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Minot man sentenced for assaulting cop

Savelkoul

A 44-year-old Minot man entered an Alford plea in district court in Minot Wednesday to assaulting a Minot police officer at the Blind Duck bar in Minot last September.

An Alford plea means that Samuel Clay Savelkoul maintains his innocence but acknowledges that the state has enough evidence that he would likely be found guity at trial.

Judge Stacy Louser sentenced Savelkoul to a year in jail, with all time suspended, and two years of supervised probation. The Class C felony will be deemed a misdemeanor if Savelkoul successfully completes probation. Savelkoul must also write a letter of apology to the police officer and obtain a chemical dependency evaluation.

According to a probable cause affidavit filed with the court, Savelkoul was drunk on Sept. 30, 2016 and struck Officer Joshua Noyes once in the upper torso with an open palm. Noyes was trying to stop Savelkoul from touching his partner’s duty belt. The officers had been investigating a theft complaint.

Savelkoul was one of several men accused of stealing another person’s keys. Savelkoul denied stealing the keys and did not have them on his person when he was searched. The confrontation happened with police after he had been searched and while they were trying to check whether he had any warrants out for his arrest.

– Andrea Johnson

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