A human bone found in Battle Creek Regional Park in St. Paul in March appears to be decades old, and the Ramsey County medical examiner’s office does not consider it a suspicious death, the chief investigator said Monday.

A man and his teenage son were walking on a dirt path when they found the bone out in the open, not far from a parking lot on Point Douglas Road, on March 25. Police did not find anything else in the area.

The medical examiner’s office sent the bone for an examination and an anthropologist said it’s considered to be “ancient,” meaning it is from someone who died at least 30 years ago, said Lori Hedican, the office’s chief investigator. The fragment was about 6 by 8 inches and from the upper, right part of the skull. It showed no signs of trauma, Hedican said.

Who the bone belonged to and where the person died remains a mystery.

More often than not, bones that are found and turned in to the Ramsey County medical examiner’s office end up not being human, Hedican said. In the past few years, two bones that the medical examiner’s office determined to be human turned out to be American Indian remains, Hedican has said.

Indian Mounds Park is near Battle Creek Park, but the bone found in March appears to be from a person of European descent; it was most likely a man who was at least 40 years old, Hedican said.

There was nothing else discovered at the location in the park to indicate a death had occurred under suspicious circumstances, Hedican said. The medical examiner’s office will keep the bone, in the event that anything else is found and determined to be related, she said.

The Mendota Heights City Council on Tuesday will consider firing the city’s most senior police officer — a move that follows an internal investigation sparked by a complaint from the city’s police chief.

Police Chief Mike Aschenbrener and City Administrator Mark McNeil said Monday they could not discuss the complaint lodged against Sgt. Bobby Lambert because Lambert has filed a grievance over the recommended firing.

“My hands are tied,” Aschenbrener said. “Until it’s final, I can’t comment.”

Lambert was put on paid administrative leave in March, pending the outcome of the investigation.

On Monday, Lambert said the complaint involves mistakes he made while investigating a January 2016 drug-overdose death. He said he was asked to resign on April 22 but refused.

“I wasn’t going to resign because I knew the mistake I made that night wasn’t fireable, especially since I had a clean record,” he said.

Lambert said he believes the complaint — as well as two unrelated internal affairs investigations about him that began in 2015 and are still open — are retaliation by Aschenbrener for Lambert’s role in pushing for a 2012 inquiry into accusations of wrongdoing by a fellow officer, claiming that the chief turned a blind eye.

“It’s been going on for a long time,” said Lambert, 43. “They finally came up with something they believe is something worthy of terminating me, I guess.”

Lambert was hired by the city as an officer on June 25, 1996, and promoted to sergeant on June 13, 2015.

Aschenbrener, the city’s police chief since 2003, said Monday he was surprised to hear Lambert is alleging retaliation.

“It’s all part of the deal, I guess,” Aschenbrener said. “I didn’t know that was where they were going, but if it’s part of what he’s claiming, I can’t comment on it.”

PICNIC TABLE INCIDENT

In 2012, Lambert and officers Scott Patrick and John Larrive drafted a union letter representing Mendota Heights police that prompted the city to investigate whether Sgt. Eric Petersen took a picnic table from the former Lilydale Tennis and Health Club in 2008 for a barbecue at City Hall.

The investigation, handled by the Carver County attorney’s office, showed no evidence of criminal intent.

It did lead to a lawsuit filed against the city by Patrick, who accused Aschenbrener and others of harassment and workplace retaliation.

Patrick, who sought damages in excess of $75,000, alleged violations of the Minnesota Whistleblower Act and Peace Officer Discipline Procedures Act in a civil lawsuit filed Feb. 28, 2014, a little more than five months before he was shot and killed during a traffic stop.

In September 2015, Patrick’s widow and the city reached a settlement. On behalf of the city, the League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust paid $50,000 — $28,786.40 to Michelle Patrick and $21,213.60 to her attorneys. Under the contract between the city and Lambert’s union — the Minnesota Public Employees Association — Lambert is still in his probationary period as a sergeant and “may be terminated at the sole discretion of the employer,” a memo to the council from the police chief and city administrator reads.

Tuesday’s council item is listed under the consent agenda, which usually is for routine matters.

Lambert said he will not only attend the meeting and read a statement in his defense, he plans to file a civil suit against the city.

“It’s a battle,” he said. “It’s going to be a process. It’s only just begun, and we’ll see it through.”

Lambert appears to have some supporters. An online petition on change.org asks residents to attend Tuesday’s 7 p.m. meeting and urge the council to reconsider Lambert’s firing and instead remove Aschenbrener from his post. As of early Monday evening, 76 had signed the petition.

