2 near the area of 102nd Road NW and 62nd Street NW. The fires are traveling southeast and are burning south of Highway 2 as of Saturday evening.
As of 9 p.m. Saturday, Highway 2 is closed from County Road 9 (133rd Avenue NW) eastbound to 105th Avenue NW. Westbound Highway 2 traffic is recommended to travel north on Highway 40, past Tioga, then west on Highway 50.
They say traffic is still able to travel from Highway 2 south on Highway 85 to get to Williston.
There is not currently an evacuation order in place, but if you require assistance, or there is an emergency, Williams County Sheriff’s Office says to dial 911.
Many local and regional firefighters are actively responding.
Your News Leader will continue to provide updates as we learn more.
Copyright 2024 KFYR. All rights reserved.
North Dakota
Live box score: No. 7 UND at No. 2 North Dakota State
FARGO — The 117th meeting between North Dakota and North Dakota State will take place Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in the Fargodome.
Recaps of scoring plays as they happen will be posted below.
NDSU 7, UND 0, 10:39 left: The Bison move quickly on their first drive. After a questionable 15-yard pass interference on Antonio Bluiett, NDSU’s CharMar Brown scores from 2 yards out.
NDSU 14, UND 0, 2:18 left: After picking up a third-and-7, Cam Miller goes deep for Bryce Lance. Lance beats Clayton Bishop deep for a 36-yard touchdown connection.
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