{"id":39339,"date":"2026-07-26T04:01:41","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T09:01:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=39339"},"modified":"2026-07-22T06:28:03","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T11:28:03","slug":"east-grand-forks-car-wash-theft-leads-to-charges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/east-grand-forks-car-wash-theft-leads-to-charges\/","title":{"rendered":"East Grand Forks Car Wash Theft Leads to Charges"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

East Grand Forks Car Wash Theft Leads to Charges<\/h2>\n

East Grand Forks<\/strong> (trfnews.i234.me<\/a>) \u2014 A Wisconsin man faces two felony charges after a pickup was allegedly stolen from a local car wash.<\/p>\n

Michael John Tochalauski has been charged in Polk County District Court. He faces third-degree burglary and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.<\/p>\n

The charges come from an incident reported on September 10, 2024. The allegations are detailed in a criminal complaint.<\/p>\n

Pickup Reported Missing From Car Wash<\/h2>\n

According to the complaint, a black GMC 2500 was left inside Central Avenue Car Wash.<\/p>\n

The car wash owner told investigators he left the business around 5:30 p.m. He returned at about 9 p.m.<\/p>\n

The pickup was gone when he returned. The keys had reportedly been left inside the vehicle.<\/p>\n

The truck was a work vehicle used by another person. The driver valued the pickup at about $90,000.<\/p>\n

Authorities entered the vehicle into a national database as stolen.<\/p>\n

\"MichaelMichael John Tochalauski<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Vehicle Located in Wisconsin<\/h2>\n

The vehicle was reportedly seen in Bayfield County, Wisconsin, on September 11.<\/p>\n

Authorities later found the pickup in Ashland County. Tochalauski was allegedly driving the vehicle at that time.<\/p>\n

Wisconsin authorities detained the pickup and arrested Tochalauski. He was later released while the case remained under investigation.<\/p>\n

Investigators also reviewed security footage from outside the car wash.<\/p>\n

The video allegedly showed a person walking near the building with a black guitar case.<\/p>\n

The complaint states Tochalauski had a black guitar case when he was arrested in Wisconsin.<\/p>\n

Two Felony Counts Filed<\/h2>\n

The first count alleges third-degree burglary. Prosecutors claim Tochalauski entered the car wash without permission and stole the pickup.<\/p>\n

The second count alleges unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.<\/p>\n

Each charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. Each also carries a possible $10,000 fine.<\/p>\n

More information about Minnesota criminal laws is available through the Minnesota Legislature\u2019s statute database<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Polk County court information can be found through the Minnesota Judicial Branch<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The charges are allegations. Tochalauski is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.<\/p>\n

I’m Adrian Cole reporting for TRF News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 TRF News. All rights reserved.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Wisconsin man faces two felony charges after a $90,000 pickup was allegedly stolen from an East Grand Forks car wash in 2024.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39340,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_wpscp_schedule_draft_date":"","_wpscp_schedule_republish_date":"","_wpscppro_advance_schedule":false,"_wpscppro_advance_schedule_date":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_bluesky_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[12],"tags":[21550,6904,21551,17560,3771,21552,786,7402],"class_list":["post-39339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","tag-central-avenue-car-wash","tag-east-grand-forks-theft","tag-michael-tochalauski","tag-minnesota-burglary","tag-polk-county-charges","tag-stolen-gmc-pickup","tag-trf-news","tag-vehicle-theft","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39339"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39339\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39341,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39339\/revisions\/39341"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39340"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}