On December 2, 2025, at approximately 11:19 AM, Sergeant Robert Berg of the Chisago County Sheriff's Office was in the area of 1550 W 4th Street in Rush City, Chisago County, Minnesota, when he observed a vehicle (the "Vehicle") enter the Holiday parking lot and park. The sole occupant of the Vehicle was a male that Sgt. Berg recognized from many prior police contacts. Sgt. Berg knows this male, JOSEPH CHRISTIAN SCHELLBACH [DOB REDACTED], Defendant herein, as someone with an invalid license. Defendant exited the Vehicle and entered the gas station.
Sgt. Berg conducted a license check and confirmed Defendant was Cancelled Inimical to Public Safety. Sgt. Berg entered the gas station and searched for Defendant. He searched the gas station store and the attached restaurant, including the bathroom, and did not find him. Approximately 12-13 minutes elapsed from the time Defendant entered the store until Sgt. Berg entered it, so he believed Defendant was avoiding police contact. He also searched around the exterior of the gas station and did not locate him.
Sgt. Berg began to do the paperwork associated with charging Defendant with the driving offense when a woman, later identified as Defendant's wife, pulled up to the Vehicle and entered it using a key. Sgt. Berg asked what she was doing and she told him that she was called to come pick up the Vehicle. Sgt. Berg told her that the Vehicle was not going anywhere because the plates were being impounded due to the suspected driving offense. While Sgt. Berg was collecting the VIN information for the Vehicle, he observed that the VIN plate located on the dashboard had been removed from its factory rivets and was free floating.
Sgt. Berg suspected that this VIN plate may not actually belong to the Vehicle. Defendant's wife was talking on the phone while seated in the driver's seat of the Vehicle with the door open. Sgt. Berg observed that the VIN plate usually located in the driver door area was removed. Sgt. Berg asked Defendant's wife to open the hood so that he could check the VIN sticker on the radiator shroud. This VIN sticker was also removed. It was also discovered that the Vehicle had a diesel engine. A tow was initiated and Sgt.
Berg did an inventory search of the vehicle. He discovered that the glovebox door did not match the interior trim of the Vehicle. The VIN number on the glovebox door matched that of the free floating VIN plate on the dashboard. Inside the glovebox was an owner's manual that matched to the VIN plate and glovebox. The manual indicated the Vehicle was a Chevrolet truck with a gas engine, not a diesel engine as the truck was actually equipped with. The Vehicle was not equipped with an interlock device as required by Defendant's license.
The Vehicle was towed to an impound lot. Sgt. Berg examined the Vehicle with an engine control module and was able to find the actual VIN for the Vehicle. It registered to a stolen truck out of Burnett County, Wisconsin, reported stolen in 2021. The Vehicle had been repainted, but the original colors registered to the stolen vehicle could be seen in areas of the engine compartment and interior of the Vehicle. Sgt. Berg discovered that the license plate on the Vehicle was associated with a prior stop of Defendant in 2024 where he was arrested and charged with 5th Degree Drug Possession.
