Forget complicated Ponzi schemes. The "business people" behind a recent scam at the SuperAmerica in Waconia provided a refresher course in good ol' fashioned fraud.

SEE ALSO: Tom Petters, convicted Ponzi schemer, teaches fellow inmates business classes

The previous owner of the SA, a 51-year-old man named Husein Sarameh, agreed to sell his business to as-of-yet-unidentified person or group of people last month for $945,000. The buyers wrote a $203,000 check to cover the down payment and Sarameh, following his lawyer's advice, turned over the reins to the store before it had even cleared. And that's where things got weird.

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One near-fatal punch cost Clifford his job and will probably land him in prison.

-- Original post from morning of May 21; update at bottom --

A month following his conviction for two counts of felony assault and another count of misdemeanor assault, former Minneapolis SWAT team executive officer David Clifford is out of a job.

THE BACKSTORY: David Clifford, Mpls SWAT team leader, convicted of felony assault [VIDEO]

Clifford nearly killed Star Tribune advertising employee Brian Vander Lee with a single punch to the head on the patio of Tanners Bar in Andover last June. Following his arrest, he was placed on paid administrative leave from the MPD, but according to numerous reports, the two-time recipient of the MPD's Medal of Honor has now officially been fired.

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Alba-Salmeron was left scraped and bruised after a Good Samaritan fought him for allegedly raping a woman.

Raul Calkins was walking home from a party around 3 a.m. Sunday near East Sidney and Mt. Hope Streets in St. Paul when he heard a woman crying out from the side of the road. He looked to see what was going on and saw a woman naked from the waist down and a man running from the scene.

SEE ALSO: NDSU student reports rape; authorities say she was acting out rape fantasy and charge her

Calkins, 26, gave chase and caught up with the man, later identified as 30-year-old Dario Alba-Salmeron. According to police, he started fighting Alba-Salmeron, then gave chase again after an SUV driven by a woman scooped up Alba-Salmeron and drove off.

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An alleged attempted abduction of a 13-year-old girl by three men on May 5 is just one in a string of luring incidents that have occurred in southwest Minneapolis this month, according to the Minneapolis Police Department.

RELATED: Police release sketch of man who allegedly attempted to abduct girl near Lake Calhoun [IMAGE]

In total, there have been four luring-related incidents this month in that part of town, and a fifth incident where an older man was seen creepily loitering in a residential neighborhood while possibly taking photos of children.

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Franklin, under attack from a police K9, was able to wrestle a submachine gun away from an officer before shooting two others, the Strib reports.

Officially, the Minneapolis Police Department remains tight-lipped about what exactly happened during the May 10 altercation in the basement of a home on the 2700 block of Bryant Avenue South that left two officers injured and burglary suspect Terrence Franklin dead.

THE BACKSTORY: Terrence Franklin shot multiple times by MPD, but it's unclear whether he fired a shot himself

But the latest information to trickle out from unofficial channels indicates Franklin did indeed fire the shots from a police-issued submachine gun that hit two officers in the legs.

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Reynold Pratt

One unfortunate patron got a whole lot more than wings, beer, and sports during a recent trip to Buffalo Wild Wings.

SEE ALSO: Buffalo Wild Wings' profits are blazin'

On Monday, Reynold Pratt's attempts to chat up the man sitting next to him at the bar in B-Dubs' West St. Paul location were rebuffed, and if law enforcement's account of what happened can be believed, Pratt was murderously unhappy about it.

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Harteau suggested the officer driving the SUV wasn't at fault for the fatal accident.

During a news conference this afternoon, Minneapolis Police Department Chief Janeé Harteau said the police SUV involved in a fatal accident with a motorcycle last Friday afternoon was traveling 16 to 17 miles per hour as it entered the intersection of West 26th Street and Blaisdell Avenue.

THE BACKSTORY:
-- Terrence Franklin shot multiple times by MPD, but it's unclear whether he fired a shot himself
-- MPD, witnesses differ on accounts of motorcycle accident that killed Ivan Romero [PHOTOS]

Harteau said the MPD determined the SUV's speed using GPS data and equipment installed inside the squad.

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Police say Franklin grabbed an MP5 that was around an officer's neck, but what happened after that remains shrouded in mystery.

According to the Hennepin County medical examiner, 22-year-old burglary suspect Terrence Franklin was fatally shot multiple times by Minneapolis police on Friday afternoon. But police acknowledge it's unclear whether he was responsible for firing the shots that injured two Minneapolis officers.

THE BACKSTORY: MPD shootings: Cops shot with own gun, biker had green light when fatally hit by squad car

In a separate unflattering development for the MPD, it's now being reported that the accident that claimed the life of 24-year-old Ivan Romero happened more than a half-hour after Franklin was killed. Romero's motorcycle collided with a police SUV at the intersection of West 26th Street and Blaisdell Avenue, and the MPD's account of what happened in the moments leading up to the accident differs from what some witnesses said they saw. Romero reportedly had a green light and was proceeding through the intersection when he collided with the SUV. Police say the SUV had its sirens and lights activated at the time.

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Jocelin Torrejon (left) and Ivan Romero

"His girlfriend was on the back of the bike -- the person that he loves the most in his life," a friend of Ivan's told WCCO. "He's not going to be reckless with that."

:::: UPDATE :::: Terrence Franklin shot multiple times by MPD, but it's unclear whether he fired a shot himself

Last night, an MPD news release provided officers' account of the tragic Friday afternoon accident that killed 24-year-old Minneapolis resident Ivan Romero and left his girlfriend, Jocelin Torrejon, injured.

THE BACKSTORY: MPD shootings: Cops shot with own gun, biker had green light when fatally hit by squad car

But the MPD's account differs from what witnesses have said about the chain of events that led to a squad car and Romero's motorcycle colliding while police rushed to apprehend 22-year-old burglary suspect Terrence Franklin, who was later involved in an altercation with two cops who were shot with their own guns inside a home at 2717 Bryant Avenue South. Franklin was ultimately shot and killed himself.

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Even the pre-teens who threw Molotov cocktails on the Greenway had more tact than Hollis.

Frighteningly, 2013 is shaping up to be the year of the Molotov cocktail. First it was the Midtown Greenway, then it was an alleged domestic juggalo terrorist in Montevideo, and now, the Soviet-style incendiary devices are making headlines in Duluth.

SEE ALSO: Duluth muffin macer sprays man following epic SuperAmerica argument [VIDEO]

Casey Hollis, 21, has been charged with two felonies after he allegedly threw two Molotov cocktails from the roof of Duluth's Shanty Bottle Shop around 11 p.m. on Tuesday night.

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