Crime

Alleged Public Masturbator Charged with Indecent Exposure

Filed under: Crime

U of M police charged a Minneapolis man yesterday with two counts of indecent exposure.

In two separate occasions last week, a pair of U of M coeds claimed a middle-aged man sat next to them in the U's Walter Library and began masturbating. Police arrested David Lee Gatson Tuesday evening after the 39-year returned to the library, presumably intent on repeating his performance.

Gatson faces up to one year in prison and/or a fine of $3,000 for each count.

[Cribbed from the Minnesota Daily]

Posted by Matt Snyders at April 11, 2008 2:38 PM | Comments (1)

 

Storlie speaks

Filed under: Crime

David Chanen has a fascinating profile of Charles "Chip" Storlie in today's Star Tribune. For the first time since shooting undercover officer Duy Ngo multiple times with a machine gun five years ago, Storlie gives his account of what happened that dreadful night. The MPD officer tells Chanen that when he realized he had shot a fellow cop, "the blood rushed from my face and I felt like I was wearing lead boots."

Storlie was never charged with a crime. He was also cleared of any wrongdoing by the MPD's internal affairs unit. However, by all accounts the investigation into what happened that night was horribly botched from the outset. The City of Minneapolis settled a civil lawsuit stemming from the incident in November for $4.5 million.

Since the shooting, Storlie has served two tours of duty overseas with the Minnesota National Guard. Most recently he's been working as a security guard for a private military contractor in Iraq. However he intends to eventually return to the MPD.

Ngo gave his account of the shooting incident in this 2003 CP cover story.

Posted by Paul Demko at March 10, 2008 1:10 PM | Comments (1)

 

It's a dangerous world out there, watch yourself, watch your shoe

Filed under: Crime

We here at City Pages found the University of Minnesota's video on student safety so compelling that a mention in our print blotter just didn’t suffice. After all, lives, and apparently shoes, are at risk even in broad daylight on the U's campus. This is problem we cannot ignore.

In the first sketch on the five-minute video that thankfully cost nothing to make, viewers are introduced to Katie, a studious brunette who is leaving her friend’s apartment after a day of hitting the books. That afternoon, Katie encounters something so dangerous and unusual to the college scene she’s forced to turn around… three drunken college boys shooting lame pickup lines her way.

Katie must not get out much.

“Hey, hey, hey girl, I have an anatomy final tomorrow and I’d absolutely love to study up on you,” says the group’s ringleader, a jester looking fool wearing wacky neon colored hat.

“Hey sweet mama,” says his buddy. “Do you rent or do you own?”

“Own what?” inquires Katie innocently. (She’s just asking for it now.)

“Those wings you angel,” answers drunken boy number two. (And to think, he had us at hello.)

“She must be an angel, but I think she needs a slice of the devil,” responds drunken boy number 3. And, with that, Katie runs for help.

She flips open her pink cell phone and calls 624-WALK for an escort. Sexy mop headed boy in power red jacket to the rescue! With Red at her side, Katie is able to breeze past the inebriated clowns and make it safely home.

“Remember,” says Red as seriously as these words actually can be uttered. “A safe U is a safe you.”

Don’t worry beloved readers, there’s more quality storytelling to come. This is the University News Service we’re talking about here. They spent all winter break filming and writing these clips.

Suddenly, viewers find themselves in the company of a male, bundled up for the winter, his face hidden behind a black scarf and sunglasses. Despite having a Blue Tooth earpiece, this guy, that we’ve named Hercules, holds a cell phone by his ear.

He’s making plans to attend a party that requires “sleep over stuff.”

“What? A toothbrush, too. Oh man, it’s gonna be wild,” he says into the receiver.

As if that exchange wasn’t odd enough to pique your interest, suddenly, from out of nowhere, Hercules is pushed to the ground. A campus mugger has seized the opportunity to prey on the vulnerable cell phone talker/walker stealing his … boot. Then, as if in a moment of after thought, the robber grabs the man’s cell phone and takes off, running into oncoming traffic. (It's too bad he didn't get hit by that truck. Now that would have been good footage!)

Poor Hercules is left to stand in the cold, bootless and with no cell phone to call for help.

Don’t worry, we didn’t name him Hercules for nothing, this guy has magical powers and can relive the last 10 minutes of his life.

Hercules is a back wearing both shoes, walking down the same street as before and this time there’s no talk of toothbrush parties, no cell phone or Blue Tooth ear piece. Alert and attentive, Hercules is able to fend off the “boot bandit” who then runs like a coward into the distance.

Afterwards, the film's director, college employee, Justin Ware, reminds viewers that campus is getting safer and safer everyday, but that doesn't mean bad things don't happen. The hundreds of security cameras dotting campuses in Saint Paul and Minneapolis just aren’t enough, says Ware. Watch where you are going, utilize campus services and call 911 in an emergency. This is how we see that conversation going:

"Hello, 911, someone just stole my shoe!"

"Click."

Posted by Beth Walton at March 6, 2008 3:43 PM | Comments (2)

 

Minnesota ranks high in black murder victims

Filed under: Crime

The Violence Policy Center just released a report on what it is calling a "national crisis" of black homicide victims. FBI statistics for 2005 were studied and Minnesota tied New Jersey for 16th largest rate of black murder victims per capita.

The report also highlights these bleak findings:

Blacks in the United States are disproportionately affected by homicide. For the year 2005, blacks represented 13 percent of the nation’s population, yet accounted for 48 percent of all homicide victims. For the age groups 15 to 19, 20 to 24, and 25 to 34, homicide represents the leading cause of death for blacks in America. As noted at the beginning of this study, the devastation homicide inflicts on black teens and adults is a national crisis, yet it is all too often ignored outside of affected communities.

Read a summary of the report here.

Download the entire report here.

Posted by Jeff Severns Guntzel at January 30, 2008 9:38 AM | Comments (1)

 

Murder Mystery in Blue Earth

Filed under: Crime

The Fairmont Sentinel has published a riveting series about a Blue Earth cold case. It's the story of a Jane Doe, strangled and dumped in a ditch, her body found by a farmer after floating some distance in floodwaters. It was 1980. Eventually, after searching in vain for the woman's killer and her identity, Fairbault County paid $1,500 to have her buried in Blue Earth's Riverside Cemetery. Her tombstone read: “Unidentified Woman: Found May 30, 1980 near Interstate 90 east of Blue Earth.” The killer, a former state trooper and member of a religious cult, eventually confessed to the killing but could not help with the woman's identity. He said she was a hitchhiker. He's up for parole. Perhaps the most incredible part of this story is the woman recently moved to Blue Earth has made it her mission to find out who Jane Doe was.

Read the series, written by Sentinel Staff Writer Sarah Day, here...

Part One: Jane Doe’s body opens mystery

“It wasn’t totally unexpected,” says Faribault County Sheriff's Deputy Jerry Kabe. “That highway (Interstate 90) had been open for four to five years. Everybody said before that four-lane was open — with the rest stops and stuff — you’ll probably have murders.”

Part Two: Former state trooper admitted killing Jane Doe

Nelson lived on a farm in rural Elmore when he served district 2200. He was loosely affiliated with the Lutheran church at that time and had three children with his second wife. Nelson was in a high-speed chase, wrecking his squad car and suffering some injuries the week of May 30, 1980. He took a few days off, when the nude body of a caucasian woman was found in a drainage ditch about six miles east of Blue Earth off Interstate 90.

