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Crookston man sentenced to five years in prison on charges related to officer-involved shooting

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Travis Holt

A Crookston man pleaded guilty Friday morning to charges related to his role in an officer-involved shooting.

Travis Michael Lee Holt, 34, was sentenced to spend five years in prison on three felony charges.

Grand Forks County deputies Chris Hutton and Lee Mewes were called to check on a stopped car on U.S. Highway 2 in Arvilla on Feb. 17. Holt reportedly pointed a modified 9 mm rifle at the deputies as they walked up to his stopped vehicle, an affidavit for his arrest said. A shot was fired by deputies and Holt was injured, according to a press release from the sheriff’s office.

Holt was taken to Altru Hospital and booked into jail 10 days later.

Holt has been held without bond since his arrest because of concerns that he could pose a safety risk to the community.

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Details were not released about his injuries, but Holt now wears a black eye patch covering his left eye.

Mewes and Hutton were placed on paid administrative leave during the investigation, but their actions were ruled reasonable because the officers were in fear for their safety when one of them shot at Holt.

During a Friday morning hearing, Holt pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm, two counts of terrorizing, violation of a restraining order. Charges of possession of a short-barreled rifle and carrying a loaded firearm in a vehicle were dismissed. He was classified as a habitual offender in the case, which doubled the time he could spend in prison on the charges.

Holt’s criminal history is extensive, including a 2010 stabbing in Crookston.

He also pleaded guilty Friday to separate charges that originated the night before the officer-involved shooting. Holt pointed a firearm around the house of a woman he knew and told her he would shoot anyone who came into the home, an affidavit said. The woman already had a restraining order against him.

Holt told an investigator he carries a firearm all the time and admitted to taking it out at the woman’s home. He’s barred from legally-owning firearms because he is a convicted felon.

Holt will spend 2 ½ years in prison for terrorizing and violating a no-contact order. A charge of unlawful possession of a firearm was dismissed.

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Tess covers crime and courts for the Grand Forks Herald. She previously worked for the Associated Press, Lincoln Journal Star, Omaha World-Herald and The Voice News. Reach her at (701) 780-1267, twilliams@gfherald.com or on Twitter @ByTessWilliams.

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