Big Lake man sentenced for felony assault near Lucan

A Big Lake man, Joshua Daniel Prine, age 42, was sentenced in Redwood County Court for a felony-level assault that occurred near Lucan.

According to court documents, on Dec. 4, 2021, Redwood County deputies were dispatched to a rural Lucan residence on a report an intoxicated man had a firearm and was making threats to kill himself. The report also claimed there were two other people in the residence, one of them a child. Law enforcement arrived to find the person who had called 911 and a child had locked themselves in a bathroom, and were unable to leave the residence.

Deputies made contact with Prine by phone. While he was speaking to a deputy, another crawled a quarter-mile through a ditch to get a different view of the house. When Prine left the house with a witness, the deputy left the ditch and approached the house, informing Prine he was there to help him.

When Prine became belligerent, the deputy ordered him to his knees. Prine attempted to reach for his pocket, But the deputy got control of Prine’s arms and placed him in handcuffs. A search showed a beer bottle in Prine’s pocket, but no firearm.

Later investigation showed the witness had taken a handgun from Prine and tossed it under a nearby car, where deputies found it.

On March 20, Prine was sentenced to 36 months at the correctional facility in St. Cloud for felony assault in the second degree.