Part Three: Jane Doe finds an advocate

Deborah Anderson moved to Blue Earth in 1991. Around 2003, a retired Blue Earth police officer told her an unidentified woman was buried in the cemetery. Anderson, 38, who works for the Minnesota State-Mankato in human resources, became intrigued. She went home and checked for any information she could find. What she found was nothing. “I thought, well that’s odd,” she said. “How long would I look for my child? Probably forever.”

Part Four: The search for an identity continues

Kabe has always had one name in mind for Jane Doe — Jacqueline Lerman. She disappeared from New York a few weeks before the Blue Earth Jane Doe was discovered. Lerman was in her early 30s, and had similar physical descriptions. Kabe took Lerman’s dental information to two area dentists, who both said she was a match. Kabe then sent it to the medical examiner, who told them Lerman was not a match. Lerman has been ruled out at least twice before with dental comparisons, but Kabe still believes Lerman is buried in Riverside Cemetery. “I would stake half my life on it,” he said. In November 2007, the U. S. Department of Justice released statistics from 1980 to 2004. It said 10,300 unidentified remains were reported to the National Death Index.

A tip of the hat to Ollie Ox at Bluestem Prairie, who posted word of this series and commented:

Amazing stuff. And we recall our own girlhood in Southern Minnesota, when we'd hear about young women's bodies dumped along remote stretches of roads or in fields. It used to scare the heck out of us, but there'd be murmurs about "bad girls" who got what they deserved, rather than outrage at the brutal criminals.

All that changed with victims' advocacy programs that began to blossom about the time that this poor woman was brutally raped and murdered. The first article notes that there was no public outcry at the time the body was found, though one of the retired cops interviewed notes that local women were probably terrified.

That is that darker side to the pastoral childhood we enjoyed, and as the article suggests, the part no one should wish for again in southern Minnesota, or anywhere.

Posted by Jeff Severns Guntzel at January 21, 2008 10:37 AM | Comments (0)

 

Racially Motivated Beat-Down on the Bus

Filed under: Crime

A black man and woman were arrested for being part of a group of seven that beat up an African man on a bus last week in Minneapolis. Their stated reason, according to a criminal complaint: he was African.

According to Quantina Marie Washington's statement, she hit the victim several times "because he was African and she and her friends dislike Africans because they think they are better than everyone else."

In the lead up to the beat-down, the perpetrators told the victim they were going to beat his "African ass," and were calling him an "African bitch."

The victim suffered a headache in the attack. The two perps were arrested the following day, when the victim was again on the same bus as them and called the cops. They were charged with rioting, assault, and disorderly conduct.

Posted by Jonathan Kaminsky at January 4, 2008 1:52 PM | Comments (8)

 

Daddy Dumbest

Filed under: Crime

On a recent Friday night, Andrew St. Michel was speeding through Brooklyn Center on I-94 when Sgt. Dan Beasley, a state trooper, pulled him over. According to a criminal complaint, when Beasley approached St. Michel's window, the 23-year-old driver explained that he was in a hurry to pick up his young son. After noticing St. Michel's telltale bloodshot and watery eyes, Beasley opened St. Michel's door and told him to get out the car.

OK, St. Michel said, but could he first make a quick phone call?

Sure, Beasley said, go ahead.

But St. Michel had other plans. Instead of pulling out his cell phone, he sped off, proceeding to lead Beasley and several Brooklyn Park cops on a chase down Brooklyn Boulevard—through red lights and at speeds exceeding 100 mph, according to the complaint.

Finally, after officers managed to deflate St. Michel's tires with Stop Sticks, he surrendered at gunpoint. According to the complaint, after St. Michel blew a .12 and admitted to drinking six shots of Bacardi, he was asked if he wanted to consult a lawyer. But St. Michel, already driving on a suspended license after a DWI conviction in November, didn't have any pretending left to do. "Fuck an attorney," he said.

Posted by Jonathan Kaminsky at December 27, 2007 12:33 PM | Comments (0)

 

Judge's Order Questions DWI Convictions

Filed under: Crime

A Hennepin County district court judge has issued an order suppressing information from a breathalyzer test should the defendant in the case not get access to proof of the particular machine's effectiveness within 30 days of requesting it. Judge Jack Nordby wonders whether it is "thinkable, constitutionally, that our society could imprison persons who simply decline to take a test on a machine to whose design, construction, and functioning they do not have complete access?”
Via Minnesota Lawyer.

Posted by Jonathan Kaminsky at December 11, 2007 12:03 PM | Comments (0)

 

Good Cop, Bad Cop

Filed under: Crime

At about five o'clock on Sunday morning, as a Hennepin County sheriff's deputy pulled up to his Brooklyn Park home, he saw that all the lights in the house were on and that a strange car was parked at an angle and stuck in a snow bank in his driveway. Upon walking into his garage, the deputy encountered 28-year-old Daniel Lewandowski, who was coming from the house to the garage. Thinking Lewandowski must be a friend of his teenage daughter, the deputy told him to move his car.

But when the deputy got inside the house, his professional crime-fighting instincts told him something was awry.

There were a number of clues: Several of his CDs were missing. A bottle of his wine had vanished. No one else was home. And the front door had been kicked in.

The deputy called 911 and returned to the driveway. Lewandowski, his car apparently stuck in the snow bank, was still there.

The deputy identified himself as law enforcement and asked Lewandowski what he was doing at the house.

Lewandowski had a simple answer: There was a for sale sign in the yard. Hence, he reasoned, it was in foreclosure and vacant. The young man told the officer that he'd gone inside to get a drink.

Sure enough, when Brooklyn Park police officers arrived at the scene, they noticed that Lewandowski, a two-time convicted felon, reeked of booze.

No word on where the deputy's daughter was spending the night.

Posted by Jonathan Kaminsky at December 5, 2007 5:48 PM | Comments (0)

 

Crime blotter: three wheelin'

Filed under: Crime

On November 10 at approximately 10:35 p.m. a Minneapolis cop pulled over Carly Jo Juetten in downtown Minneapolis. The reason? Her vehicle had no left front tire. Juetten informed the officer that she was unaware that her car had only three tires. The cop also observed that she had slurred speech, smelled of booze, and had difficulty walking, according to a criminal complaint filed this week. The 26-year-old Minneapolis resident declined to take a breathalyzer test. She's been charged with one count each of driving while intoxicated and refusing to take a breath test.

Posted by Paul Demko at November 28, 2007 2:58 PM | Comments (0)

 

A day at the mall

Filed under: Crime

According to a criminal complaint filed in Hennepin County Court: Last Sunday, 18-year-old Joshua Jackson and a couple friends were cruising Lake Street in the car he'd stolen the day before when, in a stroke of bad luck, it broke down. Happily, the three pals were close to the light rail, so they hopped aboard and rode it to the Mall of America, where they spent a few hours soaking in the ubiquitous amusements. When it was time to go home, the three amigos decided not to bother with public transport. Instead, they settled on an enticing Buick Century in the parking garage. Sadly, as Jackson was hotwiring the car with a screwdriver, its rightful owner showed up. Jackson and his two friends were quickly apprehended and arrested. And, in a sign of how fragile friendship can be, two of them got right to accusing each other of breaking the car window.

Posted by Jonathan Kaminsky at November 21, 2007 1:52 PM | Comments (0)

 

What do you have to do to solve a sex crime in the Twin Cities?