Aschenbrener noted how the council discussed the complaint in April in a meeting closed to the public and that firing someone is not something they take lightly.

“I think when all of this finally does become public information you’ll totally understand why,” he said of the recommended firing. “There are always two sides to every story. This is not something that anyone would ever willy-nilly choose to do.”

FERGUS FALLS, Minn. — A 28-year-old man accused of fatally shooting his father in Fergus Falls has been ordered to have a psychiatric exam.

Dustin Defiel is charged with second-degree murder in the death of 56-year-old Rick Defiel. He’s being held in the Otter Tail County Jail on $1 million bond. Defiel refused to speak in court and appeared without an attorney.

A criminal complaint says family members had feared for their safety and had limited contact with Defiel in recent years. The complaint says Defiel went to his parents’ home Wednesday night and shot his father in the back and head.

Authorities say a young woman who died after being found in a park in central Minnesota last week had been shot.

On Monday night, the Hennepin County medical examiner’s office said Cheyenne Lee Clough, 19, of Buffalo suffered multiple gunshot wounds. Her death was classified as a homicide.

On Wednesday, Clough was found unresponsive in Crow Springs County Park in rural Wright County. She died Saturday at North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale.

According to the Wright County sheriff’s office, three people were arrested Sunday in connection with the incident.

Justin Jensen, 28, of Maple Lake and Natasha Brandenburger, 33, of Maple Lake were arrested in Koochiching County, on the Minnesota/Canada border. Edward Zelko, 26, of Buffalo was arrested near Staples, Minn.

On Monday, authorities said three more people had been arrested.

No charges have been filed so far.

A gofundme.com page has been established to help support Clough’s 3-year-old son.

A St. Paul man faces attempted second-degree murder and assault charges in connection with a shooting that injured two men outside the Arcade-Phalen American Legion in April.

Jaquel Laray Crutchfield, 22, shot a 16-year-old boy and a 40-year-old man who were part of a crowd outside the American Legion on April 30, according to the criminal complaint filed Monday in Ramsey County District Court.  A birthday party was taking place at the time and a crowd was drawn outside after a fight spilled into the parking lot at 1129 Arcade St., according to the complaint.

Both victims were hit in the leg and taken to Regions Hospital, according to the complaint. The 16-year-old told police he didn’t think he was the intended target and didn’t immediately realize he had been wounded. The 40-year-old had lost a significant amount of blood and needed surgery to repair his femur.

The Ramsey County attorney’s office says that the investigation is ongoing and it is uncertain who Crutchfield was shooting at.

Crutchfield told police he and a man who was with him at the time of shooting were both Selby Side gang members. Some people in the crowd outside the American Legion belonged to the East Side gang, the complaint says.

Crutchfield has two prior felony convictions for reckless discharge of a firearm and burglary in the third-degree. He also has a juvenile adjudication for aggravated robbery in the first degree, which bars him from possessing a firearm, according to the complaint.

Minnesota Landscape Arboretum officials are investigating after a rare Showy Lady’s Slipper orchid disappeared over the weekend.

The endangered wildflower variety has been protected under Minnesota law since 1925, according to the arboretum. It is also Minnesota’s state flower. The plant, last seen Saturday, was growing along the center’s Green Heron Trail.

“Please be aware of people around you when visiting the Arboretum … especially near rare or endangered plants. The Arboretum is here for the enjoyment of all visitors. Let’s all keep it as pristine as possible,” Peter C. Moe, the arboretum’s interim director, wrote in a Facebook post.

The arboretum, located in Chanhassen and operated by the University of Minnesota, features more than 1,100 acres of garden and tree collections. It is illegal for visitors to pick flowers from the gardens or uproot plants on the grounds.

“We ask everyone to be vigilant and disciplined to not touch the plants and certainly not snap them off and take them,” said Susie Hopper, arboretum spokeswoman.

POSSIBLE VANDALISM?

There were only two Showy Lady’s Slipper flowers in what Hopper describes as an isolated area at the arboretum along the Green Heron Trail. Now there is one.

Hopper speculates that it was an act of vandalism. A landscaper found the metal hoop that protects the Showy Lady’s Slipper knocked down.

“That’s a different scenario than someone lifting a plant,” Hopper said. “This looks more like an act of vandalism, less like a rare orchard caper.”

One landscaper noted a group of children running around the site over the weekend, an unusual sight in the normally serene area.

VISITORS OUTRAGED

After reading the responses to posts about the missing plant by fans of the arboretum on its social media pages, Hopper said they are “outraged.”

