Officer, pastor honored for their part in resolving July standoff - Austin Daily Herald (2024)

An Austin Police officer and a pastor were honored Monday night during the Austin City Council meeting for their efforts in resolving a standoff earlier this summer.

Officer Daniel Osborne and Grace Baptist Church’s Pastor Dan Mielke were recognized by council, fellow officers, family and friends for going above and beyond on the night of July 7 in securing the release of a seven-year-old girl who was being held by her father during a standoff that lasted nearly 10 hours.

They were part of an overall effort from a team of people that brought a safe conclusion to a tense situation.

“Without any of them I don’t know if we would have the same outcome we did that day,” said Lt. Michael Hartman, who was the afternoon shift lieutenant that day.

Osborne, a trained negotiator with the Special Incident Response Team, was one of several negotiators on scene throughout the standoff and was recognized not only for his own work that night, but for helping coach others, including Mielke, through the negotiations and understanding that one of the main goals was to keep the suspect, 48-year-old Kristofer Luiken, talking and communicative.

Hartman went on to explain that even when Osborne wasn’t negotiating or taking a break, he was working behind the scenes in whatever fashion that would bring the standoff to an end including communications with family and Mielke and even fulfilling a promise of going to the hospital with the suspect when the situation came to an end.

“Once the incident ended, he went with the individual to the hospital, refusing to break a promise,” Hartman said.

In total, including his normal shift and the standoff, Osborne put in 20 hours that day.

Osborne, however, credited a large part of the effort to Mielke, who agreed to come to the scene after Luiken had asked to speak to his local pastor.

“Honestly, I don’t believe we would be standing here in this capacity without Pastor Dan,” Osborne said. “Pastor Dan went above and beyond the call of service. I’m proud to have worked with Pastor Dan and could not put into words what his assistance meant that day.”

During his time on scene, Mielke provided ideas and themes for negotiators and at times negotiated directly with Luiken. He also helped develop a surrender plan, which included Mielke also accompanying Luiken to the hospital following the standoff.

Mielke said that a driving factor was securing the release of Luiken’s daughter as one father to another.

“That was an honor I don’t take lightly,” Mielke said. “I was incredibly honored to work with many of the officers in this room. The care was tangible. They were caring for the man and his daughter. Care can’t be trained.”

The event began the night of July 7 in Owatonna when officers there were called to the scene of Kwik Trip a little before 10 p.m. on July 7 for an adult screaming at a child. Officers made contact with Luiken, observing that he appeared nervous and scared and eventually becoming agitated as the conversations continued. After being instructed to get out of the car, Luiken reached for a can of pepper spray and was again instructed to get out of the vehicle.

Luiken then fled the scene, striking one of the squad cars. Concerned for the child’s safety, Owatonna stopped pursuit, however, Luiken was soon picked up again by the Minnesota State Patrol, Blooming Prairie police and APD as he was fleeing south on Highway 218.

With four flat tires after MSP used stop sticks, Luiken drove into Austin and went to the home of his mother in the 1700 block of Fourth Avenue NW where he was taken into custody at 9 a.m. the morning of July 8.

Luiken has since been charged with felony fleeing a police officer and misdemeanor failing to stop for a collision in Steele County and three felony charges of child endangerment, obstructing the legal process and threats of violence, along with a single gross misdemeanor count of false imprisonment in Mower County.

Austin Police Chief David McKichan said during Monday night’s meeting that he had complete faith in his department’s ability to resolve the situation.

“I wouldn’t want it in anyone else’s hands,” McKichan said. “I would rather have our folks on that type of call in our city because they are doing the best of their ability to resolve the situation. I’m very proud of our staff, our department.”

“I have no doubt in my mind you saved lives that night,” Mayor Steve King added to both Mielke and Osborne.