Detroit Lakes Woman, 35, Accused of Ramming Man's Truck Over Missing Tools

A 35-year-old rural Detroit Lakes woman is facing a felony charge after she allegedly chased a man's pickup truck through town and rammed it multiple times, including a final collision at the busy intersection of Highway 59 and Highway 34 that left the two vehicles stuck together. Nikieva Melita Franklin was arrested and booked into the Becker County Jail following the August incident, which court records say began as an argument at a residence and escalated into a rolling pursuit that ended with one truck dragging the other.

According to court records cited by the Detroit Lakes Tribune, a witness reported that Franklin and the man had been arguing at a residence before the confrontation moved to the road. The man told investigators that Franklin chased him, rear-ended his black Dodge Dakota pickup, then accelerated and hit him again. Franklin has said she chased the man because she wanted her tools back, and told police the man had broken into a shop and driven away, according to the same court records.

Franklin also gave police a different account of how the crash itself happened, telling them her brakes did not work and that she accidentally rear-ended the man's truck at Highway 59 and Highway 34, per court records. She additionally claimed the man backed into her truck earlier near the railroad tracks on Brandy Lake Road. Booking information reviewed by Recently Booked shows Franklin was initially held on allegations of felony second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and misdemeanor domestic assault, in addition to property damage charges, when she was booked into the Becker County Jail.

A Chase That Ended in a Tangle of Metal

The pursuit and collision drew a law enforcement response to the intersection of Highway 59 and Highway 34 in Detroit Lakes, where the two trucks became connected after one dragged the other, court records show. That same intersection — a major commercial junction that underwent a $42 million realignment and signalization project to handle heavy regional traffic and adjacent BNSF rail lines, per Construction Equipment Guide — was also the site of a two-vehicle injury crash in June that sent someone to Essentia Health St. Mary's, according to Lakes Area Radio.

Franklin is formally charged with felony first-degree damage to property, a charge that under Minnesota Statute § 609.595 carries a maximum penalty of up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine when the damage creates a foreseeable risk of bodily harm or exceeds $1,000 in value, according to the Minnesota Revisor's Office. Becker County District Court set her bail on August 18 at $10,000 with no conditions, or $1,000 cash with standard conditions of release, per the Tribune's report. Franklin is due back in court on September 28.

Separate Fraud Case Against Pelican Rapids Man Dismissed

In an unrelated matter moving through the same Becker County District Court, two felony theft-by-swindle cases against 33-year-old Pelican Rapids resident Anthony Lee Stands were dismissed on August 14 pursuant to an agreement of the parties. The dismissals came the same day Stands was convicted and sentenced to five years of probation on two felony check forgery charges, after misspelled checks helped unravel a local bank fraud scheme, according to a report from West Central MN Watch.

Court records described in the Tribune's reporting detail how Stands asked a man to withdraw $2,400 from his bank account in April 2024 and keep $1,000 for himself, after depositing a $3,400 vehicle-sale check into the man's account at Bell Bank's Hawley branch. Bell Bank informed the man the following day that the check was fraudulent. A Detroit Lakes police officer received a report of the forgery, and that particular incident was ultimately resolved through civil process rather than criminal charges, court records show.

A similar pattern surfaced again in 2025. Stands asked a co-worker to cash a $1,480 check issued in the co-worker's name, and the co-worker deposited it at Bell Bank in Detroit Lakes before withdrawing the funds after believing it had cleared. Bell Bank later notified the co-worker the check was dishonored and the account was overdrawn, prompting a Becker County deputy to speak with the man about possible fraud. Stands paid the co-worker $100 for cashing the check and, according to text messages cited in court records, told him he would return the money — but never did. Stands has said he had sold a truck but lacked the documents needed to open his own bank account.

Public court indexes reviewed by MN CRIME show Stands was separately charged in Douglas County District Court in March with felony theft by swindle in an unrelated case, and Minnesota appellate court records indicate he has been involved in litigation in the state's court system dating back to at least 2017, including a 2018 appeal before the Minnesota Court of Appeals. Under Minnesota Statute § 609.52, theft by swindle involving amounts between $1,000 and $5,000 is a felony carrying up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine, according to Keil Defense.

A Busy Summer for Becker County's Courts

Both cases land on an active criminal docket in Becker County during a summer already strained by other high-profile matters. Earlier in August, Becker County authorities booked a suspect after a manhunt tied to a bank attack on Highway 10 East, a case Hoodline's coverage of that manhunt detailed as it unfolded across state lines. The county has also been managing recovery from severe summer weather, after Governor Tim Walz unlocked state disaster assistance in August following an EF-2 tornado near Detroit Lakes in July.