“Sickening,” one commenter wrote in a Facebook post.

“Plain STEALING,” wrote another.

The orchid has one or sometimes two blossoms on a single stem, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. The flower’s white petals sit on top of a white pouch (slipper) that is streaked with pink.

The plant, which flowers from early June to mid-July, may live to be at least 100 years old, according to the DNR. It grows in wet climates such as bogs and swamps or in cool, damp woods.

The DNR also notes that some people can get a rash from touching the lady slipper’s leaves.

Anyone with information about the missing plant is asked to call the arboretum at 952-443-1400.

HURLEY, Wis. — A northern Wisconsin man is charged with killing a bartender and burning down the tavern to make it look like she died in the fire.

Forty-four-year-old Donald Rick of Saxon faces charges including first-degree intentional homicide, armed burglary, arson and mutilating a corpse.

According to the complaint, Rick told investigators he stabbed 52-year-old Lisa Waldros while burglarizing the Bear Trap Inn in Saxon in March.

KBJR-TV reports the complaint says Rick was trying to regain money he’d lost gambling.

Authorities allege Rick entered the Bear Trap after closing and ordered Waldros at knifepoint to open her purse. The bag contained $194. The complaint says there was a struggle and Rick stabbed Waldros in the throat.

Rick then allegedly got a gasoline container from his truck and set the bar on fire.

An employee of Regions Hospital died Tuesday afternoon after being struck by a vehicle while crossing the street near a HealthPartners clinic on St. Paul’s East Side.

The woman was struck about 4:15 p.m. as she crossed Cayuga Street at Arkwright Street, according to St. Paul police spokesman Steve Linders. The woman was crossing toward HealthPartners Specialty Care when a minivan traveling the same direction on Arkwright turned left onto Cayuga and struck her in the crosswalk.

Police and HealthPartners employees rendered first aid, but the woman was declared dead at the scene by St. Paul paramedics, Linders said.

The man driving the minivan stopped and was cooperating with investigators. He showed no signs of impairment, Linders said. Preliminary indications are that the woman had the right of way at the crossing, which is controlled by traffic signals.

In a statement, HealthPartners said the woman worked at Regions Hospital, which the Bloomington-based health care provider operates. The hospital is less than a mile from the clinic.

The statement said grief counselors would be assisting the woman’s colleagues.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to our colleague’s family and loved ones,” HealthPartners said.

There have been at least 65 vehicle-pedestrian crashes this year in St. Paul, and the woman killed Tuesday was the third fatality.

St. Paul police are in the midst of a “Stop for Me” public awareness campaign to remind drivers that they must stop for pedestrians who indicate their intention to cross at any corner. Volunteer pedestrians will be crossing Wednesday afternoon at Johnson Parkway and Ames Avenue under the watchful eye of police in marked and unmarked vehicles. Drivers who fail to yield will be ticketed.

The Payne-Phalen Transportation Committee has scheduled a community forum to discuss pedestrian safety on nearby Maryland Avenue in light of another recent incident. The forum will take place from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, June 9, at the Arlington Hills Community Center, 1200 Payne Ave.

Erin Elizabeth Durham, 34, was hit by a car May 23 while crossing Maryland Avenue at Greenbrier Street, about a mile and a half from the scene of Tuesday’s crash. She died five days later.

Shelby Kokesch, 24, was struck and killed March 15 while crossing Kellogg Bouelvard at Mulberry Street with her mother.

Police continue to investigate the previous incidents.

The director of the FBI said Tuesday that the Islamic State group is currently the main threat facing the United States, both in its efforts to recruit fighters to join its members overseas and to have others carry out violence in America.

Director James Comey said Islamic State poses a third potential threat: a “terrorist diaspora” that he said will eventually flow out of Syria and Iraq and end up in Western Europe, where members will have easy access to the U.S.

“There’s three prongs to this ISIL threat,” Comey said, referring to the group by one of its acronyms. “The recruitment to travel, the recruitment to violence in place, and then what you saw a preview of in Brussels and in Paris — hardened fighters coming out, looking to kill people.”

He said officials are “laser-focused on that.”

Comey took questions from reporters Tuesday in the FBI’s Minneapolis office in Brooklyn Center as part of a two-day visit to the region that included meetings with community leaders and local law enforcement. Comey responded to questions about the heroin epidemic, shootings involving officers and surveillance issues, but the bulk of his comments were about the Islamic State group.

Last week, three Minneapolis men who were accused of plotting to join the IS group were convicted of conspiring to commit murder overseas — which carries a potential life sentence — as well as conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and other charges.

