The Cities Category Archive: Crime
911 calls from a very dark night
Posted at 3:21 PM on May 11, 2012
by Brandt Williams
(1 Comments)
Filed under: Courts, Crime, Minneapolis
Last week, a jury of seven men and five women found Amy Senser guilty of two out of three charges of criminal vehicular homicide. They reached those verdicts after nearly 20 hours of deliberation. However, right before they delivered the verdicts in court, the jury's forewoman, Shana Ford, wrote this note to judge Daniel Mabley.
Mabley did not allow it to be read in court.
I emailed Senser's defense lawyer, Eric Nelson, to ask him if he will use this when he files an appeal. Senser's defense was based on her contention that she didn't know she struck someone. Nelson wrote back and said he'll file post trial motions next week, but didn't say if the note from the jury will be grounds for an appeal.
The note is one of many pieces of evidence from the trial now available to the public. The court has also released copies of the 911 calls from three people who discovered 38-year-old Anousone Phanthavong's body, just minutes after he was struck by Senser. The collision occurred on the exit ramp from I-94 westbound to Riverside Ave. just after 11 p.m. on Aug. 23 last year.
The first call was made by Brian Gutterman, a registered nurse who on his way to work. He tells the operator it's very dark. There were no working overhead lights on the exit ramp that night. And Gutterman says he can't tell if the man lying on the ground is dead or alive. You can hear him call out to Phanthavong to make sure he's OK. Gutterman testified that he touched Phanthavong's body and it felt cool. He guessed Phanthavong had been dead for just a few minutes.
The second call was made by Maria Moralez. Moralez became distressed when she began to realize that the man she saw lying on the exit ramp was probably dead.
(Note: An earlier version of this post included Maria Moralez' phone number, which we edited out to protect her privacy.)
Hennepin County weapons screening finds knives, box cutters
Posted at 9:14 AM on May 1, 2012
by Madeleine Baran
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Courts, Crime, Suburbs
Here's what didn't make it into Hennepin County court facilities last week:
The Hennepin County Sheriff's Office released the photo to show the results of its first week of weapons screening at court facilities in Brooklyn Park, Edina, and Minnetonka.
Hennepin County installed weapons screening equipment and began screening for weapons at the three locations on April 23.
The Sheriff's Office "had urged the added safety measure due to violent incidents and threats that have occurred statewide and nationwide in courthouses," according to a news release.
The enhanced screening comes four months after a shooting at the Cook County courthouse that left three people injured.
Minneapolis murder trial rallies transgender community
Posted at 4:00 AM on April 30, 2012
by Laura Yuen
(9 Comments)
Filed under: Crime, Minneapolis
The case of Chrishaun McDonald continues to build intrigue as her murder trial gets under way today.
Her defenders maintain the black transgender woman was protecting herself from a hate crime when she allegedly stabbed Dean Schmitz, 47, a white man from Richfield. National transgender-rights activists are in town today to talk about the significance of the case.
Local elected officials also have shown support for the 23-year-old McDonald, who was studying fashion at Minneapolis Community and Technical College and is known to friends as "CeCe." Minneapolis City Council Member Cam Gordon weighed in on his blog weeks ago, arguing that McDonald was targeted for her race and gender.
"It is unfortunate that in this case, as in so many, the hate crime itself appears to have been ignored," said Gordon.
McDonald said she was acting in self-defense after a friend in Schmitz' group hurled a glass at McDonald's face. She also maintains that the group taunted her and her friends with anti-gay and racist remarks.
And state Rep. Susan Allen, DFL-Minneapolis, has written Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman, urging him to remember the "extenuating circumstances" of McDonald's race and transgender, which she said "have cast unique question marks" over the case.
But the details of what happened last June outside of the Schooner Tavern in Minneapolis remain in dispute. Despite pressure from LGBT groups to drop the charges, Freeman responded in a letter to McDonald supporters that the evidence will show murder was the appropriate charge. "Gender, race, sexual orientation and class are not part of the decision-making process," he said.
A hearing Friday hinted at the dueling narratives that will likely emerge during the trial. Hersch Izek, McDonald's attorney, said McDonald walked away from the scuffle, but Schmitz followed her to continue the fight.
Prosecutors aren't buying that story. "We don't believe the evidence will show Ms. McDonald walked away from anything," said assistant county attorney Amy Sweasy. "Ms. McDonald has given more versions of the events of that night than I can count."
McDonald told police that she took out some scissors to scare Schmitz, and he was mortally stabbed when he ran into them.
Another twist in the case came Friday as attorneys argued whether Judge Daniel Moreno should allow evidence of Schmitz' swastika tattoo on his chest. Prosecutors say it's not relevant.
But Izek countered that the tattoo represents Schmitz' "hate, violence and his attitude toward people of color and people who are different from him," he said. "CeCe is as different from Mr. Schmitz as anybody."
Carpool lane motorist caught driving Miss Dummy
Posted at 5:30 PM on April 26, 2012
by Laura Yuen
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Crime, Minneapolis, Transportation
Photo courtesy of the Minnesota State Patrol
Sometimes you have to wonder if it's worth the effort to game the system.
Today the Minnesota State Patrol caught a woman driving in a MnPASS lane with a mannequin in her backseat. The special lanes are open only to drivers who pay an electronic toll -- or to those who carpool.
This backseat companion, along for the ride down Interstate 35W south of Minneapolis, was decked out in a comfy hooded sweatshirt and neon orange sunglasses.
The driver claimed someone dared her to do it, according to the Minnesota State Patrol's Facebook page.
Cheaters in the MnPASS lane are nothing new. As many as nine of 100 cars are running afoul of the rules, state transportation officials told the Star Tribune last year. The newspaper reported that mannequin sightings in the special lanes were especially common when only carpoolers used them.
Today's scofflaw was driving on a suspended license and received two citations, the state patrol said.
Shooting victim is trying to leave crime, violence behind him
Posted at 4:32 PM on March 13, 2012
by Brandt Williams
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Filed under: Crime, Minneapolis
Tyron Jenkins, 20, was one of two men shot and wounded while sitting in a car last Friday night in north Minneapolis. Police investigators are trying to find suspects and a motive behind the shooting. I spoke to Jenkins by phone from his hospital bed today. He told me he doesn't know much about what happened. Jenkins says he got hit in the chest and arm. Hospital officials say he's in "good condition." However, Jenkins sounded pretty weary on the phone.
Jenkins has been trying to leave the world of gangs and guns behind. He was enrolled in a program called North4, which focuses on helping gang-involved young men living in one of four north side neighborhoods to get jobs. Last month, Rep. Keith Ellison visited with Jenkins and other young men in the program and listened as they talked about how the program has affected their lives.
Jenkins' life story sounds like it was plucked from a gangsta rap ballad or a Hollywood movie. He had an absent father. He started 'hustlin' when he was eight years old. He was wounded by gunfire at age nine. But now, with help from North4, Jenkins is employed and talking about furthering his education. But as last weekend's shooting shows, real life rarely imitates art.
Rep. Ellison meets young men trying to leave crime behind
Posted at 4:20 PM on February 21, 2012
by Brandt Williams
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Crime, Minneapolis, Politics
Congressman Keith Ellison was a bit wary of the reporters gathered today at the Emerge office in north Minneapolis. He was at the social service organization's offices to meet with a group of participants in a program called the North4 Project. The program helps gang-affiliated teens and young men get jobs and leave the criminal lifestyle.
Ellison told the nearly dozen group participants that he didn't want them to feel like the media was putting them on display. But he acknowledged that the presence of an MPR news reporter (me) and a Star Tribune reporter would help bring attention to a positive program. Any concerns that the young men would be too shy to speak in front of reporters were put to rest when the first group participant, Tyron Jenkins, 20, opened his mouth.
Jenkins presented his autobiography, which was punctuated by 'youknowwhatimsayin' and 'you feel me' inserted in to nearly each sentence. We 'felt' him. Jenkins talked about how he was thrust into adulthood at an early age.
He'd been 'hustling' ever since he was eight years old. Trying to make a million dollars, he said. And at age nine, he was introduced to gun violence.
"My childhood got tooken [sic] very young, very, very young. I got shot at nine. I was in the hospital, on the bed at nine years old from a gunshot wound. You feel me?"
Jenkins says North4 helped him get a job at MnDOT, where he wears a button-down shirt and tie every day. And he's also in school working on a business degree.
But some of the young men in the program are still struggling. Brandon Turner, 22, (pictured above) told Ellison that he recently lost his truck because it broke down and he couldn't afford to fix it. And Turner says he's facing eviction at the end of the month. Ellison didn't make him any promises, but told Turner he'd see what he could do to help him.
Ellison also encouraged the young men to apply for internships in his office. However, Ellison told them, by rule he can't hire an intern who isn't in school. So Ellison told them now is a good time to go back to school if they aren't already.
Ellison helped secure $240,000 in federal funds to start the program two years ago. To date, the program has involved 31 young men. However, five participants have wound up in jail. But as one staff member pointed out, 'all 31 participants are still alive.' And that's an important statistic. According to data from North4, on average, each participant has lost 5 friends or family members to homicide.
Trying to stay out of prison
Posted at 1:17 PM on February 14, 2012
by Dan Olson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Crime
A fine piece of reporting by MPR colleague Rupa Shenoy shows how having a friend helps people in prison stay out of prison.
Nearly everyone behind bars is eventually released but recidivism or re-offending rates remain stubbornly high.
Rupa profiles a faith-based effort inside the women's prison at Shakopee and at a men's prison in Lino Lakes.
The key to the program's success? Probably several, but this piece of Rupa's reporting leapt out at me:
"The volunteers provide emotional support and help inmates leaving prison find housing and jobs -- two obstacles that, unless overcome, can end up sending other offenders back to prison."
Amen.
Think about it. You're out of prison. You may have family ready to help you. But if not your chances of finding housing and a job with a prison record are not rosy.
There are lots of folks involved in mentoring prison inmates, but the numbers fall far short of the need.