Filed under: Crime

In the wake of the City Pages investigation into the under-staffing of the Minneapolis Sex Crimes Unit, today's Pioneer Press front page story raises many of the same issues about the infrastructure a city needs to respond to and solve rapes and other sex crimes.

The headline of Mara Gottfried's piece says about all you need to know: "Rape tipster wanted cops, got voicemail." Get the rest of the story here.

Posted by Jeff Severns Guntzel at November 13, 2007 11:54 AM | Comments (0)

 

Man faces five to 15 years in prison for possessing BB gun

Filed under: Crime

A Brooklyn Center man is facing up to 15 years in prison for brandishing a BB gun.

According to the police complaint filed on Monday, Lucas Martel James strolled into an apartment in South Minneapolis with the "gun" in tow and declared he "would go wherever he wanted."

One of the apartment-dwellers left the building and flagged down Sergeant Gregory Freeman and told him that James had a "long, black machine gun." It remains unclear whether James knew the apartment’s occupants or, for that matter, why he showed up in the first place. (No breaking and entering or assault charges to speak of.)

Whatever the case, Sergeant Freeman arrived on scene to find the scoped air gun next to the couch. In a post-Miranda statement, James admitted he "played with the BB gun." After Freeman discovered that James had been convicted of simple robbery back in 1990, he arrested the 38-year-old for felony possession of a firearm. The charge carries a penalty of five to 15 years in prison and/or a $30,000 fine.

Posted by Matt Snyders at November 3, 2007 9:38 AM | Comments (3)

 

The Disappearing Sex Crimes Unit

Filed under: Crime

In Minneapolis, with rapes on the rise, the Sex Crimes Unit of the Minneapolis Police Department has been cut from 10 investigators to 4--and their rape related arrests have tanked (see this week's cover story). The Chief of Police says he has a finite number of cops to move around and that he is accountable to community calls for cops on the street. Mayor Rybak says Pawlenty's Local Government Aid cuts are to blame. Meanwhile, for roughly nine out of every ten rapes reported to the police, there is a victim waiting to hear word of an arrest. What do you think?

http://articles.citypages.com/2007-10-17/news/disappearing-sex-crimes-unit/full/

Posted by Jeff Severns Guntzel at October 17, 2007 12:47 PM | Comments (8)

 

Fergus Falls vandalized by dyslexic tagger

Filed under: Crime

Last week Fergus Falls endured a rash of graffiti. The message: "Fuck Fergus Falls Police Nigya." On three different occasions taggers spray-painted anti-cop messages in the town of 14,000, 175 miles west of the Twin Cities. City streets have been hit twice, while a third message was sprayed on a railroad bridge.

Sgt. Jeff Hohrman, of the Fergus Falls Police Department, says that graffiti aimed at the cops is a new phenomenon in the town. "We've dealt with some tagging and stuff in the past, but it's not a real rampant problem," he says.

According to Hohrman, no suspects have been identified. The police believe all three messages were left by the same tagger. The offensive remarks have been painted over by city workers.

Posted by Paul Demko at August 20, 2007 1:06 PM | Comments (8)

 

A bad day fishing

Filed under: Crime

On July 9, 2005, Dewayne Davidson was fishing along the banks of the Mississippi River in Minneapolis when he decided to take a nap. The Mankato resident's sleep was interrupted, however, by the sound of a barking dog.

According to a lawsuit filed last week in U.S. District Court, Davidson stood up and saw a man with a flashlight. He was worried that he was going to be robbed. "Get your ass up here now you scum bag, you homeless scum bag," the man purportedly said. The stranger was subsequently identified at Minneapolis police officer Mark Lanassa.

Davidson was ordered to the ground. After he complied, Davison claims, he was set upon by a police dog. The canine bit into his left leg and held on for a "lengthy period of time," according to the lawsuit. Davidson further charges that Lanassa kicked him in the testicles and ribs, along with punching him in the face.

Davidson was transported to the hopsital for medical treatment. In addition to the severe leg wound, he sustained two broken teeth and a broken finger. He was never charged with any crime stemming from the altercation.

According to Davidson's attorney, Stephen Fiebiger, attempts to resolve the dispute outside of court were unsuccessful. "We were trying to get something worked out with the city but that fell through," he says.

MPD officers Patricia Nelson and Patrick Myslajek are also named in the lawsuit. The City of Minneapolis will not comment on pending litigation.

Posted by Paul Demko at July 9, 2007 3:03 PM | Comments (1)

 

Vang Pao devoted his life to fighting communism in Laos—until the U.S. government arrested him

Filed under: Crime

The most recent issue of Orange County Weekly features a story on former Royal Lao Army General Vang Pao and the recent arrest for his involvement in the secret purchase of millions of dollars worth of AK-47s, C-4 explosives and Stinger missiles. Dubbed Operation Popcorn, the armaments, along with hundreds of American mercenaries, would be smuggled from Thailand to Hmong insurgents in Laos. An excerpt: "If convicted, Vang faces a possible sentence of life in prison. Thousands of Hmong gathered in Sacramento to protest his arrest, many of them chanting, 'Free Vang Pao!' and charging the U.S. government with betraying Vang, who has for decades openly advocated a violent overthrow of the Laotian government. As recently as February 2007, the New Republic quoted Vang bragging that he would pull off a coup in Laos sometime this year. 'The U.S. has better rifles, better guns than the communists,' Vang said. 'If they give me the guns, I can conquer Laos in 2007. I still believe I can do it.' Despite this, Vang's lawyer, John Balazs, quickly released a statement declaring Vang's innocence." Read Nick Shou's story, The General's Last Stand, here.

Related: The Last Place on Earth, The Outsiders, Exodus

Posted by Corey Anderson at July 6, 2007 1:58 PM | Comments (0)

 

Convenience stores become the latest casualties in the war on drugs

Filed under: Crime

The sidewalk in front of Wafana's, a convenience store on Lyndale Avenue and North 24th Street, was for years known as a place to score all manner of illegal drugs. But last November, in a crackdown on troublemaking corner stores, the city finally forced Wafana's to close.

So far, eight stores have gotten the ax, reports Grant Wilson, business license manager for the city. "These are places people don't feel safe walking by," he says. The new get-tough policy, he asserts, has been "a great success. Some stores changed their behavior to cooperate with police. In other cases we had to revoke licenses."

Joan, a longtime neighbor of Wafana's who asked that her last name not be used, applauds its demise. She says she used to call the cops five times a day complaining of drug dealing in front of the store. "I didn't have to give an address to 911," she recalls. "All I had to do was say 'Wafana's.' And I'm calling from a cell."

While she appreciates the now-quiet sidewalk in front of the empty storefront, the peace is not total: The drug dealers, she says, have found a new spot a couple blocks away.

Posted by Jonathan Kaminsky at June 13, 2007 11:03 AM | Comments (1)

 

The true cost of fighting crime in Minneapolis

Filed under: Crime

When a memo circulated around City Hall last week indicating that the Minneapolis Police Department is on pace to be $5.6 million over budget for 2007, most hand-wringing was over the fact that the MPD will delay adding 20 recruits to the payroll until 2008 as a stopgap measure. But a more salient point was missed: How did the department run afoul of budget guidelines in the first place?

Several reasons, according to MPD Chief Tim Dolan and city finance officer Pat Born. "The department did run over budget in 2006," notes Born, adding that the police budget accounts for $120 million out of the city's $328-million general fund. "But in the recent past, there's been nothing like this."