The defendants — Guled Ali Omar, 21; Abdirahman Yasin Daud, 22; and Mohamed Abdihamid Farah, 22 — were among a group of friends who prosecutors say recruited and inspired each other to travel to Syria. A total of 10 men were charged in the conspiracy; six pleaded guilty and a seventh is at large, believed to be fighting in Syria.

Comey said the FBI is continuing to focus on Islamic State, and there are close to 1,000 open cases nationwide involving people at various stages of recruitment. He said the group’s slick videos and propaganda can resonate with people of all ages, but seem to draw in people under 30 who are “unmoored” in some way.

He said he hopes the FBI’s work, including the convictions in Minneapolis, will send a message that “there will be severe consequences for people who go down that path.”

Comey added that the number of active IS-related cases hasn’t decreased, but the number of people seeking to travel to Syria has dropped since the end of last summer — going from about six to 10 attempted travelers each month to about one or two.

He said he can’t pinpoint the reasons for the trend, but it’s possible people are traveling to other Islamic State outposts, have been deterred by the outcomes of other criminal cases, or have been stopped by families and community members.

Another — and more disturbing — possibility is that some are staying in the U.S. and looking to carry out violence here, Comey said.

“It’s good news the traveler numbers have come down,” he said. “I don’t know exactly what to make of it yet.”

Comey was in Williston, N.D., on Monday to open a new FBI office that will focus on crime in the Bakken region, which has spiked with the oil boom. The FBI’s Minneapolis division covers Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota.

A Waseca, Minn., man with seven drunken driving convictions has been charged with driving drunk again, this time with two young children in the car.

William Boyd Fuller, 50, was charged Monday with two gross misdemeanor DWI charges as well as gross misdemeanor driving after license cancellation, according to a criminal complaint filed in Blue Earth County District Court.

Fuller’s vehicle was found in a ditch on 206th Street in LeRay Township about two miles south of Eagle Lake around 6:20 p.m. Saturday after someone called 911 to alert authorities, expressing concern after seeing the children, the complaint said. A woman and two children younger than 8 were also in the vehicle. Fuller had attempted to get the vehicle out of the ditch before authorities arrived, the complaint said.

A Blue Earth County sheriff’s deputy reported smelling an “overwhelming, strong and distinct odor” of alcohol coming from the squad car where Fuller was taken. His eyes were bloodshot and watery with reddening and he had slurred speech, the complaint said.

Fuller was also stumbling and swaying as he walked. He declined to complete field sobriety tests and was transported to the Blue Earth County jail, where he agreed to submit to a breath test. His blood alcohol content was 0.22, which is nearly three times the legal driving limit.

Fuller’s license was canceled at the time of the incident after he was deemed a threat to public safety. His DWI convictions date back to 1985 with the most recent from an incident on Dec. 27, 2014.

More recently, he was sentenced in December after a conviction on interfering with a 911 call in a domestic assault case in Waseca County. Jail time was stayed but conditions of probation imposed by the court included no alcohol or controlled substance use, no possession of alcohol or drugs and no entrance in bars or liquor stores.

Fuller was released from jail Monday and is to appear in court June 16.

Setting aside the advice of two dozen speakers and the loud support of more than 100 community members, the Mendota Heights City Council terminated the city’s most senior police officer Tuesday night following an internal investigation.

Sgt. Bobby Lambert was put on paid administrative leave in March and was officially terminated Tuesday night despite an hour of impassioned pleas and endorsements from neighbors, business people and fellow police officers. The overflow crowd applauded loudly when Lambert spoke and when others stepped forward to say that Lambert should stay and police Chief Mike Aschenbrener should be fired instead.

Lambert and others at the meeting said his firing was retaliation by Aschenbrener for Lambert’s role in pushing a 2012 inquiry into alleged wrongdoing by a fellow officer. Retired Sgt. Neil Garlock said he was no longer proud to be associated with the Mendota Heights Police Department, calling it a joke and a circus and blaming Aschenbrener for what he called a witch hunt.

“Bobby’s ultimatum was resign or be fired,” Garlock said. “I say the same to the chief of police.”

Lambert and fellow officers Scott Patrick and John Larrive had drafted a letter on behalf of the police union that prompted the city to investigate questionable use of city property by Sgt. Eric Petersen going back to 2008. The investigation, handled by the Carver County attorney’s office, showed no evidence of criminal intent, but it did lead to a lawsuit by Patrick, who accused Aschenbrener and others of harassment and workplace retaliation.

