DETROIT LAKES, Minn. — Two Park Rapids, Minn., men are lucky this isn’t the Old West and they don’t hang rustlers in these here parts.
The two have been charged with felonies after allegedly selling cattle they did not own.
Bret Ricardo Glatzmaier, 49, has been charged in Becker County District Court with two felony counts of rustling and cattle theft, and Christopher Charles Strehlow, 31, has been charged with one felony count of each.
According to court records, an investigator with the Becker County sheriff’s office spoke on Nov. 4 to a cattle owner who said he had responded to an advertisement placed by Glatzmaier regarding pasture land for rent. The two agreed the man could graze his cattle on the land in exchange for one small Holstein heifer. Glatzmaier had no other cattle in the pasture.
On Aug. 20 the renter brought 16 head of cattle to the pasture. When he returned on Nov. 4, only four were there.
An investigation revealed that Glatzmaier allegedly sold four head of cattle to another man on Aug. 26, and the second man then sold the cattle to the Perham Stockyards. Through markings, investigators were able to identify one of the cattle Glatzmaier sold as coming from the renter’s herd pastured on Glatzmaier’s land.
Employees at the Perham Stockyard told the investigator that Glatzmaier had also sold two other steers to them on Sept. 25 and that another man, allegedly Strehlow, had sold six Holstein steers to them on Oct. 16.
Strehlow allegedly admitted that the cattle he sold were from the rented pasture. He said the check was made out to him, and he split the money with Glatzmaier. The cattle owner said each head of cattle was worth about $800.
Becker County District Judge Gretchen Thilmony set cash bail Nov. 27 for both Glatzmaier and Strehlow at $2,500 and bond at $25,000, with standard conditions of release, or $50,000 without conditions.