The Council on Crime and Justice based in Minneapolis led by former Hennepin County judge Pamela Alexander issued this invitation for mentors recently:
"All volunteers will mentor men returning from prison in group mentoring sessions that occur at the Community Reentry Hub located at 125 West Broadway Avenue in Minneapolis. Group mentoring sessions meet once a week for approximately 90 minutes per week. " The Council puts the time commitment at about four to six hours a month.
One of the state's longest running prisoner befriending groups is Minneapolis-based Amicus , again with an extensive prisoner help program always in need of volunteers.
Police report string of copper thefts from air conditioners in Minneapolis
Posted at 3:24 PM on January 31, 2012
by Madeleine Baran
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Crime, Minneapolis
Minneapolis police say copper thieves are now breaking into commercial air conditioners in Minneapolis to snag tens or even hundreds of feet of copper coil. Twelve incidents have been reported since mid-November, prompting police to issue a request this week for the public's help.
Copper theft has been a long-standing problem at foreclosed homes and construction sites and the number of thefts have increased as the price of copper rose during the recession, according to Minneapolis Police Sgt. William Palmer.
Air conditioners haven't been a frequent target for copper thieves until recently, Palmer said.
"This is the first time I've heard of them getting up on the roofs and going after these commercial units," he said. "I'm sure it's happened before, but I've never heard of it in 18 years."
In most of the incidents, Palmer said, the thieves appear to have climbed onto a commercial roof and stripped the air conditioner units in the middle of the night. The air conditioner units are expensive (between $20,000 and $40,000, Palmer estimates), and the theft makes the units impossible to repair.
Most of the thefts occurred in an area bordered by Lake Street on the south, I-94 on the north, Cedar Avenue on the east, and 35-W on the east.
Palmer said it's unclear how much each unit's copper is worth, but given the complicated operation and the risk of felony-level property damage charges, he said it's probably a considerable amount of money.
"The risk has got to be worth the reward they're getting out of it," he said.
Police are asking that neighbors call 911 if they see any suspicious vehicles with ladders near commercial buildings at night.
Search for killers of Minneapolis youths continues
Posted at 11:29 AM on January 20, 2012
by Brandt Williams
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Crime, Minneapolis
A north Minneapolis community activist sent me a Facebook invite about a vigil that will be held Saturday for Quantell Braxton. Apparently, today would have been his 15th birthday. But he was shot and killed on an August night last year. The vigil will be held at the intersection of 17th and Morgan Avenue North, near the scene of the crime. Shortly after Braxton's killing, Crimestoppers offered up to $1,000 for information in his case. However, police officials say they're still looking for suspects.
Police say they're also still looking for leads in the shooting death of the youngest homicide victim in 2011, Terrell Mayes, Jr. Last week, members of his family teamed with dozens of volunteers to canvass the surrounding neighborhood with flyers. The flyers included a picture of Mayes and information about a $7,000 reward - also through Crimestoppers. According to Sgt. Stephen McCarty of the Minneapolis Police Department, the reward has grown to $10,000. He says Crimestoppers offers the original $1,000. The rest comes from donations.
Hennepin County sheriff pushing hard for more courtroom security
Posted at 1:00 PM on January 13, 2012
by Brandt Williams
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Courts, Crime, Minneapolis
I just finished a story that focused on the possibility that Hennepin County will increase security measures at three suburban court buildings. This morning, a source sent me copies of letters exchanged between Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek and Chief Judge James Swenson. Stanek, who has repeatedly called for metal detectors at all court facilities, writes to Swenson that he has an interim security solution, but doesn't offer details. In a letter dated Jan. 6, Stanek asks for a standing order from the court to require screening or a change to the county's security policies. However, that change would have to be approved by the Hennepin County Board.
Swenson replied five days later that while he agreed with Stanek that screening should be extended to all court buildings, he didn't think a court order was necessary. But Swenson said he would be willing to sign such an order, provided that the sheriff offered assurances that his office can "provide additional safety at the suburban locations without diverting resources already committed to court security elsewhere."
Hennepin County Board chair Mike Opat says he expects to the board to see Stanek's proposal sometime next week.
Also here's a breakdown for how much the county spends each year on weapons screening. The numbers cover personnel costs, equipment maintenance for the metal detectors. But they don't include the costs for Sheriff's deputies who also provide security throughout court buildings.
Government Center: $895,000
Family Justice Center: $150,000
Juvenile Justice Center: $240,000
Public Safety Center (also known as the jail - but it contains three courtrooms): $325,000
County officials say it will be hard to estimate how much it will cost to add screening to the three suburban courthouses because some of the buildings have multiple entrances.
Minneapolis violent crime hits 28-year-low
Posted at 11:00 AM on January 6, 2012
by MPR News Staff
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Filed under: Crime
By Brandt Williams, Minnesota Public Radio News
Violent crime in the Minneapolis last year fell to a 28-year-low, city leaders said on Friday, but property crimes such as burglary and theft increased for the second year in a row.
Minneapolis police chief Tim Dolan said property crimes are hard for police officers to prevent. But he says residents can prevent thefts and break-ins by doing a few simple things.
"Shutting your garage door. Locking your house when you leave the house. Actually we see in some areas we'll have a pattern where people are in the backyard, and people are coming in the front door that's open while they're working in the garden in the backyard," he said.
The city's year-end crime numbers are based on criteria established by the FBI. Under that criteria, the official number of homicides in 2011 is 32, which is lower than the city's count. City officials say the FBI doesn't count killings in self-defense as homicides.
Minneapolis cops lauded for arresting anti-Somali attacker
Posted at 5:22 PM on December 13, 2011
by Laura Yuen
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Crime, Immigration, Minneapolis, Race
Remember these guys?
Minneapolis police officers Abdiwahab Ali, left, and Mohamed Abdullahi were profiled in my Sept. 8 piece on what it's like to be Muslim in Minnesota. Despite working on the front lines of fighting crime, the two beat cops spoke of additional security measures they faced while traveling through U.S. airports since the 2001 terrorist attacks.
Today, the folks at the Department of Homeland Security singled them out -- to say thank you.
The two men, along with Somali community liaison Officer Jeanine Brudenell and crime-prevention specialist Ahmed Hassan, were honored today with awards of appreciation for their work on a case resulting in a successful federal hate-crime prosecution.
In May 2010, Ali and Abdullahi, who patrol the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood, responded to the beating of an 82-year-old Somali man. The attacker punched the man several times, while yelling anti-Muslim and anti-Somali statements and telling him to go back to Africa, according to court documents.
Although the man ran away that time, Ali and Abdullahi talked to witnesses. More than two months later, the officers spotted Goerge Loren Thompson, now 64, who was allegedly chasing a 24-year-old Somali man and threatening to kill him. The officers arrested Thompson, who police say was drunk and in possession of two handguns.
When Thompson, who is white, learned that Ali and Abdullahi were Somali, police say he threatened to kill them, too.
And to top it off, Thompson worked for the Transportation Security Administration, which is part of homeland security.
Thompson pleaded guilty to the May 2010 incident and was recently sentenced to six months in prison.
After accepting the award today, Abdullahi said the award was humbling.
"It's an honor for the job we do in the community," he said.
The attack alarmed many Somali residents because it was so unprovoked, said Abdiwahab Ali. Immediately after the beating, the elderly victim changed his route and was afraid to go out, even to the mosque, Ali said.
The attacker's sentencing and today's award ceremony will be appreciated by his community as the police continue to earn its trust, he said.
"It sends a good message from Homeland Security to the people that a case like this is not going to be tolerated, and it will be prosecuted," Ali said.
Mpls 'laundry room burglar' is on the loose
Posted at 1:48 PM on December 9, 2011
by Madeleine Baran
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Crime, Minneapolis
South Minneapolis apartment dwellers -- are you looking for a reason to procrastinate doing your laundry? You've come to the right place.
The Minneapolis Police Department says there's a laundry room burglar on the loose. It's likely the same man was responsible for two laundry room break-ins, police said -- one at 3019 Pleasant Ave S. on Nov. 1 and the other at 4300 Grand Ave S. on Dec. 2.
At the apartment on Grand, the man allegedly pried open the coin box on a washing machine and cut several water lines on his way out, causing the basement to flood.
Both break-ins occurred between 6 and 8 p.m., police said.
The Pleasant Ave. apartment building has a camera in its laundry room, and the police released two images of the alleged burglar.
If you rob a bank, I'm guessing you expect to be videotaped. But how many laundry rooms have security cameras?
Police are asking anyone who can identify the suspect or provide information about the break-ins to call Sgt. James Jensen, of the 5th Precinct Property Crimes Unit, at 612-673-5587.
Minneapolis police shoot 'Obama' ... the dog
Posted at 4:27 PM on December 5, 2011
by Brandt Williams
(2 Comments)
Filed under: Crime, Minneapolis
Darrell Williams sued 10 officers and the city of Minneapolis after the officers broke down his door with guns drawn around noon on July 9, 2009. According to the complaint, the officers served a search warrant on Williams' south Minneapolis home. Williams claimed that he and his wife were upstairs when they heard a loud explosion and then gun shots coming from downstairs. He came downstairs and asked the officers what was going on. Williams alleges the officers threw him to the floor and kicked and punched him, leaving him with a black eye, bruised face and two injured ribs.
Then they shot Obama. His dog.
"In some of their answers to interrogatories, they [officers] claim that the dog was coming at them. Which if you look at where the blood was, it wasn't even close to where they were," says attorney Paul Applebaum.
Applebaum says Williams was not arrested and officers didn't find any contraband in the home.
Police spokesman Sgt. William Palmer declined to comment on the settlement, but he says sometimes officers who show up unannounced to homes encounter aggressive dogs. Palmer says often the dogs are doing what they're trained to do.
So far this year, officers have shot and killed 13 dogs. However, Palmer says in most of these cases, the officers were called to respond to 'threatening dog calls.'
Today, the Minneapolis City Council's Ways and Means Budget committee approved a recommendation by the city attorney to agree to a $24,500 settlement. The full council will vote on the settlement Friday.