For starters, the hiring of 20 new recruits in April added $800,000 to the cost overruns, but those worried about the delayed hiring of the next recruit class, fret not: The MPD is fully staffed now with 827 sworn officers. Second, the MPD has cut a few checks on gadgets lately, including the "gun location technology" called ShotSpotter and security cameras. "We spent $1 million on cameras on the north side," Dolan points out.

Then there is the matter of officer overtime, an annual struggle in the police budget. (This is separate from the $750,000 the city freed up earlier this year to increase overtime patrols downtown.) "We've already cut that to the bone," Dolan claims, saying the OT budget is $2.4 million. "Frankly, overtime is woefully under-budgeted." Also, traffic and police "fine revenues"—also known as "tickets"—are going to be about $1.3 million below initial forecasts.

Still, the one of the biggest drains on the MPD's coffers is also one of the oddest, something known as "jail fees." Those suspicious of bad government bureaucracies might want to sit down before reading further. It turns out that since the 1960s, Hennepin County has charged the MPD to book criminals into the county pokey, to the tune this year of about $169 per arrest, according to Born. In essence, the more the cops fight crime, the more it costs the department—this year some $1 million more than projected. "It's a deal we should probably get out from under," says Dolan, adding that Minneapolis is the only area municipality charged by the county, and that he can't think of any similar arrangement in any other comparable metro area.

"I keep pushing cops to make more arrests," Dolan concludes, "even though I know it's gonna cost."

Posted by G.R. Anderson Jr. at May 29, 2007 12:32 PM | Comments (0)

 

Road rage with a This Old House twist

Filed under: Crime

On May 1 shortly after 2 p.m., Joshua Korwin was traveling northbound on Highway 52 in South St. Paul. While exiting onto Butler Avenue, a white vehicle pulled up behind him. A Hispanic male, subsequently identified as Jesus Arroyo Malave, stepped out of the white vehicle and approached Korwin. He was carrying a hammer.

According to a Dakota County criminal complaint, Malave swung the hammer at Korwin through the driver's side window, striking him in the ribcage. The assailant then allegedly wielded the hammer again, shattering the windshield. Fearing for his safety, Korwin drove east on Butler Avenue, then south on 19th Avenue. The white vehicle followed.

Korwin approached a resident mowing his lawn and asked him to dial 911. The white vehicle then took off. Malave was arrested the next day. He is currently in the Dakota County Jail, charged with third degree assault and criminal damage to property.

South St. Paul police chief Michael Messerich expresses bewilderment as to what spurred the confrontation. "He must have had some kind of driving contact that really upset this guy," he says. "As far as we know the two people do not know each other."

Posted by Paul Demko at May 17, 2007 11:56 AM | Comments (0)

 

The MPD takes a knee

Filed under: Crime

In his years as a lawyer taking on cases of alleged police misconduct by the MPD, Bob Bennett has seen his share of cuts and scrapes, euphemistic police reports, and general bad cop behavior. But the case of Walter Childs, to whom the Minneapolis City Council agreed to pay $75,000 to last Friday, had all three in spades.

According to a memo from the city attorney's office, on May 10, 2006, MPD officers James Burns and Michael Geere were responding to a stolen vehicle report on the city's north side, in the 4th precinct. The cops pulled over two juveniles, who were driving a car that led the officers to the 3300 block of Emerson Avenue North. There they encountered Childs, who was asked by the officers to come out of the house and identify the boys.

"Once Childs was out of the house," the city attorney's report reads, "Burns took him down to the ground to handcuff and arrest him."

The report notes that Childs "did not resist arrest or attempt to flee," but that "an injury to his left leg" was "later diagnosed with a vertical fracture through the medial aspect of the lateral tibial plateau."

"It's a real bad facture," Bennett says, explaining that where the femur and tibia meet under the knee cap was essentially turned to pulp. "They did a huge leg sweep on him. And the force was very severe."

Childs was later taken to HCMC, where he stayed for eight days before doctors got around to operating on his leg.

Bennett already got $24,000 from the county on Childs's behalf, and the city apparently didn't have the stomach to take the case to trial. It's not the biggest settlement Bennett has secured from the city, but the case leaves him upset anyway. First, he notes that some MPD cops still believe that "there are some people—because of their class or status—you can get away with bad behavior and have very little concern for the consequences."

Aside from that, Bennett is troubled by the violence that must have happened—and the fact that is was apparently unnecessary. "The money is indicative of both the lack of proper justification of the great force required for the injury and the injury itself," Bennett says, adding that his client was "complying" with the police. "To take him down because [Burns] thought [Childs] might flee, and then say he was just assisting him to the ground, that's just bullshit."

Posted by G.R. Anderson Jr. at May 16, 2007 9:37 AM | Comments (1)

 

Getting detention for poor penmanship

Filed under: Crime

This week's stupid criminal: 27-year-old Cory Fitzgerald Jackson, whose penmanship got in the way of his attempted hold-up, according to a Hennepin County criminal complaint.

A Walgreens clerk explained to the cops that Jackson had walked up to the counter and handed over an indecipherable note. When asked for an explanation, Jackson told the clerk that the note read: "This is a stickup. Empty the register. I have a gun."

The clerk summoned a manager. Jackson waited patiently by the register. The police were called. Jackson was ordered outside to await their arrival, whereupon he was duly arrested.

Jackson initially informed the officers that an unknown person had slipped the stick-up note under his door while he was sitting at home. The anonymous scribe had purportedly threatened to hurt him if he did not rob the Walgreens.

In a subsequent interview, however, Jackson changed his story, informing the cops that his girlfriend had put him up to the botched robbery.

The Brooklyn Park resident has been charged with attempted aggravated robbery. He is currently in custody at the Hennepin County Jail.

Posted by Paul Demko at May 4, 2007 2:03 PM | Comments (0)

 

Climate change puts the deep-freeze on crime?

Filed under: Crime

Warm weather brings about the seasonal ritual of city leaders worrying about crime in downtown Minneapolis, and if last week is any indication, the hand-wringing is in full bloom.

The Star Tribune ran a story about Mayor R.T. Rybak's desire to get Metro Transit to move bus stops off of 7th Street, leading to an apparently troubled corner of Block E, to 4th Street. "Now, if we stop someone who looks suspicious, they can always say they're waiting for the bus," the story quoted MPD First Precinct Inspector Janee Harteau as saying, citing 40 narcotics arrests in the area in just one week. "It's a reason to be there." Ultimately, Rybak and others will have to lobby Metro Transit to make the move.

At the same time, Rybak's office issued a press release with hizzoner calling for some $500,000 to be put toward hiring more cops on overtime to patrol the area. The city's 2007 budget is $1.3 billion, with some $325 million in the general fund and $125 million of that earmarked for the MPD. So half a million might seem like small potatoes.

Still, given the financial crunch the city's been experiencing for most of this decade, it's worth asking: Does the city have any change to spare?

"We have a contingency fund that tends to be used for one-time things that come up," says the city's chief financial officer Pat Born. The contingency fund has about $2 million in it, Born says, and adds that the mayor's proposal must go through two City Council committees before the full council can vote yea or nay in two weeks.

"Sometimes we spend all of it, sometimes we spend none of it," Born says. "Sometimes we have to use it for snow plowing, but it wasn't that bad a winter, so we have the money."

Posted by G.R. Anderson Jr. at May 1, 2007 10:58 AM | Comments (0)

 

Black and blue

Filed under: Crime

In a shocking display of openess in the first full year of the Tim Dolan era, the MPD actually sent its Internal Affairs annual report to the media last week. But depending on your skin color, that may be where the good news ends.

