Marshall Thomas Jarvela, 46, was arrested October 28 after officers responded to a report of a break-in at an Irene Avenue home in Ironton. A criminal complaint says the woman who lived there reported that Jarvela, whom she did not know, entered without permission, harmed her dogs and threatened her. He was formally charged two days later with two counts of first-degree burglary, threats of violence and fifth-degree assault.
The case page from mncrime.com says Deerwood and Crosby officers were dispatched to the Irene Avenue address at about 4:01 p.m. on October 28, 2026. The allegations are drawn from a criminal complaint; the case page says its information is based on that document.
According to the complaint, as reported by MN Crime, officers arrived to find the front door open and Jarvela standing in the doorway. The woman was behind the door, speaking with dispatch. Officers told Jarvela to step outside, but the complaint says he went back into the home and did not follow their instructions. It also says he appeared to slur his words and seemed not to understand what officers were telling him. One officer reportedly recognized him from disturbances earlier that day, when he had been found with a bottle of alcohol.
Complaint Describes Alleged Entry and Threats
The woman told investigators she did not know Jarvela and had not allowed him into her home, the complaint says. It alleges he entered without knocking, then kicked and punched her dogs and threatened to kill them. When she told him to leave, he allegedly sat on her couch and refused.
The complaint says the woman moved her dogs away from Jarvela while she was on the phone with 911 and still behind the door. She also reported that he threatened to kill her and called her derogatory names. Asked by officers why he was there, Jarvela reportedly said he was not doing anything wrong but did not answer the question. He was arrested at the scene.
What the Burglary Counts Allege
The case page lists Count 1 as first-degree burglary involving assault on a person in a building or on the property. Count 2 is listed as first-degree burglary of an occupied dwelling with a non-accomplice present, involving theft. Count 3 is threats of violence involving reckless disregard of risk, and Count 4 is fifth-degree assault with two or more prior convictions within three years.
Under Minnesota state law, entering a building without consent with intent to commit a crime, or entering without consent and committing a crime once inside, can constitute first-degree burglary, a charge that carries a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison. That statutory description applies generally to the offense and does not reflect any determination in Jarvela's case specifically.
How Minnesota Defines First-Degree Burglary
The case page describes Count 1 as involving assault on a person in a building or on the property; Count 2 is described as involving an occupied dwelling, a non-accomplice present and theft. Under Minnesota's first-degree burglary statute, unlawful entry with intent to commit a crime—or entry followed by committing a crime inside—must also involve at least one listed aggravating circumstance. The statute authorizes a maximum prison term of 20 years. These are the charged allegations, not a determination of what occurred.
Defendant Has Prior Crow Wing County Case
Jarvela has faced criminal allegations in Crow Wing County before. A separate report from the Brainerd Dispatch detailed an earlier case in which Jarvela, then reported as 35, was charged in Crow Wing County District Court after allegedly threatening two women while holding an arrow, a hammer and a saw. That case resulted in charges of two counts of felony second-degree non-firearm assault with a dangerous weapon and two counts of felony terroristic threats with reckless disregard of risk, the Dispatch reported.
The same Brainerd Dispatch report noted that, between 1999 and the year of that article, Jarvela had accumulated 18 convictions in Crow Wing County, with a 19th disorderly-conduct case pending at the time.
