Crime blotter: spitting mad

On Sunday afternoon Minneapolis police officers Dave Ulberg and David Elliot were dispatched to the Harrison neighborhood to investigate a report that three teenage girls were being harassed by an adult male. When the officers arrived on the scene, the girls pointed out the man and they attempted to speak with him. According to a criminal complaint filed in Hennepin County District Court, the man--subsequently identified as 43-year-old Steven Maurice Abrams-- responded by asking "What the fuck do you want?" When Abrams was asked to put his hands on the squad car, he allegedly shoved Ulberg with both hands and spit on him. He then declared "I'll kill you. I have AIDS." While being transported to the jail, Abrams continued spitting all over the rear of the squad car while repeatedly threatening to infect the officers with H.I.V. At the jail it required five Hennepin County Sheriff's deputies to remove Abrams from the squad car. They then placed a "spit mask" on him, but not before he was able to spit in the eye of one of the deputies. Abrams has been charged with two counts of assault in the fourth degree and one count of making terroristic threats. According to records maintained by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, Abrams has four previous misdemeanor criminal convictions in the state.