According to the report, "The Internal Affairs Unit (IAU) is to function as a mechanism to receive, investigate and resolve complaints of employee misconduct." Citizens and cops alike can file complaints.

According to Chief Dolan, the document is "an excellent report, the best report we've ever done," and adds that these reports are a new development under his stint. "It's about transparency and it's about being accountable to the community," says Dolan.

Still, there are some things that the chief would no doubt prefer not be made public. Some notable stats: In 2006, 172 cases were filed with IAU, compared to 102 the year before. Of those, 93 were dismissed with "no basis for complaint," while 16 actually were investigated and closed. In those cases, 10 suspensions were meted out, along with two "Letters of Reprimand," three "Oral Reprimands," and five instances where "coaching" was recommended.

The report also notes that there was "a 2.5 percent increase in calls for service and 16.3 percent increase in arrests for the same time period."

Of 371,466 calls to police last year, 53,220 ended with someone going to the pokey. When broken down by race, 8 percent of those arrested were American Indian, 19 percent were white, and 64 percent were described as "black." Additionally, blacks made up 53 percent of "suspects by race." (The MPD does not track contacts with Latinos.)

Use of force incidents, which can include officer-involved shootings, "incidents that result in injury to a subject," or hospitalization of cops or suspects, also went up, from 723 in 2005 to 876 last year. In those cases, the "subject" was indentifed as black 64 percent of the time.

Dolan notes that more cops are using Tasers, and that while that number is up, every other "use of force" category is down. "As far as use of force and where it's being used, who it's being used on," he concludes, "it's close to reflecting the problems we're having with violent crime and who's committing those violent crimes."

Posted by G.R. Anderson Jr. at April 30, 2007 9:34 AM | Comments (0)

 

San Antonio PD officers plan to file suit against McManus

Filed under: Crime

It's been more than a year since former Minneapolis Police Chief Bill McManus skipped town to San Antone, but trouble seems to have followed him to Texas.

KENS 5 Eyewitness News reported in early March that "two high-ranking female San Antonio Police Department officers plan to file a lawsuit against Chief William McManus." The story, posted on mysanantonio.com, reports that "attorneys for the women say they weren't considered for jobs they're well-qualified to do and that they weren't treated like other candidates." (McManus could not be reached by Blotter for comment.)

This should sound familiar to MPD observers. McManus was sued under similar circumstances by Barbara Temple, who was fired when McManus took over the Dayton, Ohio police department and promptly installed three men to serve under him on a command team. The city of Dayton settled with Temple in September for a cool $1.2 million.

In Minneapolis, McManus was sued by MPD Capt. Stacy Altonen after he demoted her in 2004. That civil rights suit was dismissed by a Hennepin County judge in September.

Four lawsuits, four women. Is McManus a misogynistic pig?

The MPD's Lt. Marie Przynski e-mails Blotter with her thoughts. "[A]s to why McManus keeps getting sued or complaints filed against him—this is my personal opinion only—is that in law enforcement... race or diversity tends to be the hot button these days, and so [police chiefs] tend to reach out to [various] ethnicities," Pryzinski writes, adding that McManus did well with minorities in Minneapolis, but may have had a blind spot toward women on the force.

Or it could be that to Bill McManus, to quote the late James Brown, policing is a man's, man's, man's world.

Posted by G.R. Anderson Jr. at April 11, 2007 11:26 AM | Comments (3)

 

Bottle Battle

Filed under: Crime

On March 25, shortly before 2 a.m., Mendota Heights police officer Jeffory VonFeldt was conducting a routine walk through at Moose Country when he observed two males being escorted out of the bar. One of them, the officer couldn't help but notice, was covered with blood.

According to a criminal complaint filed last week in Dakota County District Court, Vonfeldt discovered that the shorter of the two men, 26-year-old Michael Anthony Tonn, had struck his fellow bar patron with a beer bottle. The victim had a four-inch gash across his forehead. Paramedics arrived and transported him to the hospital.

Upon being detained, Tonn allegedly informed the officer that he'd hit the victim with the bottle because the man had grabbed his ass. He's charged with third-degree assault. The West St. Paul resident could not be reached for comment.

Posted by Paul Demko at April 3, 2007 3:34 PM | Comments (1)

 

Copping an attitude

Filed under: Crime

The recent revelations about the NYPD's practices preceding the 2004 Republican National Convention—namely that the department was collecting data on possible attendees across the county and sharing it with other law enforcement agencies, a practice that once was called "spying"—made many locals paranoid about the 2008 GOP blowout in St. Paul. But the controversy has made local officials a little uneasy as well.

One call to the St. Paul PD spokesman Tom Walsh (who notes that he is not an officer with the department) seeking a reaction to the round of lawsuits that led to the unveiling of the NYPD's spying indicates as much.

"There has been such a focus on the lawsuits by the media and I don't understand it," Walsh growls over the phone. "There are going to be lawsuits after every convention, and frankly that's not our concern."

Calming ever-so-slightly, Walsh offers that the St. Paul force, the "principal agency" in handling the convention, has been studying "every major gathering of the last several years" including Democratic and Republican conventions going back to the 1950s, to learn about "things that have gone well and have not gone well." Without going into specifics, Walsh notes the recent Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City as a particularly worry-free event.

So, what can residents and visitors to our fair Twin Cities expect when the Grand Old Party comes to town?

"We are training our police officers in a way that we think will allow people to fully express their opinions and First Amendment rights in that environment," Walsh notes, sounding a far cry from Officer Friendly. "But there are those who are coming to break the law, and those who break the law will be arrested."

Posted by G.R. Anderson Jr. at April 2, 2007 9:08 AM | Comments (2)

 

The kids are all right

Filed under: Crime

From the headlines, you'd think there was an epidemic of child abuse going on. Not just child abuse, but fatal baby and toddler abuse. Every week or two this winter, a new account has shocked readers from the pages of the daily papers.

The Star Tribune headlines feel appalling and yet almost monotonous:
"Police investigating death of 5-week-old" (March 21)
"Police investigating baby's death in St. Paul" (March 6)
"Baby Dies From Injuries; Dad Arrested" (February 14

Then there are the old court cases—grievous wrongs that are only now coming through the system:
"Mom Admits Letting Boyfriend on Drugs Care for Son Who Died" (March 6)
"Mother sentenced in toddler's suffocation" (January 27)

Throw in the Mankato parents charged with battering a once-conjoined twin—an headline-grabber if ever there were one—and you'd be forgiven for wondering if it's open season on little children.

The statistics, however, tell their own callous story. There were 12 child-abuse deaths in Minnesota last year. A third of the way through 2007, there have been three reported deaths—about normal. (Over the last five years, child abuse deaths peaked at 16 in 2004, and bottomed out at 7 in 2005.)

A question about the exceptionalism of the recent flurry of crime elicits an audible sigh from Connie Skillingstad, executive director of Prevent Child Abuse Minnesota. "I don't know," she says, before adding, "I don't think it's ever normal that this stuff happens."

Skillingstad attributes the latest wave of incidents to some of the same factors that drive a lot of child abuse. "Women mak[e] choices to trust men with their children and those men don't know how to parent unless it's their birthchild, or they were there early and bonded with the child. With a crying baby—a child who can't be comforted—they’re not going to have the patience and the capacity to be compassionate.

