St. Michael Man Who Caused August Standoff Sentenced

Michael David Meisenholder, 43, was sentenced Jan. 24 in Wright County District Court on charges of felony terroristic threats for an Aug. 1 incident that caused a standoff in a St. Michael neighborhood.

Meisenholder was sentenced to 90 days in jail on charges of terroristic threats for the showdown, which occurred in the afternoon of Aug. 1. He was given five years probation, to run after his time served, in the conditions handed down by Wright County Judge Geoffrey Tenney.

He was sentenced to 90 days in jail on charges of disorderly conduct, to run concurrent with the threats charge.

According to the criminal complaint:

The incident started shortly after 3 p.m., when a 911 emergency call was placed to about a man wielding a rifle, threatening a neighbor in the 3500 block of Kaiser Court Northeast in St. Michael. 

According to the criminal complaint, Meisenholder was shouting at a neighbor when the incident escalated, Meisenholder went inside and returned with a rifle.

Deputies responding to the call found Steve Bredesen, the party witness to Meisenholders rage, in his home next door.

Bredesen told officers he knew Meisenholder, and was aware the man was "unstable," according to the complaint. He said he had been involved in a conversation with Meisenholder that did not go well.

A deputy then tried to call Meisenholder on the phone. Meisenholder answered the call, told the officer he was in a fight, but that he "did not own any firearms." 

Wright County officers then set up a perimeter around the Meisenholder residence after he refused to come outside and talk to deputies on scene. 

About an hour later (after 4 p.m.), Mary Meisenholder, Michael's wife, answered the door and told police her husband was inside the residence and was "extremely intoxicated." She went on to say her husband owned two rifles and a handgun, and was ready for the deputies to come in and "storm his house." 

Deputies maintained a perimeter on scene, and did not attempt to enter the house, "given the tense situation," the complaint continued. Officers rotated, stayed at bay, and maintained contact. Meisenholder emerged the next morning, around 8 a.m., and voluntarily surrendered to police. 

Deputies executed a search warrant and were able to seize "several" firearms, the complaint concludes. 

Meisenholder was originally charged with second-degree assault, and could have faced up to seven years in jail. The five years probation matches the maximum that could be handed down in a terroristic threats charge, according to state sentencing guidelines.