By: Alex Evans
ELY, Minn. – The Minnesota BCA listed an Ely predatory offender’s ‘fictional’ address on their registry from Sep. 2023 until approximately June of this year, court records show.
An Ely man listed a “fictional” address as his home on the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension’s (BCA) Predatory Offender Registry, where it went unnoticed by the Bureau and local law enforcement for nearly two years, a criminal complaint alleged. The fake address was discovered by a Cambridge Police Officer who conducted a traffic stop on the man, 38-year-old Erik Michael Rust, on June 8.
While on the stop, the Cambridge officer noticed that the home address on Rust’s driver’s license was different from the one that showed up on the BCA’s registry. According to the complaint, Rust’s license said he lived on “Harvey Road,” but the address he registered with the BCA said he lived on an “Echo Duey Road” in Ely.
The officer attempted to search for the address on Echo Duey Road, but he “could not locate that address, and so contacted Ely PD to try to sort out the situation,” the complaint said. Ely PD confirmed to the officer that Echo Duey Road does not exist.
At the end of the traffic stop, Rust was told “to check in with the Ely PD” and that an officer would be visiting the address reported on his license.
An Ely officer investigated Rust’s information he provided for the BCA registry, and found that he had registered his real address in Feb. 2023; however, in Sep. 2023, when he was released from the St. Louis County Jail, he registered the fake Echo Duey Road. Rust has not updated his address since, and “two mailed notices to verify his registration have been returned to the BCA,” the complaint said.
Attempts by Ely Police to locate Rust at the address on his license were also unsuccessful. Rust is charged with intentionally providing false information and knowingly failing to register as a predatory offender.
The Minnesota BCA declined to comment on individual offenders beyond what is available on the “POR non-compliant website,” but stated they are not “tasked with verifying” where registrants live.
In a statement, the BCA said, “While the BCA maintains data on Minnesota’s nearly 20,000 registered predatory offenders, local law enforcement and probation authorities are tasked with verifying whether registrants in their jurisdiction are living at the registered address.”
As of publishing, the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office has not responded to questions regarding the BCA’s statement or this specific incident.
Rust is also accused of leading a July 20 vehicle pursuit along Highway 53 that ended in a construction zone near Eveleth. According to the complaint, Rust ran his car “head-on” into a deputy’s car before he was surrounded. He’s faced with charges for fleeing, criminal damage to property, and assault on an officer.
The Twin Ports Report 