Skilingstad underlines the fact that substantiated incidents of child abuse in Minnesota haven't changed much over time: There are roughly 8,000 cases a year. Yet she maintains that the media underplay the ability to prevent abuse through social spending. A sick child—and uninsured children get sick and stay sick—is a crying child. And though she's heard her share of outrage over the latest infant deaths, she argues that in tough circumstances, almost anyone is capable of awful acts against children.

"It's complicated," she says. "I would think these guys don't really want to hurt a baby in their better moments. They've had all they can handle and they snap."

Posted by Michael Tortorello at March 26, 2007 11:28 AM | Comments (1)

 

Weapon master

Filed under: Crime

On February 24 shortly before 9 p.m. Bloomington police officers were dispatched to an apartment complex in the 1100 block of East 80th Street on reports of a fight. Arriving at the scene, cops discovered a baby shower taking place in the party room of the building. The people at the gathering, who were predominantly Hispanic, reported that an African American male, subsequently identified as Jirell Tremon Thomas, had entered the room and started shouting racial insults at the group. Thomas allegedly stated that he had a gun and grabbed his waistband.

"What kind of set it off was some kids that were running around in the hallway making some noise," explains Sgt. Mark Stehlik, of the Bloomington Police Department. "I think that was what initially agitated Mr. Thomas."

According to a criminal complaint filed in Hennepin County District Court, Thomas then went to his apartment, but returned moments later carrying a pan of hot cooking oil. He allegedly threw the oil at the group, splashing three people. One of the victims was subsequently determined to have first-degree burns on his left arm and face.

Thomas then went to his apartment again, but returned carrying a glass ornament roughly the size of a softball. He allegedly threw the object at the group, hitting one woman and causing a cut to her head.

Finally Thomas visited his apartment for a third time during the altercation. This time he returned to the party room carrying a pair of steak knives and threatened to kill the group of people. "All I need is one of you," he purportedly told them.

At this point the cops arrived and detained Thomas. The 19-year-old Bloomington resident has been charged with third-degree assault and making terroristic threats. "The cooking oil was certainly the most unusual element of this," notes Stehlik. "That's not typically a weapon used in an assault."

Posted by Paul Demko at March 5, 2007 11:07 AM | Comments (0)

 

The hits keep coming

Filed under: Crime

Friday's Minneapolis City Council meeting brought two different payouts over one alleged police misconduct incident. The full council approved a $10,000 payday to Christopher D. Perry and $5,000 to his brother Mario P. Perry, who was a juvenile when the two ran afoul of the cops on November 16, 2004.

Payouts over claims of police misconduct are nothing new in this town (see "The Hit Parade Revisited," CP 7/20/2005), but this incident seemed rooted in some rather, uh, dubious behavior. According to a city attorney's memo urging the council to approve settlement, MPD officers James Burns and Michael Geere were cruising the north side looking for "an identified murder suspect known to frequent" 4050 Bryant Avenue North. The officers found a car "with four occupants" illegally parked in the alley behind the address. Officer Burns approached the car and "smelled marijuana and saw a 'philly blunt' in the ashtray," according to the memo from the city attorney's office.

From there various high jinks ensued, and accounts predictably differ, but someone on the scene was arrested after allegedly wielding a tire iron, insults were hurled, and at some point the Perry brothers resisted arrest. One thing all parties agree on is that force was used by the police officers. As a result, both brothers "received various scrapes and bruises," and Chris Perry suffered a broken tooth, according to the account from the city attorney's office, which is no doubt vague on some details.

The Perry payouts are the third and fourth police-related settlements so far this year, bringing a grand total of 32,000 taxpayer dollars doled out to save the hides of the men in blue in a court of law. Though the number of payouts hit a high in 2004, with some 24 settlements paying out more than $2 million, last year the city forked over only $633,250 over 10 alleged MPD misconduct incidents. Still, payouts over use of force and other allegations against the police likely won't go away soon. "It's a total crapshoot," says one city hall insider. "There is no predictable trend year to year."

The Perry situation mostly went up in smoke: An obstruction charge against Chris was dismissed, and Mario was never charged with any crime. "This was a totally unnecessary incident, but they got hurt," says Al Goins, attorney for the Perry brothers, adding that the settlement was "small potatoes." "The city got a look at these kids, decided their records were clean and that they were going to present well in a trial, so they settled. The main issue is whether the city is going to get serious about reigning in its department over use of force."

Posted by G.R. Anderson Jr. at February 26, 2007 10:59 AM | Comments (0)

 

Crime blotter: 57-year-old Minneapolis resident bowls, gets drunk--and steals things

Filed under: Crime

On November 19 at 11:24 a.m. Brooklyn Center police officers were dispatched to AMF Earle Brown Lanes. The responding cops were informed that there had been a series of thefts from rental lockers in recent weeks. The manager of the bowling alley stated that four individuals had lost items valued at a total of $1,155.35.

According to a criminal complaint filed today in Hennepin County District Court, in response the manager of the bowling alley had set up a hidden surveillance camera near the rental lockers. On November 13, shortly after 10 p.m., the video camera recorded a gentleman, subsequently identified as Richard Lee Peters, removing a large ring of keys from his pocket and opening several lockers. According to the complaint, the tape shows Peters removing two bowling balls, a bag, and a pair of shoes from locker number 76. He subsequently places the items in his own locker, number 113. The bowling alley manager informed the police that Peters is a frequent bowler who competes in leagues twice a week.

On December 29 officers executed a search warrant at Peters' residence on the 4300 block of James Avenue North in Minneapolis. They recovered a purple Columbia bowling bag, a Tornado bowling ball, a pair of white and purple bowling shoes, a 15-pound red and black bowling ball, and a right hand wrist guard. They also recovered a key ring with nine keys on it.

Peters was arrested and transported to the Brooklyn Center Police Department. According to the criminal complaint, Peters admitted stealing numerous items from the bowling alley in the preceding months. The suspect stated that he gets drunk and steal things.

Peters has been charged with one count of theft and one count of receiving stolen property. According to records maintained by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the 57-year-old has no prior felony convictions.

Posted by Paul Demko at February 14, 2007 1:26 PM | Comments (0)

 

St. Paul accountant barred from preparing tax returns

Filed under: Crime

Nash Sonibare has prepared his last tax return. Or so the U.S. government hopes.

Yesterday U.S. District Court Judge Donovan Frank issued an order barring Sonibare from preparing any more federal tax returns. According to court documents, since 2002 Sonibare has done accounting work for some 3,373 clients. His St. Paul-based business, Liberty Financial Group, primarily targeted recent immigrants not versed in U.S. tax laws.

In October 2004, the Internal Revenue Service examined 88 returns prepared by Sonibare. It found that these returns shorted the government of $233,364 in tax revenue, or an average of $2,652 per return. Extrapolating from those figures, the IRS estimates that Sonibare's dubious accounting practices have resulted in a loss of more than $8 million in government revenue. According to the federal agency, Sonibare inflated deductions for mortgage interest, education credits, business losses, and charitable contributions in order to lower the tax burdens for his clients. (Sonibare's exploits were featured in this 2006 USA Today article.)

Sonibare was temporarily enjoined from preparing tax returns in March of last year. When IRS agents visited his University Avenue business a few days later, however, they discovered that he continued to operate the accounting practice. Sonibare was then found in contempt of court and federal marshals were ordered to change the locks at his place of business and post a notice stating that that the court had prohibited Sonibare from preparing tax returns.