Open-government advocate resigns from fusion center panel
Posted at 6:00 AM on November 30, 2011
by Laura Yuen
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Crime
Troubled by what he calls the government's cache of "surreptitious records," a longtime advocate for open government has stepped down from an advisory group to the state's fusion center.
Robert Sykora, a state public defender who helped draft the privacy rules for the Minnesota Joint Analysis Center, submitted his resignation Nov. 7. In the letter to MNJAC director Michael Bosacker, Sykora expressed concerns about the direction the fusion center is taking. The center is part of a nationwide, post-9/11 effort to gather information from law enforcement and the private sector.
Sykora's decision comes after Minnesota's public safety commissioner quietly restricted so-called "suspicious-activity reports" from public scrutiny.
Sykora, who was once a consultant for the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, says he was also dismayed when MNJAC appeared to loosen its rules on the retention of data that didn't rise to the level of reasonable suspicion.
Reached by phone, Sykora said the lessons of the Metro Gang Strike Force and a now-defunct statewide criminal database seem to be lost.
"Let's look at history, and let's look at things that have not worked out well when law enforcement keeps surreptious records of law-abiding people," he said. "How can we keep making this mistake over and over again, believing Officer Friendly will always do the right thing?"
In his letter, Sykora acknowledged that Bosacker is sincere in his belief to protect public safety. Bosacker sent me an email Tuesday, saying Sykora was a valued member of MNJAC's privacy policy committee since it began. "His insight and perspective through the years are greatly appreciated," Bosacker wrote.
But how to strike that balance between the police's need to gather information and the public's need for accountability is one thing the two men apparently can't agree on.
Sykora will continue to be involved in the discussions over Minnesota's decision on whether to share its incident data with the FBI.
Metro Transit getting safer; some riders not so sure
Posted at 2:48 PM on November 29, 2011
by Brandt Williams
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Crime, Livability, Minneapolis, Transportation
A letter to the editor published this week in the Star Tribune about late-night fights and shenanigans at a busy downtown Minneapolis bus stop prompted me to call Metro Transit. I wanted to know if there has been an uptick in bus-related crime or police calls lately. Metro Transit spokesman John Siqveland, sent me an email about the bus stop mentioned in the Star Tribune letter.
"The bus stop at 7th and Nicollet is the single busiest transit stop in the state with over 4,100 boardings each weekday. The area at 7th and Nicollet is under constant video surveillance with cameras at many sources - such as area businesses. All Metro Transit buses have video recording equipment. Cameras can capture activity both inside and off-board the vehicle. Over 1,200 buses serve stops at the intersection of 7th and Nicollet every weekday (850+ on Saturday and 600+ on Sunday). During rush hours, Metro Transit buses serve stops at the intersection about once a minute."
Siqveland also says buses are getting safer.
"From 2006 to 2010, crimes per 100,000 rides have steadily declined from 11.9 to 6.8. Metro Transit Police use a broad definition of crime compared with other transit agencies. Serious crimes like robberies and assaults make up a very small share of the total and 'quality of life' or 'nuisance' crimes make up the vast majority. 'Quality of life' crimes include things like fare disputes and evasion, smoking, public intoxication, disorderly conduct, etc."
Metro Transit Police officials credit a number of factors for the decline in crime, including partnerships with groups like MAD DADS. Members of the non-profit group regularly ride the buses to help keep order along bus routes frequented by rowdy riders. Last year, I rode with a group of the physically imposing, yet extremely polite, DADS for an afternoon for this story. The men chatted and joked with passengers, and no one got out of line.
Do you ride Metro Transit buses? What's your experience? Ever run into unruly characters at a bus stop or on the bus?
Mpls residents help bust drug ring
Posted at 4:15 PM on November 18, 2011
by Madeleine Baran
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Crime, Minneapolis
Police credit a flurry of tips from a south Minneapolis neighborhood that led to the bust of a heroin ring. On Friday, Minneapolis police said the information helped them identify one of the main dealers.
Gonzalo Tapia-Robles was arrested this week and charged with first degree sale of narcotics. The 25-year-old man allegedly sold drugs in the area next to I-35W to Lyndale Ave. S, from 40th St. to 50th St.
Tapia-Robles has 30 aliases and has sold narcotics in several states, police said. Undercover officers also recovered a "significant amount" of heroin and cocaine, according to statement Friday from the Minneapolis police.
Police made the arrest more than two months after sending an email alert asking neighbors for help. Residents responded by calling police to report the license plates of suspected drug dealers.
Crime Prevention Specialist Amy Lavendar said the information helped undercover officers make the arrest.
Seward Market shootings still haunt witnesses
Posted at 5:07 PM on October 31, 2011
by Brandt Williams
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Crime, Minneapolis
Today's sentencing of Seward Market killer Mahdi Hassan Ali means the legal chapter of the story is nearly over. Ali is expected to file an appeal. But for the relatives of the three slain men, there will continue to be a painful hole in their lives. Others have lasting memories from the night of Jan. 6, 2010 that will be hard to forget.
Jamilla Ahmed went to the Seward Market to buy some Somali coffee. When she had trouble finding the coffee, a store helper named Youb Ala came to the back of the store to help her. Seconds later, a masked man grabbed the two of them and told them not to move. Shots rang out at the front of the store and the masked man fled. Jamilla and Youb ran to a back hallway and climbed into a beverage cooler. Jamilla called 911.
The following is a recording of her frantic call for help:
When Ahmed testified during trial, she cried as she heard her voice on the recordings. She said it still upset her to relive the events of that night.
Peter Fleck lives near the Seward Market, and was walking by the store when the shots rang out inside. He made a roundabout trek to the front of the store because he said he saw a man come out of the store and hurry down the sidewalk toward him. Fleck feared the man had a gun. When he got to the front of the store, he saw two men lying dead or dying near the front of the door.
He called 911 to describe the scene:
Empowering ex-offenders... slowly
Posted at 6:00 AM on October 28, 2011
by Rupa Shenoy
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Crime, Minneapolis
People leaving prison face many obstacles: finding affordable housing and a job, just to start. We've done many stories on those issues at MPR News. But the biggest challenge for ex-inmates may be dealing with the stigma that hangs on them like a prison uniform. It manifests as waves of shame and resentment, coloring their initial months back in society and making reintegration (without re-offense) even harder.
There's a way to make those emotions easier to bear. The trick, experts say, is to gradually reduce offenders' isolation and increase their self-worth. That battle will probably happen as a bunch of small steps, such as one made by the Hennepin County Board and Summit Academy in Minneapolis, a nonprofit educational and vocational training center that concentrates on residents of economically-depressed neighborhoods in the Twin Cities.
Their recent agreement restructures the county's Sentencing to Service Homes Program, which until now has trained offenders in construction skills using community work sites for correctional inmates in state prisons. Now they'll be trained by Summit Academy, and at the end of training, they'll receive Rehabilitation Technician certification.
Under the new partnership, trainees will be recruited and jointly selected by STS Homes, Hennepin County Community Corrections and Rehabilitation, and Summit Academy. The school will offer two 10-week training modules. The first includes classroom instruction in carpentry mathematics, blueprint reading, building materials, hand and power tools, framing, weatherization techniques, and construction safety. The second module, held at Summit, consists of on-site construction and tear down of small homes and garages.
As part of the new arrangement, STS Homes will relocate its camper cabin production facility from Red Wing to the Summit Academy campus.
Courthouse limits access as jury deliberates Somali terror case
Posted at 5:15 PM on October 18, 2011
by Laura Yuen
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Crime, Minneapolis
As a jury deliberates a high-profile terrorism case in Minneapolis behind closed doors, the only drama to be found is outside the courtroom.
Several dozen Somali-American women have been flocking to the federal courthouse, protesting with signs on the outside plaza and praying and gathering on the 15th floor. They're waiting, like the rest of us, for a verdict in the case of Amina Ali and Hawo Hassan, two Rochester women who are accused of routing money to the Somali terror group al-Shabab.
Even while simply conversing, the crowds that milled outside the office of Chief Judge Michael Davis grew to become so loud that court security officers repeatedly asked them to quiet down. And at one point, two officers guarded the courthouse entrance barring people outside from re-entering the building, according to freelance reporter Mukhtar Ibrahim, who was among them. The former MPR News intern tells us he was standing in the cold for about an hour and a half before the officers finally let a crowd of about 50 inside. They were taken to a cafeteria on the ground level.
Security officers told Ibrahim they had to make sure no more than 40 people were allowed in the public area of the 15th floor, where the trial has played out for the past two weeks.
Thomas Volk, a deputy U.S. marshal, told reporters that there were some concerns about capacity, but he knew of no security threat. He deferred questions to the federal building's managers, known as the General Service Administration, as well as the Federal Protective Services. We are waiting to hear back from the GSA. No one seems to have a working phone number for FPS, which protects federal building.
But one of the defense attorneys says the precautions are nothing out of the ordinary, given the size of the crowds.
"It became a security concern, not anything unusual, just because of the large number of people," said Tom Kelly, an attorney representing Hawo Hassan.
Volk, the deputy marshal, also said security officers were providing "enhanced screening" of vehicles entering the underground parking ramp during the trial.
Emails to inmates
Posted at 5:28 PM on October 17, 2011
by Sasha Aslanian
(2 Comments)
Filed under: Crime, Livability, Suburbs
The Minnesota Department of Corrections is experimenting with a new way for friends and family to communicate with inmates in two Minnesota prisons.
During a six-month pilot project, inmates at Oak Park Heights and the Shakopee women's prison will be able to receive electronic messages sent through a vendor at less than the cost of a first-class letter.
DOC Deputy Commissioner David Crist said messages are received and printed in the prison mail room, then distributed to the offender.
"I want to stress that it's a one-way program. Emails come into the mailroom--not directly to the inmates--and the offenders then have to respond in a more traditional way: by telephone or the mail," said Crist.
Prison staff monitor snail mail for contraband like drugs and white powder that may require an emergency response. Electronic messages wouldn't carry that risk.
After six months, the department will determine whether to expand electronic messaging to the rest of Minnesota's correctional facilities.
