All of the conduct described herein occurred within the County of St. Louis, State of Minnesota, unless otherwise noted. On June 17, 2026, at approximately 8:49 P.M., deputies with the St. Louis County Sheriff's Office were dispatched to the report of a disturbance at the Nopeming Sanatorium in Midway Township, St. Louis County. Deputy Stracek from the Carlton County Sheriff's Office advised that he was in the area and responded first. Deputy Stracek aired that a white vehicle was exiting the property through the gates.
The van was being driven by a man later identified as GILBERT LEE MANCHESKI, [DOB REDACTED], hereinafter referred to as the Defendant. While in route, Deputy M. Dincau of the St. Louis County Sheriff's made contact with the keyholders for the property which is gated and no trespassing is allowed. Once on scene, Deputy Dincau learned from Deputy Stracek that he had seen the Defendant exit his van, unlatch and open the gate furthest from the road and then get back into his van and ram the second gate open.
The Defendant told Deputy Dincau that he was coming from Silver Bay, saw the roof of Nopeming from I35, and decided to come and check out the building. He saw that it was a far walk to get to the building so he came back in his van to drive up to the buildings. The Defendant admitted to being inside the buildings, but suggested he did not damage or take anything. A keyholder advised that the gate furthest from the road had been damaged. Both metal gates had chains and locks that had been cut. A cut chain link was found at each gate.
In a Mirandized statement, the Defendant alleged that a amount of copper wire in his van was from a tunnel in St. Paul and another amount of copper wire was from a dumpster in St. Paul. The Defendant alleged that he did not take or damage anything from Nopeming, but admitted to ramming the gate closest to the road. The Defendant denied cutting any locks or chains. In the Defendant's passenger compartment of his van, deputies located a plastic baggie containing a white crystal substance that later tested positive for methamphetamine.
This was located in the center dash area. The suspected methamphetamine later was weighed at 2.09 grams. Also in the vehicle was a steel cement saw directly behind the front passenger seat of the van. Deputies walked through the facility with the keyholder. A portion of wire that appeared to match the wire that was in the van was hanging from a pipe in the ceiling on the first floor. PLEASE TAKE NOTICE: Pursuant to Minn. Stat. 609.49, intentional failure to appear for duly scheduled court appearances may result in additional criminal charges, and in addition to any arrest warrant that may otherwise be issued by the Court.
