Abduction, wild ride preceded fire in Pine Island

Oct. 22—PINE ISLAND — What ended with fire, began with a thump in the night.

A man who allegedly set fire to a townhome in Pine Island started his night of terror by abducting a woman in Rochester and taking her on a violent ride to Pine Island.

According to Capt. Casey Moilanen of the Rochester Police Department, the incident began sometime after midnight on Thursday in the 100 block of 26th Street Northwest in Rochester where a Pine Island woman, age 44, was spending the night at a male friend's home.

While the friend was asleep, the woman was in the kitchen fixing something to eat when she heard a thud in the opposite direction from where the friend slept. Moments later, her ex-boyfriend walked in through the door from the garage and demanded she grab her things and come with him. Having had concerns about stalking behavior in the past, the woman at first declined, but then became afraid and reluctantly complied when he grabbed her by the sweatshirt and grabbed her belongings, Moilanen said.

Outside the house, they got into her car and he instructed her to get on U.S. Highway 52 and head north.

Near the 41st Street North bridge, he grabbed the steering wheel and threatened to crash them into the bridge support, Moilanen said. He then punched her in the head, causing her to swerve into another lane, and they exited at 100th Street North before eventually making their way to her townhouse in Pine Island.

They arrived at the townhouse in the 1000 block of Seventh Avenue Southwest on the Olmsted County side of Pine Island. Not long thereafter, the woman got out of the house and, from a safe place, called 911.

Capt. James Schueller with the Olmsted County Sheriff's Office said deputies from the Goodhue County Sheriff's Office responded to a call about a domestic situation at 4:06 a.m.

When law enforcement arrived, deputies created a perimeter around the home and tried contacting the man. He responded from an upstairs window and threatened to jump, Schueller said. He then went to another window and threatened to burn the home down. Deputies soon saw an orange glow coming from inside the home. With smoke building up, deputies told the man to go to the front door, but shortly thereafter he exited from the garage.

Officers tried to arrest him, but he resisted and deputies used a stun gun to subdue him, eventually placing him in handcuffs.

However, Schueller said, the man told officers he had taken an overdose of pills, so they uncuffed him and put him in the front of the vehicle. At that point he began resisting officers again, kicking one in the leg. He was eventually subdued again and taken to Mayo Clinic Hospital-Saint Marys. When he was medically cleared, he was detained at the Adult Detention Facility in Rochester.

Michael Drury, 52, of Rochester is being held pending charges of kidnapping, domestic assault, fifth-degree assault, second-degree assault, felony terroristic threats, fourth-degree assault on a peace officer and first-degree arson in Goodhue County, and charges of false imprisonment, domestic assault, first-degree burglary, and felony threats of violence and harassment in Olmsted County.

David Friese, assistant fire chief and mayor of Pine Island, said Pine Island crews arrived at the scene shortly after receiving a call at 5:15 a.m. Thursday.

When the fire crews arrived, they found a two-story duplex townhome with heavy smoke and flames coming from the first- and second-story windows. While crews could not enter the home immediately, the neighboring townhome was checked for any residents. Eventually, with the help of firefighters from the Zumbrota Fire Department, the fire was put out, and crews remained on the scene until about 9 a.m. to ensure the fire was completely extinguished, Friese said.

"Because of the fire breaks built into the townhomes and the rapid response of the firefighters helped prevent the fire from causing further damage to neighboring units," Friese said.

Friese said the fire appeared suspicious in nature and arson is suspected. The Minnesota State Fire Marshal's Office has been asked to investigate.