A touchy subject
Posted at 1:09 PM on October 13, 2011
by Brandt Williams
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Filed under: Courts, Crime, Minneapolis
U.S. District Court Judge Donovan Frank ruled Wednesday that two Minneapolis police officers illegally strip-searched Recardo Meeks during a traffic stop in 2009. In writing up the broadcast spots on the details of the incident, I bumped into some MPR News language standards. What you hear on the air is sanitary, but accurate.
I've posted the full ruling below so you can read all the not-appropriate-for-air details yourself.
Meeks.FedCt.GrantSumJudgment.pdf
Meeks' attorney Andrew Muller says it's possible the city will settle the suit before it goes to a jury trial scheduled for December. He says now that Frank has ruled that the officers' actions violated Meeks' civil rights, the next step is for a jury to decide how much harm was caused by the officer's actions. In a civil lawsuit, a jury can award monetary damages. City Attorney Susan Segal says she will not comment on the case because it is still in front of the court.
Bringing the microphone inside Stillwater Prison
Posted at 3:32 PM on October 3, 2011
by Sasha Aslanian
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Filed under: Courts, Crime
Today, All Things Considered will broadcast a story recorded inside Stillwater Prison, Minnesota's fabled prison that houses 1,500 Level 4 offenders (not quite the worst).
MPR News was able to record 15 men in a far-ranging conversation about their lives, their families, their communities and their crimes.
This unusual assignment originated from some reporting during the state government shutdown when prison visits were cancelled. That meant the non-profit group Amicus, which has befriended inmates for 45 years, wouldn't be able to send in its volunteers for visits, or hold group meetings like the Connections group that meets monthly in Stillwater.
Amicus Senior V.P. Russel Balenger was disappointed. He couldn't remember a time when Amicus couldn't go in. He told me when the shutdown was over, I should come to the Connections group. He didn't have to offer twice.
I'd never been inside Stillwater Prison. The security screening's tougher than going to the airport. A guard searched the inside of my shoes with her latex-gloved hand before we were allowed in. Even the Department of Corrections communications staffer had to be searched.
Once inside the clanking gates, an inmate in one of the cell blocks waved to Balenger.
We walked down the hall to a room that could have been a college seminar room, except it had a window for a guard to keep an eye on us. I waited with Balenger, Amicus volunteer Steve Linney, MPR photographer Jeffrey Thompson, and Sarah Russell from DOC for the men to arrive.
We'd be outnumbered by the inmates. How long would it take for the guard to intervene if there was a problem? I was nervous.
The men arrived, seeming relaxed and happy. They'd clearly been looking forward to their monthly break from the cell block. They explained that they live in different areas of the prison so it's a chance to see friends they don't normally get to see. This is a place where they can, in the words of inmate David Islam, in for murder since 1993, "tell it like it is."
The tables were arranged in a square. I climbed into the middle so I could wheel around to record each of them as they spoke. At one point, as they were talking, I thought, "I'm in a circle of murderers. And I'm not scared."
Today's story focuses on the men's connections with the outside world. New unpublished research from the Department of Corrections found having visitors reduces the likelihood of re-offending. Amicus works to foster positive social relationships for inmates who might otherwise have no one.
Most of these men will get out. One's already gotten out since I recorded the group Sept.13. They're planning for that day. Will they be ready to remake their lives?
FBI: No book yet by agent who investigated Moussaoui
Posted at 1:49 PM on September 29, 2011
by Laura Yuen
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Filed under: Courts, Crime, Minneapolis
Newsweek's recent in-depth look at what went wrong at FBI's headquarters prior to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks drew heavily on the perspective of Minneapolis agent Harry Samit. The FBI is now taking issue with at least one fact reported in the article: Special Agent Samit has not written a tell-all book about the Zacarias Moussaoui case, according to a bureau spokesman.
Samit arrested the now-convicted 9/11 conspirator on Aug. 16, 2001. Samit has been barred from granting interviews to the media -- or at least to me, over the past couple of years.
Imagine our surprise when Newsweek cited what it described as an "excerpt of a book he's written about the case." An account of Samit's arrest and interview of Moussaoui was published in the William Mitchell Law Review.
But FBI spokesman Kyle Loven in Minneapolis emailed me to say there's no book -- at least not yet:
Apparently, the Newsweek article is incorrect. SA Samit has not written a book on the Moussaoui matter. Will he write a book in the future - perhaps. However, SA Samit's article was written exclusively for the William Mitchell College of Law - Law Journal. It was not an excerpt from any book which he has already written.Whatever it is, the account is a worthwhile read for anyone who followed the twists and turns of the Moussaoui case, or for anyone curious about FBI interrogations. Samit grew suspicious of Moussaoui, an inexperienced pilot who took commercial flying lessons in Eagan. The agent was convinced Moussaoui was a Muslim extremist plotting to carry out an attack in the United States using airplanes.
Samit's account does not criticize FBI brass, but focuses solely on the two days that Samit and fellow agent John Wess conducted exclusive interviews with Moussaoui after arresting him on an immigration violation.
Moussaoui told the agents he wanted to "follow his dream" of flying a big airplane and was incensed that he could not resume his training. But once the agents began to accuse him of lying, Moussaoui's reaction was not consistent with the anger typically displayed by someone who is telling the truth, Samit wrote:
"Despite the histrionics and gestures, Moussaoui was in full control of himself -- his muscles were not tense, his jaw was not clenched, and his eyes were alert and continually searching ours to see whether we were being persuaded. In short, he was not really mad -- he was lying."
Samit's recounting, which reads like a cross between a standard FBI memo and a novel, offers details into how the agents tried to get the French national to admit the hijacking plot and cough up information that could help authorities thwart an attack.
The agents did not succeed.
But Moussaoui eventually pleaded guilty to conspiring with the 9/11 hijackers. He is serving a life sentence in prison.
A top ranking Minneapolis doesn't want
Posted at 1:15 PM on September 16, 2011
by Dan Olson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Crime, Livability, Minneapolis
Minneapolis officials aren't shrinking from acknowledging the city has a big minority unemployment rate problem.
The Economic Policy Institute study last year found Minneapolis and Memphis rank at the top of 50 metro areas studied for having the widest gap between minority and white unemployment.
The minority rate exceeds 20 percent, the rate for whites is about seven percent.
The local advisory panel to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission heard from former Hennepin County judge Pamela Alexander (pictured above), among others, who said Minnesota is the land of "perpetual punishment".
African Americans are disproportionately represented in Minnesota's criminal justice system, and Alexander says the state is a leader in enacting barriers to employment for people with a record, worsening the unemployment problem.
State demographer Tom Gillaspy offered what sounded like hope when he said there's a bunch of jobs coming open as the Boomers retire.
But in the next breath, Gillaspy says the people including minorities who could and should be stepping into those jobs in too many cases don't have the skills for them.
The ray of hope continues to be youth work training programs including the one run by Minneapolis in cooperation with businesses for minority youth which is being expanded to include thousands more young people.
Deportations fall in Minnesota: fewer criminals, zero terrorists in 2011
Posted at 4:37 PM on September 9, 2011
by Sasha Aslanian
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Courts, Crime, Immigration
The folks at TRAC (Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University) are out with a new state-by-state breakdown of deportation proceedings in the Immigration Courts.
You can see a nifty graph of deportations in Minnesota since 1992 (388 people), which increased almost 10-fold in 2009 to 3709. Numbers have fallen off slightly since then.
The national picture shows the increase in deportations since 9/11, although those brought up on terrorism or national security charges -- always a small number -- have fallen.
"But a comparison of the kinds of deportation proceedings in both the pre-and-post 9/11 periods documents that the actual numbers of those aimed at criminals, national security threats and terrorists have all declined rather than increased. On the other hand, the total number of those charged with purely immigration violations has sharply increased -- 1.2 million before the attacks, 1.9 million after."
The data also show "the number of deportation proceedings initiated against individuals charged with criminal activity has dropped by 22 percent during the last 12 months."
The Obama administration's stated goal has been to focus on deporting criminals.
According to this data, Minnesota brought deportation proceedings against 1 person on terrorism or national security charges in 2010 (from the Phillippines), but most years there were zero. 2001 was the high point, with two: one from Liberia and one from Somalia.
Judge Twitter
Posted at 4:46 PM on September 8, 2011
by Brandt Williams
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Courts, Crime
Judge Peter Cahill (@JudgeCahill) may be the first in the Fourth Judicial District, Hennepin County, to actively use Twitter for official business. Cahill is presiding over the Mahdi Hassan Ali triple homicide trial, which is still in the jury selection phase. The process started earlier this week with a pool of 50 jurors. Each one has to be questioned individually by both defense and prosecuting attorneys. Since they can't fit everybody in on one day, Cahill tweets messages to let prospective jurors know when they need to report for questions.
Today in the courtroom, defense attorney Fred Goetz asked a prospective juror if he used Facebook. The older gentlemen replied that it was real new to him and he didn't think he liked it. Then the man turned to Judge Cahill and said, "But I enjoy your tweeter."
Testimony in the trial is scheduled to begin next week.
Better late than never for foreclosed Twin Cities folks?
Posted at 6:15 PM on September 7, 2011
by Dan Olson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Crime, Housing, Livability, Minneapolis, St. Paul , Suburbs
What a difference from two months ago.
That's when we reported what appeared to be a truly anemic federal response to going after the bad actors at the top in the mortgage meltdown.
State regulators and prosecutors and some local officials have been going after mortgage originators, title companies and others involved in fraudulent mortgages. And they've had some success.
But the fraud we've seen in Minnesota is a small part of the picture, compared to the risky mortgage-backed securities deals that consumed the industry at the beginning of the recession.
In the last 10 days the U. S. attorney general has launched a fusilade of lawsuits aimed at the big banks and another set at individuals.
Enough to keep armies of attorneys tied up in legal warfare for years.
Seems a safe assumption that any lawsuit settlements will come too late for the more than 100,000 Minnesotans foreclosed on since 2007.
