{"id":44240,"date":"2026-08-20T12:45:29","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T17:45:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=44240"},"modified":"2026-08-15T22:12:53","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T03:12:53","slug":"thief-river-falls-man-faces-4-drug-child-charges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/thief-river-falls-man-faces-4-drug-child-charges\/","title":{"rendered":"Thief River Falls Man Faces 4 Drug, Child Charges"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Thief River Falls Man Faces 4 Drug, Child Charges<\/h2>\n

Thief River Falls<\/strong> (trfnews.i234.me<\/a>) \u2014 A Thief River Falls man faces four charges following a drug investigation and search.<\/p>\n

John Closner, 26, faces three felony drug charges and one gross misdemeanor child endangerment charge.<\/p>\n

The case stems from an investigation conducted on August 6, 2026.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors allege cocaine sales occurred inside Closner’s home before officers executed a search warrant.<\/p>\n

Controlled Cocaine Purchase Alleged<\/h2>\n

The investigation began after another person was arrested in Polk County on suspicion of DWI.<\/p>\n

Officers allegedly found about 3.5 grams of suspected cocaine inside that person’s vehicle.<\/p>\n

The individual later agreed to work as a confidential informant, according to the criminal complaint.<\/p>\n

Investigators say the informant identified Closner as the person who supplied the cocaine.<\/p>\n

The informant later returned to Closner’s residence with $350 in recorded task force funds.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors allege Closner accepted the money and provided another bag containing suspected cocaine.<\/p>\n

A field test returned a presumptive positive result for cocaine.<\/p>\n

\"John
John Closner<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Search Finds Suspected Drugs And Firearms<\/h2>\n

Officers arrested Closner after he left the residence.<\/p>\n

They then searched the home under a warrant.<\/p>\n

Investigators allegedly found about 92.7 grams of suspected cocaine throughout the residence.<\/p>\n

They also reported finding 33 suspected oxycodone tablets and 9.2 grams of suspected psilocybin mushrooms.<\/p>\n

Some suspected cocaine was packaged in individual baggies, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n

Two digital scales allegedly showed presumptive cocaine residue.<\/p>\n

Officers also reported finding three firearms and $2,350 in cash.<\/p>\n

The recorded buy money was allegedly found among the cash.<\/p>\n

A loaded 9mm handgun was reportedly sitting unsecured on top of a gun safe.<\/p>\n

Child Endangerment Charge Filed<\/h2>\n

An approximately 20-month-old child was inside the home during the search.<\/p>\n

The child’s identity is being withheld.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors allege the child was exposed to drug activity, paraphernalia, and an unsecured loaded firearm.<\/p>\n

The home was also about 135 feet from Ole Engelstad Park, according to investigators.<\/p>\n

Closner allegedly admitted cocaine was inside the home and acknowledged selling an eight-ball that day.<\/p>\n

He also reportedly said the pills, firearms, and safes belonged to him.<\/p>\n

Suspected controlled substances were sent to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for laboratory testing.<\/p>\n

The complaint states the investigation remained ongoing when charges were filed.<\/p>\n

The first-degree drug charge carries up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine.<\/p>\n

Readers can review Minnesota Statute 152.021<\/a> for first-degree controlled substance offenses.<\/p>\n

Child endangerment law appears under Minnesota Statute 609.378<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Additional court information is available through the Minnesota Judicial Branch<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The charges are allegations and have not been proven in court.<\/p>\n

Closner is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.<\/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 Thief River Falls man faces four charges after prosecutors say a drug search found suspected cocaine, oxycodone, firearms and a child in the home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42284,"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":"","_mastodon_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":[1239,23224,4332,17955,22389,23225,14674,873],"class_list":["post-44240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","tag-child-endangerment","tag-cocaine-charges-minnesota","tag-drug-task-force","tag-first-degree-drug-charge","tag-john-closner","tag-oxycodone-possession","tag-pennington-county-court","tag-thief-river-falls-news","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44240","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=44240"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44240\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44241,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44240\/revisions\/44241"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}