Court news: Mahnomen man faces felony drug, fleeing charges; Fargo woman accused of check forgery

Percy Leonard French Jr., 27 of Mahnomen has been charged in Becker County District Court with felony fifth-degree controlled substance crime, felony fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle, and misdemeanor DWI.

According to court records, on April 6, a White Earth officer attempted to pull him over on County Road 21 for driving with a revoked license.

Instead of stopping, French sped up and went several hundred feet before driving into a ditch and then into dense brush, where he left the vehicle and ran on foot towards the South Projects area.

The officer found him shortly after as French was standing on the highway out of breath. French said he ran because he had used methamphetamine "a little bit ago." He added that he had smoked some weird dope and was "seeing faces." During a search of the vehicle, the officer found suspected methamphetamine that weighed about a third of a gram. A blood draw was sent to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for testing.

On April 11, French posted a $1,000 bond and was released with conditions. A settlement conference is set for July 6 and if no plea agreement is reached, a jury trial will start on July 20.

Amy Izsola Murray, 38, of Fargo has been charged in Becker County District Court with felony check forgery.

According to court records, she is accused of writing a bad check in November of 2020 at the Detroit Lakes Menards.

The check was made out in the amount of $504.74, dated "11/27/2020" and purported to be written from a Bank of North Dakota account for "Ashley Lafriniere." The store manager stated that the check came back to Menard's as "unable to locate account." The manager said that he had not turned the check over to the police because the identity of Murray was unknown at the time, but her name came up during a recent investigation at the same Menards.

An arrest warrant was issued May 26 after Murray failed to make her first court appearance that day.