Seward Market mural memorializes three slain men
Posted at 3:30 PM on August 26, 2011
by Laura Yuen
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Crime, Immigration, Livability, Minneapolis
A new mural painted on the side of the Seward Market and Halal Meat in Minneapolis aims to honor three men who lost their lives there last year.
Over the summer, teen artists and neighborhood volunteers came to the Franklin Avenue corner store with ladders and buckets of paint to memorialize the victims. Store employee Osman Jama Elmi, his cousin Mohamed Abdi Warfa, and customer Anwar Salah Mohammed were shot to death in January 2010 in what was the city's first triple homicide in several years.
Elmi and Warfa were Somali-American, and Mohammed was an ethnic Oromo from Ethiopia. A trial for the suspected killer is scheduled for Sept. 6.
The mural is meant to pay tribute to the victims and celebrate the community's diversity, said Articulture, the nearby visual-arts educational group that led the effort.
Guided by professional photographers Mohamud Mumin and Jennifer Larson, the teens also took photos from the community that have been turned into five collage panels along the wall. The photography is meant to tell the story of the community.
A public celebration unveiling the mural, starting at 3 p.m. Sunday, comes on the heels of another tragedy for the Seward community.
True Thai Restaurant will be closed on Saturday from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. in honor of the restaurant's chef, Anousone "Ped" Phanthavong. The chef was killed Tuesday in a hit-and-run off ramp from westbound Interstate 94 to Riverside Avenue.
Our thoughts are with our friends in Seward. More than a year after the triple homicide, many still have signs posted in businesses and homes declaring "Seward Stands Together."
Haunted by past, Neeley faces more prison time
Posted at 5:00 PM on August 23, 2011
by Brandt Williams
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Courts, Crime
On March 24, MPR broadcast an interview with Terrence Neeley and his sister Helena. The two (pictured at right - photo by Steve Mullis) spoke out against the gun violence that took their younger sister Alisha in 2010. Neeley was in prison serving a sentence for a violent crime at the time of his sister's killing.
Neeley told All Things Considered host Tom Crann that he still fights the impulse to seek revenge against the person who killed his sister. But he says he's smarter now and non-violent.
However, Neeley didn't tell Crann that a few weeks before the interview, on March 5th, he was arrested by Minneapolis police for possessing a .45 caliber handgun. According to court records, Neeley was released without charges. But a few months later, federal law enforcement officials built a case against Neeley and had him arrested and jailed. In July, a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging him with one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. If convicted and given the maximum sentence, Neeley will spend another 10 years in prison.
Neely's trial is scheduled to start September 19th. The court record contains a three-page, handwritten letter from Neeley to the magistrate judge, asking him for a conditional, pre-trial release. Neeley says he wants to continue his anti-violence advocacy and take care of his family. In the letter, Neeley talks about how gun violence has affected his life. In addition to losing his younger sister to a shooting, Neeley writes that he himself was shot in the back of the neck in 2009.
Neeley ends his letter with this:
"I don't run from my problems. I face them all as I am the creator of them all. But I hate how a past can haunt one. I have a future so bright that it burns my eyes to look at it. Sincerely your honor, please give me the chance and opportunity."
This Friday, Aug. 26th, at 2 p.m. Neeley will appear in front of Magistrate Judge Tony Leung in St. Paul for a hearing that will determine if Neeley stays in jail before his trial, or goes home.
Some light on Minnesota's "dark figure."
Posted at 9:00 PM on August 22, 2011
by Dan Olson
(1 Comments)
Filed under: Crime, Livability
That's what criminologists call unreported crime.
Dark because they don't know how much there is. But they suspect there's a fair amount.
And that is what the latest Minnesota state crime victim's survey shows.
Six thousand folks responded to researchers led by the Greater Twin Cities United Way and the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.
Danette Buskovick
The department's director of research Danette Buskovick says the preliminary state 2010 crime victim survey numbers show:
Twelve percent, the highest number of the 6000 respondents, said they were stalked. Eighty one percent said they did not report the stalking incidents to police.Nine percent of the respondents reported someone else using credit or debit cards with 19 percent reporting the theft and 81 percent not reporting.
People identifying themselves as victims of a scam or a fraud were 7 percent of the respondents. Again, the vast majority, more than 80 percent, did not report the fraud to police.
On the other hand a high number of victims of aggravated assault or a "stickup" or a robbery, 75 percent, said they reported the incident. And nearly three-fourths of motor vehicle theft victims reported the crime.
By the way, the survey results come on the heels of the state's 2010 uniform crime report tabulated by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension which shows a nearly 3 percent drop in reported crime.
There's a new cop in Minnesota
Posted at 6:00 AM on August 19, 2011
by Dan Olson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Crime
And his name is Jerry Kerber.
As of today he's the new Minnesota Department of Human Services inspector general in the brand new DHS office of inspector general.
Every year DHS pays out nearly $11 billion for a range of programs including Medicaid, food security, child care support and a batch of other programs.
Kerber's estimate is somewhere between four to ten percent of the Medicaid money, which accounts for $9 billion annually, is misspent or fraudulently obtained.
The culprits?
All kinds of folks, including some who just make mistakes in submitting claims because the programs are fairly complicated.
But many more run scams and fraud. People and companies who submit claims for, say, Medicaid services provided. Except they never provided them. Or lied about how often. Or are perpetrating some other kind of dodge.
Kerber didn't just fall off the hay wagon. He's a 31-year vet at DHS including fifteen years as head of licensing, so there's a chance he's on to many of the shenanigans perpetrated by the ne'er do wells trying to get their mitts on the taxpayer money.
And he'll have some serious back up. The new OIG office has 150 existing agency staff pulled from various duties and put into the fraud detection and recovery effort.
Erlinder barred again from representing client
Posted at 4:29 PM on August 18, 2011
by Laura Yuen
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Crime, Minneapolis
After attorney Peter Erlinder was thrown out of a courtroom Monday, the St. Paul law professor made another appeal to Minnesota's chief federal district judge seeking to represent his client for pretrial release.
U.S. Chief District Judge Michael Davis responded today: Nope.
Erlinder wrote a letter Tuesday apologizing to Davis for "improperly" trying to address the judge Monday at a pretrial court hearing. The William Mitchell law professor is not admitted to practice law in Minnesota because he never took the bar exam in this state. He has sought permission several times to defend clients -- and was denied several times -- as recently as 2009 in the case of terror suspect Mohamed Warsame.
In an email to MPR News, Erlinder points out that he has practiced law on occasion in Minnesota's federal courtrooms over the past 20 years:
"Seeking admission to the Minnesota State Bar to appear in Federal court every 3-5 years seemed unnecessary, but I may have to tre-think (sic) that conclusion if I have any cases in Minnesota District Court."
His current client, Mahamud Said Omar, is accused of helping outfit several Twin Cities men for their trips to Somalia, allegedly to fight with the extremist group al-Shabab. Omar's family contends he suffers from mental disorders and is not capable of aiding terrorists.
Erlinder agrees that Omar lacks the mental faculties to make decisions on his behalf, and says Omar fired his Dutch attorney and essentially gave up fighting extradition.
Perhaps better known for his detention in Rwanda last year, Erlinder is allowed to practice law in his home state of Illinois as well as other federal and appellate courts.
While not naming Erlinder specifically, Judge Davis issued an order today saying he "will not entertain any motion or request of said attorney" until the lawyer complies with the requirements to participate in a criminal case before the court.
(Photo by Laura Yuen)
Como Zoo burglars seek cash, not animals
Posted at 12:19 PM on August 12, 2011
by Madeleine Baran
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Crime, St. Paul
St. Paul police say two early morning bandits snuck into the Como Zoo on Thursday and damaged cash drawers and registers.
It appears the alleged burglars steered clear of the zoo's lions, polar bears, gorillas and other creatures.
"All animals were accounted for and were found unharmed," police said in a statement released Friday.
Other zoos haven't been as lucky. Teenagers in Florida stole four monkeys and an Amazon parrot two years ago. (Police found the animals a day later in cages and plastic containers in a shed, "perhaps minutes from death.")
A Como Zoo security guard called police just before 4 a.m. Thursday after he noticed a donation box had been moved. Police arrived and spotted two men near the zoo entrance. The men fled, and officers found evidence they broke into the zoo's gift shop, a concession building and a food building in a search for cash.
Zoo officials are still trying to determine what might have been taken, police said. The surveillance images, released by investigators, show that one of the men wasn't exactly camera shy.
Police have asked anyone who recognizes the suspects or has information about the case to call 651-266-5771 or 651-291-1111.
Annual StandDown for veterans this week
Posted at 4:29 PM on August 1, 2011
by Jessica Mador
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Courts, Crime, Housing, Minneapolis, St. Paul , Veterans
An annual event designed to help homeless and at-risk military veterans happens this week at Fort Snelling. The Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans' StandDown offers free assistance with VA and other benefits, psychological counseling, legal assistance, and help with housing, employment, and chemical dependency. Veterans can meet one-on-one with attorneys who specialize in child support, social security, consumer law, tickets, DMV, federal and state tax assistance and other issues. Free meals, clothing and haircuts will also be available. And there's a free shuttle from the Fort Snelling Light Rail Station.
WHEN: Tuesday, Aug. 2 and Wednesday, Aug. 3 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Welcome Ceremony will take place Aug. 2 at 11 a.m.
WHERE: Scout Base Camp, 201 Bloomington Road, Fort Snelling, Minn.
The Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans estimates that about one percent of Minnesota veterans - that's nearly 4,100 veterans -- will experience homelessness this year. Last year's StandDown drew about 700 veterans.
What is the role of Muslim Americans in fighting radicalization?
Posted at 1:51 PM on July 22, 2011
by Laura Yuen
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Crime, Immigration, Minneapolis
It's no secret that U.S. law enforcement wants American Muslims to be the eyes and ears of radical elements in their communities.
But the bigger question is: What should Muslims do if they suspect someone of harboring extreme views, but have no idea if that person poses any real security threat?
In my story yesterday about an assault that took place at a Minneapolis mosque, Nimco Ahmed, a Somali community member who has been involved with counterterrorism discussions with the Department of Homeland Security, raised an interesting point. Somali-Americans are still trying to figure out what their role is in reporting suspicions, she said.