Posted by Paul Demko at February 6, 2007 3:45 PM | Comments (0)

 

Gangs of St. Paul cover story comment thread

Filed under: Crime

This week's cover story, Gangs of St. Paul, written by Paul Demko and photographed by Mike Dvorak, focuses on the younger and more randomly violent gangsters currently feuding with each other in the capital city. "The [amount of] guns that we're recovering off these kids is just incredible. They're just blatantly going down the street shooting. You have a target, but you don't know what you're going to hit," says St. Paul investigator Sandy Kennedy. Read the story, then come back to give us your thoughts.

Posted by Corey Anderson at January 23, 2007 5:16 PM | Comments (8)

 

Crime blotter: directionally impaired

Filed under: Crime

On January 14 at 3:34 a.m., Richfield police officer Robert Schletty was parked at the intersection of 67th Street and Portland Avenue South when he observed a 1995 Ford Escort pull into the lot. The driver, Andrew James Cole, proceeded to exit the vehicle and wave at the officer. Cole then approached the squad car and asked for directions to downtown Minneapolis. Schletty observed that the man's eyes were bloodshot and watery, and that he staggered back to his car. The cop proceeded to follow the Escort as it exited the parking lot and noticed that the vehicle was weaving in its lane. Schletty pulled over the car and the driver agreed to take a breathalyzer test. According to a criminal complaint filed this week in Hennepin County District Court, Cole blew a .20, or more than twice the legal limit. The 23-year-old resident of downtown Minneapolis is charged with driving while impaired.

Posted by Paul Demko at January 18, 2007 12:34 PM | Comments (1)

 

Crime blotter: let's play hockey!

Filed under: Crime

On December 29 at approximately 2:47 a.m. St. Paul police officers were dispatched to 1482 Grand Avenue to investigate a robbery complaint. Upon arrival officers observed an individual talking frantically on a cell phone and gesturing towards a dark vehicle parked in the middle of the street. The cops also noticed an individual, subsequently identified as 22-year-old St. Paul resident Brian Terrance Krueger, carrying a broken hockey stick.

According to a criminal complaint filed yesterday in Ramsey County District Court, when the police began shining a spotlight into the vehicle it took off with the passenger-side door open. However the driver, 22-year-old Maplewood resident Jonathan Edward Averill, pulled over after the squad car's emergency lights were activated.

The responding officers then interviewed the three robbery victims, identified only by their initials in the criminal complaint. All three stated that they were walking eastbound on Grand Avenue when a dark blue vehicle approached them and two males exited. The taller man, allegedly Krueger, held a hockey stick, while his partner was carrying a small knife. They told the three victims to give up their wallets or "we're going to beat your ass." One of the victims surrendered his wallet, which contained $15. Kruegger then allegedly struck him with the hockey stick on his left arm and the left side of his face. Another of the victims was also struck in the face with the hockey stick. The assailants then fled in the vehicle, promising to return with a gun.

The pair returned to the scene of the crime just as the cops were arriving. Averill was searched and found to have a pocketknife in his possession. The officers also discovered $15 in the glove box of the car. Krueger and Averill both denied that they committed the robbery, insisting instead that they were the victims. Both face one charge of first degree aggravated robbery.

Posted by Paul Demko at January 4, 2007 12:01 PM | Comments (1)

 

Crime blotter: Mother always said "Never stick a gun in someone's face if you're not prepared to use it"

Filed under: Crime

On December 19 at 10:19 p.m. police officers were dispatched to Burnsville Center on report of an armed robbery. The victim told the cops that a white male wearing a hooded sweatshirt and a bandana over his face accosted her in the mall parking lot. According to a criminal complaint filed in Dakota County District Court, the assailant pointed a gun at her and demanded money. However, the victim did not initially believe it was a real gun. She laughed at him and entered her vehicle. The assailant eventually fled in a vehicle with four other males inside, but not before the woman was able to record the license plate number.

The vehicle in question was subsequently stopped by police officers in the parking lot of a SuperTarget in Savage. There were four juveniles and one adult, Brian Dunn Kelly, inside the vehicle. Officers also recovered a sub-machine gun, a magazine for the weapon, and numerous .9 millimeter rounds. According to the complaint, Kelly admitted attempting to rob the woman at gunpoint. He allegedly told the officers that he needed money for Christmas and that he was shocked when the woman laughed at him. The 18-year-old Bloomington resident has been charged with one count each of second degree assault and attempted first degree aggravated robbery.

Posted by Paul Demko at December 28, 2006 1:34 PM | Comments (0)

 

Crime blotter: white riot

Filed under: Crime

On December 8, at roughly 11:30 p.m., Minneapolis police officers were dispatched to a residence on the 3700 block of Bryant Avenue N. to investigate a disturbance. Upon arrival the officers attempted to disperse a large group of African American males gathered outside the home. According to a pair of criminal complaints filed this month in Hennepin County District Court, two white males, brothers William Kenneth Saarela and Daniel Jay Saarela, then emerged from the residence and began yelling racial profanities at the group. Officers ordered the pair to go back inside the house, but they initially refused. The police then radioed for additional squad cars. At some point during this confrontation William Saarela stated that he was going inside to get a handgun.

The group of black males was eventually persuaded to disperse. Shortly afterwards, according to the criminal complaints, multiple shots were fired from the rear of the residence. Officers then heard a male voice inside the house hollering threats. "I'm going to fucking kill you," he allegedly screamed. "You're fucking dead." Officers then ordered all occupants of the house to come outside. The Saarela brothers were both arrested after being tased. William has been charged with making terroristic threats, obstructing the legal process, and intentional discharge of a firearm. Daniel faces counts of making terroristic threats and obstructing the legal process.

Posted by Paul Demko at December 22, 2006 12:39 PM | Comments (0)

 

Crime blotter: flauting the law

Filed under: Crime

On June 16 two flutes worth over $3400 were stolen from the Schmitt Music store in Burnsville. Three days later the business was robbed again. The loot: two more flutes valued at more than $3200. The stolen instruments were subsequently pawned at four different area pawnshops for a total of $676.50. On July 12, Burnsville police officers were again dispatched to Schmitt Music to investigate an attempted theft of expensive flutes. According to a criminal complaint filed last week in Dakota County District Court, employees of both the music store and one of the pawn shops identified Brandon Tremayne Watkins (a.k.a. Brandon Tremayne Bray) as the serial flute thief. Watkins allegedly admitted pawning the four flutes, but denied stealing them. He has been charged with receiving stolen property and theft. According to records maintained by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the 29-year-old Maple Grove resident has been convicted of 24 previous crimes, including 11 counts of theft.

Posted by Paul Demko at December 14, 2006 11:30 AM | Comments (0)

 

Crime blotter: beheading in the suburbs

Filed under: Crime

On November 26, at 3:34 a.m, Eagan police officers were dispatched to investigate a domestic dispute. According to a criminal complaint subsequently filed in Dakota County District Court, officers discovered that Nathan David Andersen had kicked over a bird cage during the altercation. He then proceeded to tear the head off the bird (breed unspecified) with his hands. The animal, according to the criminal complaint, was kept as a pet. Andersen, a 24-year-old Eagan resident, has been charged with one count of animal cruelty.

