Fergus Falls man jailed after samurai sword threat against property manager

A Fergus Falls apartment manager cleaning a unit on Friberg Avenue said she heard yelling over her music, looked outside and saw Alexander James Goeller wielding a samurai sword and shouting threats. The 24-year-old was jailed at the Otter Tail County Detention Facility on $500 cash bail with conditions, turning a volatile dispute at a rental property into a criminal case with immediate public-safety consequences.

Police were called Thursday, May 8, 2026, to the apartment complex for reports of threats of violence. According to prosecutors’ account of the incident, the property manager told officers she saw Goeller outside the building with the sword while she was inside working on the apartment. Security footage reportedly showed him wearing a white mask, handling the sword recklessly, gesturing toward the building and then spitting on the victim’s car door.

The situation escalated further when officers made contact. Police say Goeller resisted arrest after being told to stop, and then kneed an officer in the jaw. Officers used pepper spray and five knee strikes before taking him into custody and booking him into the Otter Tail County Detention Facility. A search warrant at his apartment reportedly turned up a white mask and a sword with a 27-inch blade.

Goeller faces charges including second-degree assault, fourth-degree assault, obstructing the legal process with force and concealing identity in a public place. His first court appearance was scheduled for Friday afternoon after the arrest. In Otter Tail County, criminal cases are handled in Otter Tail County District Court in Fergus Falls, where bail decisions and other release conditions are set as the case moves forward.

The arrest has drawn attention not just because of the weapon involved, but because the alleged target was a property manager working in a local rental building, a job that often puts staff in direct contact with tense disputes, noise complaints and eviction issues. In this case, the encounter quickly crossed from a property problem into an assault case that left one officer injured and the defendant behind bars under court-imposed conditions.