Duluth man with fetish for slashing exercise balls is sentenced again

DULUTH, Minn. — A Duluth man dubbed the "ball slasher" will avoid jail time for his latest run-in with the law if he successfully completes two years of supervised probation.

Christopher Neil Bjerkness, 40, who recently served six months in the Douglas County (Wis.) Jail for destroying exercise balls at two educational facilities, received his latest sentence Thursday in St. Louis County District Court in Duluth.

Bjerkness pleaded guilty in November to a fourth-degree burglary charge stemming from a May incident in which he reportedly entered an Essentia Health facility after hours and caused approximately $200 in damage.

The gross misdemeanor conviction carries a maximum of one year in jail, which Judge Mark Munger imposed but stayed in favor of the probationary term under a plea agreement with the St. Louis County attorney's office.

The terms of probation include requirements that Bjerkness abstain from alcohol and drug use and follow any treatment recommendations after receiving a mental health evaluation. He also must stay away from Essentia facilities, except for medical purposes.

The Duluth Police Department reported that Bjerkness was identified on video entering a closed area of the Polinsky Medical Rehabilitation Center, 530 E. Second St., and destroying an unspecified number of exercise balls just after midnight on May 23.

The Essentia incident was the first in a spree of incidents over two days. Bjerkness previously admitted in Douglas County Circuit Court to slashing exercise balls at both the Superior High School and the University of Wisconsin-Superior on May 24.

Bjerkness was caught in the act early that morning at the high school, where he popped at least 20 exercise balls valued at $40 apiece. UWS officials later discovered at least 10 exercise balls that were slashed in the dance studio at the campus wellness center, with surveillance video showing that Bjerkness had entered the facility about an hour before he was arrested at the high school.

Bjerkness in September was sentenced to six months in jail and ordered to pay more than $1,200 in restitution in the Douglas County cases.

Bjerkness, who has previously admitted to having a fetish for slashing exercise balls, has had a series of highly publicized break-ins extending back more than a decade.

Bjerkness served a 23-month prison sentence after violating the terms of his probation in 2013. He had successfully completed his prison term and supervised release by the time of his May 2017 arrest.

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