"If we have people inside of our community who are radicalized, what do we need to do to identify them? What identifies a radical individual? I think all of that is not really clear."
Community members may come across someone who seems to sympathize with, say, the terror group al-Shabab. But that in itself is not a crime. Ahmed noted that some people who might seem radical due to mental instability might be in need of an intervention, not necessarily an investigation.
Meanwhile, Homeland Security launched a campaign last year called: "If You See Something, Say Something."
The U.S. Attorney for Minnesota, B. Todd Jones, has been meeting with young Somali-Americans since early this year as part of a broader effort to engage community members. His office recently hosted a civics training with young Somali-Americans (pictured above, courtesy of his office.)
And in March, Jones hired Michelle Tran to fill the new role of community relations specialist. She coordinates many of the conversations between the office and young Somali leaders.
Tran agrees that not everyone feels comfortable calling the FBI.
"A lot of people are afraid to bring it to that level," she said. "They're worried about someone who's young and might be impressionable. That's something we're trying to build a bit a little more -- having a space where people can ask questions without feeling they're going to be investigated."
Is Minneapolis an outlier when it comes to crime?
Posted at 6:00 AM on July 19, 2011
by Brandt Williams
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Crime, Minneapolis
Fourth Precinct Commander Mike Martin
Some of Minneapolis' top cops gathered Monday to announce the continued dip in reported violent crime and to promote city efforts they say are responsible for the decline.
Though violent crime is down in many big cities across the nation, police chief Tim Dolan says there's something unique about Minneapolis.
Bottom line is, what you don't see in other cities is five straight years of decline. What most are talking about is a one-year decline or a two-year decline.
Dolan says five years ago, the city began to crack down on youth violence, in part by cracking down on truancy and enforcing curfew laws. In 2006, more than half of the violent crime in the city was committed by juveniles. Now, Dolan says juvenile crime makes up 20 to 25 percent.
The MPD has also taken an aggressive stance on removing illicit firearms from the streets. So far this year, officers have recovered 137 guns. Police officials say over the last several years, police officers have collected an average of between 700-900 guns a year.
Dolan didn't give all the credit to police officers. He says a number of city agencies, like Regulatory Services and the Community Planning and Economic Development (CPED) department, play an active role in assuring public safety. For example, Fourth Precinct commander Mike Martin says when he took over as the head of north Minneapolis police station in 2007, he was confronted with what to do about a bar on West Broadway Ave. that was the source of numerous police calls. Martin says Regulatory Services put the pressure on the bar's licenses to operate. Eventually, the bar closed down and CPED helped find new ownership who would run a safer business.
Are there other factors you think have lead to the drop in crime? Or perhaps you haven't noticed a drop in crime where you live?
Remembering a trailblazing St. Paul cop
Posted at 5:10 PM on July 18, 2011
by Tim Nelson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Crime, Race, St. Paul
Longtime St. Paul police officer James "Jimmy" Mann died Saturday.
He was 88, and he'd been retired for more than 30 years. But he's remembered for helping break the color barrier in the modern St. Paul Department, albeit sometimes with more force than some thought necessary.
"You either really liked Jimmy Mann, or you really hated Jimmy Mann," remembered former police chief Bill Finney, who joined the force in 1971. Mann had been there since 1957.
A native of Tennessee, he was a WWII vet who came to Minnesota in the late 40s to attend mortuary school. He joined the close-knit black community in the old Rondo neighborhood. With his fellow black officer James Griffin -- the cop for whom the current police headquarters is named for -- they were half of the department's black officers at one point.
In a history of black officers, Griffin called Mann "one of the most controversial officers in the department." He lobbied hard to get more black cops on the force and change the department's relations with the black community.
Former chief Bill Finney says it was an era of de facto, if not de jure, segregation in St. Paul, and that Mann struggled long and hard to change that.
"It was very, very difficult to be a black officer back then," remembers his widow, Anna Marie Ettel. "They weren't trusted by the white cops, and they weren't trusted by the black community."
"He was the kind of person who cared passionately about justice and injustice," she said. "He hadn't been a cop for 40 years, and there were still people who came up and talked to him, who said 'I was a kid and got caught shoplifting, you took me home instead of turning me in. And I had to face my mom, which was probably worse.'"
Mann was a patrolman his entire 20 year career, sparring with police administration regularly about the diversity and character of his own department. Finney said Mann helped found the National Black Police Association and was a founding officer of the department's community relations office.
He may have been most famous, though, for talking his way into a hostage standoff following a bank robbery in 1971. He managed to free a grandmother and her 18-month-old granddaughter, recover the money and the guns used in the incident. Mann got a Medal of Valor for the effort -- but not until 2009.
Mann was at various times a candidate for the school board, the city council and the state legislature. He was on the boards of neighborhood and community groups and was a respected cook, well known for the barbecue ribs he sold at the Farmer's Market and other places, friends said.
He was also a jazz aficionado, a fan of Langston Hughes and e.e. cummings. He even brought a master's degree in sociology to his work as a patrol cop.
Mann died at his home in St. Paul of congestive heart failure. He left behind six children, 20 grandchildren and 25 great-grandchildren.
Minnesota cities worried about a government shutdown
Posted at 6:00 AM on June 23, 2011
by Jessica Mador
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Crime, Livability, St. Paul
St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman joined the chorus of city officials angry over the possibility of losing state aid in the event of government shutdown. Coleman appeared with members of the League of Minnesota Cities, police and firefighters Wednesday at the state Capitol to urge the governor and the Legislature to come to an agreement on a budget to avert a shutdown.
The League filed a response to the Attorney General's petition challenging the state's authority to delay or stop local government aid payments if state government shuts down July 1. St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman said public safety represents two-thirds of St. Paul's budget. He said a government shutdown would impact public safety, although he declined to give specifics.
"There is no other way to say it than we will see dramatic, dramatic, dramatic decreases in public safety services in the city of St Paul absent that local government aid check, and it's not just true in St Paul - it's true in all of our larger cities, it's true in our medium-sized cities and it's true in our small cities."
Minnesota cities are expecting one-half of their local government aid payments on July 20. If DFL governor Mark Dayton and Republican legislative leaders can't agree on a new budget, state government could shut down July 1.
A flurry of Twin Cities mortgage fraud prosecutions
Posted at 2:28 PM on June 22, 2011
by Dan Olson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Crime, Housing, Minneapolis, St. Paul
The enforcers are turning up the heat on mortgage foreclosure scammers.
The latest is the announcement by the feds, the state and Hennepin County charging four people.
Minnesota Department of Commerce Commissioner Mike Rothman is flanked by Barry McLaughlin, on the left, a HUD special investigative agent, and Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman on the right.
They laid out for reporters Tuesday their allegations that a Hudson, Wisconsin couple and a couple of Twin Cities guys went to some unusual lengths to steal mortgage money.
The charge is that the four made a batch of bogus documents including college transcripts, employment records, even a divorce decree signed by an honest-to-goodness Twin Cities judge whose John Hancock, the investigators allege, was forged.
There's much more.
The four allegedly recruited people to pose as buyers of 65 foreclosed Twin Cities homes, then the alleged scammers used the fake documents to win federally-insured FHA mortgages.
And walked away with cash from mortgages totaling $10 million.
They face racketeering charges because they conspired with each other.
That's a heavy wrap if convicted - up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine per person.
That's not all.
The Commerce Department will chase the four in civil action to revoke their various licenses to ever do business again in Minnesota, and will also seek some money.
Authorities say this is the latest wrinkle in the frantic mess caused by the financial crisis, the mortgage meltdown, the foreclosure crisis - you choose the term.
This comes on the heals of a batch of other developments.
Two fraudsters were convicted last week of racketeering in a big Hennepin County mortgage fraud scheme involving 133 homes and about $20 million in losses to lenders (Yes, I know, the idea of banks losing money doesn't generate a lot of sympathy given their profits. Just bear in mind, those losses likely end up somehow costing bank stockholders...who are very likely people including you and me whose retirement or pension fund portfolios include bank stocks).
This week at the federal level, the enforcers who went after J.P. Morgan Chase and RBS for misstating the risk of investments based on mortgages had a partial victory. J.P. Morgan Chase threw in the towel for its part, and is coughing up more than $150 million to settle.
The Cities readers no doubt have much more financial savvy than yours truly and realize that while $150 million sounds like a lot, it is literally a single digit percent of that company's net worth.
Ok, this has gone on way too long.
The point, and I do have one, is there's still lots of action out there among enforcers to try to bring a measure of justice to those who may have accrued ill-gotten gains from the financial crisis.
Sadly, to some, the enforcers are not at the moment snaring many big fish at the national level on criminal charges. Mostly fines.
Free legal clinic for veterans coming to Minneapolis VA Medical Center
Posted at 1:49 PM on May 26, 2011
by Jessica Mador
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Courts, Crime, Housing, Veterans
Veterans of any war who need legal assistance or advice are invited to a free clinic at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center. The event is part of a series of similar clinics organized by the Minnesota Justice Foundation in partnership with
Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans.
Veterans can speak with attorneys, law students, veterans service officers, child support officers, and VA Mental Health Homeless Program intake folks and get help with questions, legal forms, and counsel in the areas of child support, family, employment and Social Security law.
Tuesday, June 14 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
VA Medical CenterFlag Atrium Balcony Room 2B 114 (ask information desk for directions)
1 Veterans Drive, Minneapolis
FREE Parking at the VA Medical Center
For more information, contact Nathaniel Saltz at MACV: 612-726-1327 or nsaltz@mac-v.org.
A quieter spring in north Minneapolis ... shhhhh
Posted at 11:05 AM on April 29, 2011
by Brandt Williams
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Crime, Minneapolis
Looking at the latest available crime statistics for Minneapolis the other day, I saw something interesting. So far, there have been no homicides in the area of the city people know as north Minneapolis - the neighborhoods north and west of downtown. This area is also known as the Fourth police precinct.
One killing was committed on Linden Ave located just north of downtown. So technically, that is a northside homicide.