Posted by Paul Demko at December 7, 2006 10:57 AM | Comments (2)

 

We hear the Highland Park Lollipop Guild is on the rise

Filed under: Crime

St. Paul's young gangsters need to hire a naming consultant. If they ever hope to inspire genuine fear in the general public the current collection of monikers just isn't going to suffice. According to a search warrant recently filed in Ramsey County District Court these are some of the gangs fighting over turf in the Capitol city: Get Money Boys, Lower Town Gangsters, Selby Siders, 5th and MN Boys, Grown Man Click, East Side Boys, 3rd Block, and the Get Money Girls. Perhaps the Emerson Murder Boyz could take some time out from terrorizing the North Side to provide some consulting work to their brethren across the river.

Posted by Paul Demko at December 6, 2006 1:02 PM | Comments (1)

 

Crime blotter: making hay

Filed under: Crime

On November 14, at approximately 3 p.m., Glenn Wayne Oltman entered an Unbank location in downtown Minneapolis. According to a criminal complaint filed in Hennepin County District Court, Oltman attempted to cash a $7800 check drawn from an account at Delaware Federal Credit Union. He told the Unbank employee handling the transaction that he'd received the money for selling hay. The check, however, turned out to be counterfeit. When the police arrived Oltman allegedly confessed that he'd received the check via email and that he was to receive 10 percent of the proceeds in return for cashing it. The 42-year-old Wadena resident has been charged with one count of offering a forged check.

Posted by Paul Demko at November 20, 2006 4:51 PM | Comments (0)

 

Crime blotter: isn't that cute?

Filed under: Crime

On October 27 at approximately 3:30 p.m., Amberly Lynn Young was shopping at the Lakeville SuperTarget. According to a criminal complaint filed in Dakota County District Court, the 20-year-old spotted a flat-screen, plasma television that she deemed "cute." Young then purportedly placed the TV, along with a Playstation 2 and two video games in her cart and exited the store without paying. When a store employee approached her outside of the store, Young sprayed the worker with mace. The cost of the items that she attempted to purloin was $652.76. It was later determined, according to the criminal complaint, that Young had previously stolen $600 in merchandise from the same SuperTarget, as well as $210.44 in goods from a neighboring store. She has been charged with one count each of theft and fifth-degree assault.

Posted by Paul Demko at November 6, 2006 10:47 AM | Comments (4)

 

That burning sensation: northside edition

Filed under: Crime

What's the hottest spot in Minneapolis? For night clubbers, foodies, and bar hoppers, that can be a matter of endless debate. But for the literal-minded, there is no question. The 2100 block of Bryant Avenue North is, for the moment at least, the undisputed arson capital of Minneapolis.

Since the afternoon of October 8, when a blaze broke out in a garage located behind a vacant property at 2117 Bryant, five houses on the block have been either completely or partially destroyed by fire. Sean McKenna, who has been an arson investigator with the Minneapolis Police Department since 1997, says he's never seen such a concentration of house fires over such a short period of time.

So far, there have been no arrests and, McKenna says, no evidence to suggest that a single firebug is responsible for the block's woes. He suspects the first fire--the only one that didn't occur late at night--was probably a "child's play" incident.

McKenna has suspicions about two of the other blazes. "One of the fires looks to be an attempt to defraud an insurance company. One of the others seems to be a case of where somebody was maybe drunk and just decided to do something stupid," he postulates.

But three of the houses that burned were vacant, which makes narrowing the list of potential suspects far more complex. At the end of 2005, according to city records, there were a total of 22 boarded houses in the Hawthorne neighborhood--a disproportionate share by city standards. Tait Danielson-Castillo, the executive director of the Hawthorne Community Council, says that skyrocketing foreclosure rates have exacerbated the problem, thus leaving more homes in the neighborhood vulnerable to break-ins and, consequently, arson.

"Keeping these abandoned houses secure is a huge issue. What often happens is that the boards get torn down because people want to squat or sell drugs." Danielson-Castillo observes. "Or they want to steal the metal out of the house."

Indeed, with the prices of copper and aluminum at record levels, vacant houses have become a favorite target of scrappers. Hawthorne, with its close proximity to the north side scrap yards, is an especially attractive neighborhood for anyone unscrupulous enough to break into an empty home in search of copper gas pipes.

According to McKenna, none of the October blazes was directly attributable to metal theft. But, he adds, there was a close call on Halloween when an unknown person stripped the pipes from an empty building at 2105 Bryant. That led to a gas leak and forced the temporary evacuation of five nearby residences. In September, McKenna adds, a home on the 2700 block of Colfax Avenue North exploded from a gas leak, evidently after a thief cut the copper pipe.

Still, in McKenna's view, the scrap-theft issue is probably a less significant than the larger problem of simply having too many boarded buildings in the city. "When nobody's home," McKenna says, "trouble comes knocking."

The rash of fires has left Hawthorne residents like Collier White both alarmed and more than a little exasperated. White, who lives two blocks away, lays some of the blame at the feet of city pols. In White's view, that's because the city's crackdown on north side housing code violations has made it more difficult for some financially stressed homeowners to avoid foreclosure.

Predatory lenders, whose practices have also contributed to the number of boarded buildings, also deserve some blame, he says. "I don't know what the answer is," White adds. "But the city needs to make this neighborhood work better. It seems to me like these fires are a sign."

Posted by Mike Mosedale at November 3, 2006 2:58 PM | Comments (0)

 

The great Minneapolis crime wave: Not as bad as you think

Filed under: Crime

There has been no shortage of ranting and raving about crime rates in Minneapolis. In part, of course, this is because crime has been on the rise in the city for the better part of four years. But the tenor of the commentary--both in the mainstream news outlets and the local blogosphere--has become markedly more hysterical of late. And this being the political season, the problem has been laid at the feet of everyone from Mayor RT Rybak to Governor Tim Pawlenty to Hennepin County Attorney Amy Klobuchar to the Minneapolis Police Department. On the web, naturally, the usual suspects (i.e. Somalis and American born blacks) have been the recipients of some especially nasty lashings.

But when the publishing house Morgan Quitno Press released its list of the most dangerous cities in America this week, ranters of all stripes were presented with yet another round of ammunition. Why? Because Morgan Quitno ranked Minneapolis as America's 27th most dangerous city--a distinction that placed our fair community above Philadelphia, Houston and a host of other cities more commonly associated with street level mayhem.

The rankings were determined by the number of so-called "Part One" crimes--murder, rape, robbery, larceny, aggravated assault, burglary, arson and auto theft--that police departments report to the FBI on annual basis. (One important note: Not all cities submitted complete data to the FBI, so the statistics are somewhat skewed. New Orleans, for understandable reasons, didn't manage to get its 2005 data into the hands of the FBI, nor, for less comprehensible reasons, did Duluth or Bloomington).

Still, it is obvious that the end is nigh for Minneapolis and the time has come to hold all those pols, cops, and unruly minority folk to account. Right? Well, not if you bother to take a longer view.

In fact, over the past decade, Minneapolis has experienced a marked decrease in serious crime. In 1997, according to MPD spokesman Gregory Reinhardt, the city reported 42,287 Part One offenses. By 2005, that number had fallen to 28,318--a 33 percent decrease from those 1997 numbers. Reinhardt estimates that the 2006 statistics will probably be slightly over 30,000.

It that good news? Of course not. But is Minneapolis the Baghdad of the Midwest? No. It's just another medium-sized city that is facing a complex array of economic and social problems that are far easier to fulminate over than to solve.

Posted by Mike Mosedale at November 1, 2006 4:24 PM | Comments (3)

 

Crime blotter: divine intervention

Filed under: