A Clay County District Court complaint charges Johnson with receiving stolen property.<\/p>\n
The case is filed as 14-CR-26-2995 in Minnesota’s Seventh Judicial District.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors allege Johnson possessed a stolen vehicle between December 2025 and April 2026.<\/p>\n
Truck Reported Stolen in Fargo<\/h2>\n
The investigation began after a black 1998 Ford F-150 was reported stolen in Fargo.<\/p>\n
The truck disappeared from a residential property on December 17, 2025.<\/p>\n
The owner valued the vehicle at about $10,000, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n
The owner later told investigators that Xander Michael Quarve and Rylee Allen Mehtala may have been involved.<\/p>\n
He also reported that the truck could be at Johnson’s property near Barnesville.<\/p>\n
An investigator visited the property on April 28, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n
A truck matching the stolen vehicle was visible from a nearby road.<\/p>\n
The vehicle was missing its doors, hood, and major engine parts.<\/p>\n
The vehicle identification number matched the Ford reported stolen in Fargo.<\/p>\n
Johnson Describes How Truck Arrived<\/h2>\n
Johnson later spoke with investigators by telephone, according to the court filing.<\/p>\n
Johnson allegedly said he and Quarve brought the truck to the property months earlier.<\/p>\n
He said Quarve claimed the truck was purchased through Facebook Marketplace.<\/p>\n
Johnson allegedly said Quarve and Mehtala began removing tires and other parts.<\/p>\n
He also claimed the truck was damaged and later shot with a gun.<\/p>\n
Johnson reportedly told investigators that he no longer wanted the vehicle on his property.<\/p>\n
Truck Found in Ditch<\/h2>\n
An investigator arranged to have the vehicle removed from Johnson’s property.<\/p>\n
The truck was gone when authorities returned the following day.<\/p>\n
It was found in a ditch near Barnesville on April 29.<\/p>\n
The location was about four miles from Johnson’s property, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n
Investigators also reported finding vehicle-related items at Johnson’s property.<\/p>\n
Those items allegedly matched property seen in another Ford truck during the investigation.<\/p>\n
Authorities later obtained phone records for Quarve and Mehtala.<\/p>\n
The complaint says their phones used towers covering the areas connected with the truck’s movement.<\/p>\n
Felony Charge Filed<\/h2>\n
Johnson is charged under Minnesota Statute 609.53<\/a>.<\/p>\n The complaint lists a maximum sentence of five years in prison.<\/p>\n It also lists a possible fine of up to $10,000.<\/p>\n The charge is an allegation and does not establish guilt.<\/p>\n Johnson is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.<\/p>\n Readers can search public case information through the Minnesota Judicial Branch<\/a>.<\/p>\n I’m Adrian Cole reporting for TRF News<\/a>.<\/p>\n Copyright 2026 TRF News. All rights reserved.<\/strong><\/p>\n Barnesville Man Charged in Stolen Truck Case Barnesville (trfnews.i234.me) \u2014 Michael Paul Johnson faces a felony charge involving a stolen Ford F-150. A Clay County District Court complaint charges Johnson with receiving stolen property. The case is filed as 14-CR-26-2995 in Minnesota’s Seventh Judicial District. Prosecutors allege Johnson possessed a stolen vehicle between December 2025… Continue reading Barnesville Man Charged in Stolen Truck Case<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":52748,"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":"","timeOption":"","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":""},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52747","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=52747"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52747\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52749,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52747\/revisions\/52749"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Barnesville](\"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Michael-Paul-Johnson-1024x1024.png\")
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