But in the Fourth Precinct, there have not only been no killings, but also a 30 percent drop in the number of aggravated assaults from this time last year. Aggravated assaults include shootings and stabbings.
There are have been seven homicides in the city so far this year - fewer than half as many at this time last year. Most have been committed in the Third Precinct, an area south of downtown. Last year at this time, there were eight homicides on the northside.
But don't expect Minneapolis police to crow about the statistic. Back in 2009, when the city saw an extremely low number of homicides, 19, a member of the command staff told me a fair amount of luck helped produce the number. He also told me that he didn't want to "jinx it" by saying too much. Sure enough, 2010 got off to a bloody start.
More foreclosure fighting muscle for Minnesota?
Posted at 10:24 AM on April 28, 2011
by Dan Olson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Crime, Housing
Days turn to weeks, then into months and even years of waiting, as people facing foreclosure try to work with their lenders for some sort of loan modification that will help them stay in their home.
Fannie Mae flew into Gopherland yesterday to say they'll apply their muscle to the process.
Minneapolis fireman injured in explosion is finalist in TV contest
Posted at 6:30 PM on April 20, 2011
by Brandt Williams
(1 Comments)
Filed under: Crime, Minneapolis
I recently found out that there's more than one Minnesota first responder nominated for the America's Most Wanted All Star contest.
According to the Minneapolis Fire Department, on July 3, 2010, firefighter Jacob LaFerriere was searching for victims in a burning house, when an explosion threw him across the room. He jumped from a third story window and broke his ankle, tore ligaments in one of his knees and suffered third and fourth degree burns on his hands. He's a finalist for the award.
Roseville police officer John Jorgenson was a semifinalist. Jorgenson is a K9 handler who responded to a triggered alarm call last year with his dog Major. According to police accounts, Major bit and held on to a suspect. The man stabbed the dog several times with a knife. The thief who stabbed Major was caught and sentenced. Major survived, but lost the use of his back legs.
There's more information about the nominees and instructions on how to cast a vote for them on the America's Most Wanted website.
For clarity's sake: Mahdi, Ahmed, Abdirahman
Posted at 3:06 PM on April 15, 2011
by Brandt Williams
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Courts, Crime, Minneapolis
Just in case listeners were confused by my conversation with Tom Crann on All Things Considered last night about the latest Mahdi Hassan Ali hearing, I present the following clarification.
Three people are central to this latest development in the deadly Seward Market shooting case. All three of these people share the last name "Ali" -- however, only two of them are related.
Mahdi Hassan Ali is accused of shooting the three men in the market.
Ahmed Abdi Ali is the other young man accused of being involved in the shooting. Here are their mug shots - Mahdi on the left and Ahmed on the right.
And Abdirahman Abdi Ali is the older brother of Ahmed.
You can read more about how they all fit into the shooting investigation here.
The other confusing part of yesterday's debrief on All Things Considered occurred because of an unfortunate editing error. I explained at one point that Mahdi Ali's lawyer said in court that Abdirahman Abdi Ali, the older brother of Ahmed, is a member of a gang called the Somali Outlaws, but that portion was edited out.
So listeners only heard Tom Crann ask me, "What do we know about the Somali Outlaws?"
Thanks to our crack production team at ATC for replacing the missing audio. The corrected version is now online.
Medicaid fraud in Minnesota (and in the Twin Cities) is lucrative
Posted at 6:00 AM on April 12, 2011
by Dan Olson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Crime
No one knows exactly how lucrative, but the estimates are eye poppers.
Minnesota Department of Human Services commissioner Lucinda Jesson says she sees estimates that anywhere from three to ten percent of the country's health care payments are fraudulent.
Apply that to Minnesota's $6.7 billion Medicaid expenditures, and you come up with a range of between $200 million to more than $600 million in taxpayer dollars siphoned off by the fraudsters.
Minneapolis attorney Neil Thompson, a pharmacist who blew the whistle on alleged Medicaid fraud while employed by Walgreens, guesses that most of the fraud is committed by otherwise legitimate businesses.
Yes, Thompson admits the Medicaid billing system is confusing. But he asserts the companies use that as cover when the government catches them with their hand in the till.
There's a state hotline people can call with tips on suspected fraud. The state gets about 300 a month, and about a fourth draw the interest of investigators.
A police academy for Somali kids
Posted at 3:15 PM on April 11, 2011
by Laura Yuen
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Crime, Minneapolis, Race
The Minneapolis Police Department is graduating its first all-Somali class from a youth citizens academy this afternoon.
It's an interesting twist, given that a lot of young people in the Cedar-Riverside area have complained about police harassment. The concerns seemed to escalate once the police added more beat officers to the neighborhood and stepped up enforcement.
The idea for the academy came from youth workers at the Brian Coyle Community Center, who sensed a need for better outreach between the kids and the cops, says Officer Jeanine Brudenell, the Somali liaison for Minneapolis police.
"The kids that are in there are really good kids,"Brudenell says. "They're all kids from the neighborhood. And some of them were very vocal kids about being harassed."
Brudenell says the students learned about the challenges of being an officer through role-playing exercises: The teens played the part of the arresting officers during a traffic stop, and the cops were the ones getting pulled over. In another exercise, the kids pretended to protect a crime scene and had to deal with trespassers.
Brudenell emailed me the photo above of Chala Ahmed, right, checking out a T3 trike used by downtown beat officers with fellow academy participant Salah Ali last week. The 12 teens who completed the program will receive credit toward their high school government graduation requirement.
Will these efforts pay off in bridging the divide between police and the Somali-American community? Will any of the young graduates become future officers?
As it now stands, there are three sworn Somali-American officers with MPD and one civilian crime-prevention specialist.
St. Paul firm closely watching Epsilon security breach
Posted at 4:04 PM on April 6, 2011
by Laura Yuen
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Crime, St. Paul
One St. Paul CEO is closely following the behemoth Internet security breach that exposed millions of email addresses belonging to customers of Target, Best Buy, Verizon, and several dozen other companies.
The hacking of the online marketing firm Epsilon has GovDelivery's Scott Burns slightly jittery, but not panicked.
"Any security breach when you're in the technology industry opens your eyes a little bit and makes you a little bit nervous," says Burns, CEO and co-founder of GovDelivery.
His company, headquartered just a few blocks from MPR in the Hamm building in downtown St. Paul, bills itself as the world's leading provider of digital channels linking governments to their citizens. Clients have included the city of St. Paul, FEMA, and even overseas entities such as the European Space Agency.
So if you've ever signed up to receive snow-emergency alerts from the city of St. Paul, then GovDelivery probably has your email address.
In fact, the company has collected millions of such records over the years, Burns says. Neither his company, nor a third-party provider that works with GovDelivery, has had a data breach, Burns says. And he feels confident in the level of expertise on his staff to protect its records from hackers.
But Burns says it's hard to say how vulnerable his company is -- because the Epsilon marketing firm hasn't said much about what caused the security lapse.
"You want to learn as much as possible, which we haven't been able to do yet on this particular incident, because they haven't been particularly forthcoming on what happened," Burns says.
Online security experts are using the Epsilon incident as a teachable moment, reminding consumers to be wary of bogus emails purporting to be retailers or banks and asking for credit-card information and other personal data.
Burns just wants to make sure the Epsilon breach doesn't discourage citizens from using text messages, social media and email to communicate with their government:
"I don't foresee any sort of major change in people's willingness to interact with their government and provide information to the government in the interest of getting better service."
What's the real versus the reported Twin Cities crime rate?
Posted at 5:00 PM on April 5, 2011
by Dan Olson
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Courts, Crime, Minneapolis
Glynn Merriewether says a lot of crime never gets reported.
Merriewether is a Hennepin County "community coach" in the juvenile justice system. The court assigns juveniles to him, and he counsels them on how to stay out of trouble.
His comments contrast with official rates of reported crime nationally and locally, which are down, and in some categories, way down.
Among juveniles in Hennepin County, for example, officials say crime in various categories is down anywhere from 20 percent to more than 50 percent.
"The stats might show that the arrests are down, but the crimes are not," Merriewether told me. "Stabbings, the muggings, the robberies, the thefts they continue. Whether they are all caught and processed and go through the system, that's a different story."
Here's a finding from a 2003 Minnesota survey:
Sixty-seven percent of 2001 crime victims did not report one or more incidents to the police, the same percent as in the 1999 crime survey.It's from this report.
But tread carefully through this and other documents like it. There are lots of qualifications and in this case, it's a voluntary survey, not a scientific study.
Still, there appears to be a large amount of unreported crime in Minnesota and across the country.
Share your experience with The Cities. Why didn't you report the crime?
Minneapolis police officer named All-Star nominee
Posted at 11:45 AM on April 5, 2011
by Brandt Williams
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Crime, Minneapolis
One of the reality-based TV shows that always freezes me on the couch is "The First 48 Hours." If you haven't seen the show, it basically follows homicide investigators as they try to solve violent killings in cities around the country. The show provides an often chilling peek into the lives of people who make a living by examining unnatural deaths.
For the last several years, the TV show that pioneered the newest generation of reality cop shows, "America's Most Wanted," has awarded police officers, firefighters and other first responders with an All-Star Award.
This year, they've nominated Sgt. Darcy Klund, a homicide investigator for the Minneapolis Police Department. Klund joined MPD in 1987 and has been involved in some high profile homicide cases, including the shooting death of 12-year-old Tyesha Edwards in 2002.
You can read more about his nomination and vote for him or one of the other nominees on the show's website.
Minneapolis police recycle 25 used shotguns
Posted at 12:52 PM on April 1, 2011
by Brandt Williams
(1 Comments)
Filed under: Crime, Minneapolis
I noticed that several people who responded to the first part of our Following the Firearms: Gun Violence in Minneapolis series focused on the fate of some of the guns in the Minneapolis Police Department's gun vault. Some lamented the fact the unclaimed guns will be destroyed.
Well, here's a story about some guns that have been saved from the smelter. The MPD was going to melt down 25 Remington 870 shotguns formerly used by their officers. The department is upgrading to new shotguns, and normally, they destroy used weapons. However, the Pine County Sheriff's Department has a use for them.
The sheriff's department offered to convert the guns to "less than lethal" status. Pine County Sheriff's chief deputy Steven Blackwell says the guns will be loaded with bean bag rounds. He says they will be used in situations such as when deputies confront someone having a mental breakdown.
The Minneapolis City Council approved the transfer today. However, the guns will first need to undergo an important transformation. Blackwell says the "less than lethal" guns will be refitted with bright orange stocks.
The department wants to make sure there isn't any confusion over what's going to come out of the shotgun's barrel if a deputy has to fire it.
Users react to 2C-E overdose case on web forums
Posted at 12:23 PM on March 22, 2011
by Elizabeth Dunbar
(4 Comments)
Filed under: Courts, Crime, Suburbs
The Blaine overdose case has been a popular discussion item on online message boards frequented by people who present themselves as drug users.
Nineteen-year-old Trevor Robinson-Davis died Thursday after inhaling 2C-E, and a fellow partygoer who allegedly supplied the drug has been charged with third-degree murder in his death.
I did some web searching while pursuing a story about the legality of 2C-E and whether there have been other criminal cases involving 2C-E. In the process, I found several online message boards where people were discussing the case.
Below are a few examples of things people are saying, with links to the message boards. Please note: I didn't have time to vet statements on the message boards for accuracy and haven't tried to interview a drug user about their experiences. But maybe one will contact me through this post.
"I need to stock up before it gets hard to find." I saw several posts predicting that because of the death, authorities would ban 2C-E. The Drug Enforcement Administration already says it's illegal under the Federal Analog Act. But it isn't on the list of controlled Schedule I or Schedule II substances, meaning it's not as easy for prosecutors to pursue cases. Sen. Amy Klobuchar has already promised to introduce legislation banning 2C-E. Shroomery.org discussion.
"I have no sympathy for any of these kids." There were a lot of angry posts on the message boards, where users can remain anonymous. People were mainly concerned that this group used 2C-E without being careful and that lawmakers would pounce on the opportunity to ban it. Zoklet.net discussion.
"There's no way you should die from it unless, you are in fact doing it like coke." According to authorities, some who overdosed in Blaine DID inhale it, including Robinson-Davis. Others ingested it. The user who posted the comment also said he/she spent two weeks researching 2C-E before ordering it. Other posts expressed surprise by the death reportedly caused by 2C-E and speculated about the possibility that the group mixed 2C-E with another drug, resulting in extreme effects. Shroomery.org discussion.
"I'm wondering ... if there is a tainted or mislabeled batch going around." Some users wondered if this was the issue and expressed fear about the incident. Authorities said the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension tested the drug to be 2C-E. Bluelight.ru discussion.
Got any thoughts on this reaction?
How I got my gun
Posted at 7:00 PM on March 21, 2011
by Brandt Williams
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Crime, Minneapolis
Sometimes things don't work out they way you planned them. So you change your plan. And then sometimes, that's when the original plan magically comes to fruition.
Case in point: The original focus of the MPR News investigation "Following the Firearms: Gun Violence in Minneapolis," which launches Tuesday on Morning Edition and online here.
My goal was to find a gun homicide case and trace the firearm back to where it came from and then follow it forward to the crime scene. I was hoping we would find some ATF tracing data buried in a court file that would lead us perhaps to some pawn shop in a southern city. I'd planned on traveling to the city and shop where the gun was purchased to interview the shop keeper or better yet, find the original owner of the gun.
But it didn't work out that way. In fact, I never saw an ATF tracing document throughout the entire investigation. The project morphed into a broader examination of gun crime. I started combing through complaints, indictments and whatever court documents I could find in an attempt to explain to listeners who committed gun violence last year in Minneapolis and where they got their guns.
The project also profiles a family devastated by gun violence and we look at how gun trace data has become the center of a political fight.
But after the original plan changed, something happened. I stumbled upon some leads that led me back to the homicide case and gun I started looking for four months ago.
And as it turns out, this particular case illustrates exactly how dangerous ill-gotten guns can be in the wrong hands.
Tune in Tuesday on the radio or online for more details.
He hurts her. Why does she stay?
Posted at 1:04 PM on March 3, 2011
by Sasha Aslanian
(1 Comments)
Filed under: Crime
It's natural to wonder why a victim goes back to an abuser.
Bree Adams Bill hates that question.
"You're asking the wrong question," said the domestic violence advocate. "The right question is, 'Why does he keep abusing her?', not 'Why doesn't she leave?"
Adams Bill says there can be all kinds of reasons for staying. One of the biggest might be: it's too dangerous to leave.
"There's a 75% increase she's going to be physically assaulted," explained Adams Bill,
"Because in a battering relationship, it's all about power and control. If he feels he's losing her, he'll escalate. He'll use extreme physical and sexual violence to regain control. She knows this."
Adams Bill said she approaches victims -- those who welcome her help and those who don't -- without prescribing what they should do.
"My biggest thing when I'm speaking with a woman is 'I'm never going to judge you ever. I don't have any expections," said Adams Bill. "All I want you to know is that I'm here. 24 hours a day. There's help when and if you ever need it."
This story profiled the house calls Adams Bill makes with St. Paul Police officer Mike Dollarschell to victims of domestic violence the morning after a violent incident.
Adams Bill said a woman may have a plan to leave. Maybe she's waiting for a child to get into school, or lining up a job or place to stay. "We need to trust this. Maybe she has a plan."
And perhaps what's most difficult for outsiders to understand is, "Women stay because they love these people, they have children with them, and hopes, and dreams. It's hard for people to get that. These are their partners."
Right before our series aired, Adams Bill sent this note:
"If any of your listeners/readers ask what they can do, please consider sharing with them that they can donate and solicit cell phones to be used as 911 cell phones for victims of domestic violence. If they'd like to donate, they can contact Bridges to Safety 651-266-2201. Just a thought."
Did Brooklyn Center business owner work 42 hours a day?
Posted at 3:36 PM on February 24, 2011
by Dan Olson
(1 Comments)
Filed under: Courts, Crime
That was the red flag for Minnesota Department of Human service investigators.
They become interested in Medicaid claims for working 42 hours.
In a 24 hour day.
Anita and Stephen Soledolu allegedly submitted fraudulent Medicaid claims while operating a Twin Cities home health care business.
They face six criminal counts filed by the Minnesota attorney general. They're charged with defrauding Medicaid - paid for by taxpayers - of nearly a million dollars from 2006 to 2007 by filing false claims including inflated hours and claims they cared for people who weren't home at the time.
Medicaid and Medicare fraud enforcement has been pushed way up on the federal and state agenda. The estimate last year was about $60 billion of fraudulent claims in a system that paid out about $500 billion last year.
St. Paul officer to receive medal for risking life during shooting investigation
Posted at 10:41 AM on February 17, 2011
by Elizabeth Dunbar
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Crime, St. Paul
St. Paul police officer David Longbehn will receive a Medal of Valor at a ceremony this evening.
Longbehn shot and killed the man who killed Maplewood Police Sgt. Joseph Bergeron during an incident May 1. Longbehn struggled with Jason John Jones, who hit Longbehn in the face, breaking his nose and eye sockets.
St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, Police Chief Thomas Smith, Maplewood Police Chief David Thomalla and St. Paul Police Federation President David Titus will all be at tonight's ceremony at the Saint Paul RiverCentre.
The Medal of Valor is the police department's highest honor.
Here's what the department had to say about Longbehn's efforts:
Officer Longbehn was among scores of law enforcement officers who rushed to the scene to help track down the suspects responsible for murdering Maplewood Sergeant Joseph Bergeron on May 1, 2010. After Officer Longbehn confronted one of the suspects and asked for identification, the man attacked him, hitting him in the face with a heavy metal object wrapped in cloth. Although seriously injured and in a struggle over his own gun, Officer Longbehn did not panic. When a small space opened between the two men, Officer Longbehn fired his weapon striking the suspect and ending the attack.
Minneapolis lists problem landlords online
Posted at 7:00 AM on February 17, 2011
by Jessica Mador
(0 Comments)
Filed under: Crime, Housing, Livability, Minneapolis
The city of Minneapolis has launched a new website aimed at protecting residents from irresponsible landlords.
The new site posts the names of owners who've had properties condemned or demolished, or had their rental licenses revoked. The site is part of an ongoing campaign of stepped up enforcement aimed at cracking down on problem landlords.
Henry Reimer from the city of Minneapolis says poorly maintained rentals affect the livability of the entire community. He says they hurt property values.
Properties that are not well-maintained - that tends to set a standard that drags down the rest of the neighborhood in terms of maintenance.
Since 2005 the city revoked about 200 rental licenses - that's compared to just 11 revocations in the five years prior. City officials say the number of violations for irresponsible landlords skyrocketed during the housing crisis of the last decade. They say there has also been an increase in the number of single family rental conversions.
Mpls. woman who tried to mail puppy wants it back
Posted at 11:32 AM on February 3, 2011
by Elizabeth Dunbar
(12 Comments)
Filed under: Crime, Minneapolis
Stacey Champion has been charged with animal cruelty for trying to mail a puppy from Minneapolis to Georgia last week. But now she wants the dog back.
Sgt. Angela Dodge of the Minneapolis Police Department says Champion appealed the animal cruelty citation and will likely have a hearing Friday or Monday. The hearing will determine whether she can keep the puppy or if it will go up for adoption.
If she loses the appeal, there will likely be a long list of potential new homes for the dog, Dodge said. As has been the case with other celebrity animals, the calls are already coming into the Minneapolis 311 phone line asking if the puppy, named Guess, is available for adoption.
In cases like this, Dodge said, people line up the day of the adoption and animal shelter staff take down everyone's information.
"We draw names. It's that simple," Dodge said. "Whoever wins, wins."
Clerks became suspicious of the package Champion dropped off last week. They called postal inspectors, who opened the box and found the puppy.
The puppy's story is showing up on news websites across the country after the Star Tribune and several Twin Cities TV stations reported on it earlier this week.
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