Patrick was killed two years ago in the line of duty, but his widow reached a settlement with the city last year and new policies are being put into place to curtail misuse of city property. Michelle Patrick wrote a letter in Lambert’s support that was read Tuesday by a family member.

“I hope you make the right decision and realize where the problem really is,” the letter said.

Mayor Sandra Krebsbach thanked the audience for their polite, if lively, testimony. Council member Ultan Duggan moved that the council not terminate Lambert, acknowledging the crowd’s sentiments and leaving open the possibility of demotion, but failed to get a second.

Council member Steve Norton then moved that Lambert be terminated, telling the audience there was more to the situation than they knew and than council members could disclose. Lambert’s termination was approved 4-1, sparking loud dissent and chants of “Bobby! Bobby! Bobby!” from the otherwise orderly crowd.

Lambert, 43, has said the complaint involved mistakes he made while investigating a January 2016 drug-overdose death. He said he was asked to resign on April 22 but refused.

Lambert was hired by the city as an officer on June 25, 1996, and promoted to sergeant on June 13, 2015.

Under the contract between the city and Lambert’s union — the Minnesota Public Employees Association — Lambert is still in his probationary period as a sergeant and “may be terminated at the sole discretion of the employer,” a memo to the council from the police chief and city administrator reads.

Lambert said he plans to file a civil suit against the city. An online petition urging the council not to fire Lambert had collected about 400 signatures a few hours before the Tuesday meeting.

Aschenbrener, the city’s police chief since 2003, said Monday the council had discussed the complaint at a closed meeting in April, and firing someone is not something they take lightly.

“I think when all of this finally does become public information you’ll totally understand why,” he said Monday of the recommended firing. “There are always two sides to every story. This is not something that anyone would ever willy-nilly choose to do.”

BEMIDJI, Minn. — A Bemidji man is in custody after police discovered the body of a 2-year-old girl Sunday.

Nathan Daniel Jackson, 38, was arrested after police responded to a report of a child not breathing at a residence in the 700 block Lake Avenue Southeast at about 12:16 p.m.

When officers and emergency responders arrived at the residence they found the child’s body. During the initial investigation and execution of a search warrant Jackson was arrested, according to the Bemidji Police Department.

Jackson is being held in the Beltrami County jail and could face charges of second-degree murder without intent and second-degree manslaughter.

The child’s body was sent to the Ramsey County medical examiner’s office for an autopsy.

The case remains under investigation and formal charges are pending.

MILWAUKEE — A proposed plea deal was delayed Wednesday for a former suburban Milwaukee police officer charged with ditching the bodies of two women he’s accused of killing in suitcases along a rural Wisconsin highway.

The Wisconsin case against Steven Zelich had been expected to wrap up Wednesday when he was to enter a plea and be sentenced on two counts of hiding a corpse in Walworth County. Zelich, 54, has already been sentenced in nearby Kenosha County to 35 years in prison in the 2012 death of Jenny Gamez, 19, of Cottage Grove, Ore.

Authorities are hoping to extradite Zelich to Minnesota, where he’s charged in the death of the other victim. But Judge David Reddy said he was concerned that things were happening too quickly after the initial plea agreement was changed just before the hearing, The Janesville Gazette reported.

“I’m not willing to proceed to sentencing,” Reddy said.

Zelich’s attorney, Jonathan Smith, agreed to set the case for trial to have more time to talk to his client. The jury trial is set for Oct. 3.

The former West Allis officer was initially expected to plead guilty to one of the two counts of hiding a corpse, with the other count dismissed, according to Walworth County District Attorney Daniel Necci. The prosecution and defense had agreed to recommend a 10-year prison sentence, Necci said.

The new recommendation was to have Zelich plead guilty to both felony counts but have the same sentencing recommendation, Smith said. Zelich agreed to the new recommendation just minutes before the hearing, but the judge questioned why there was no additional prison time.

Necci said the goal was to wrap up the Walworth County case and get Zelich to Minnesota.

“One of many factors that came into coming to this joint recommendation was trying to get the closure for these victims as close as possible,” Necci said after court. “This has been going on a long time.”

Details of the Gamez case are similar to accusations Zelich faces in the death of Laura Jean Simonson, who was killed in Rochester, Minn., in 2013. Authorities say he met both women online, choked them with ropes during sexual encounters at hotels and hid their bodies in suitcases, which were found by highway workers mowing the grass in 2014.

Zelich is charged in Olmsted County, Minn., with first-degree murder, second-degree murder with intent and second-degree murder while committing a felony in Simonson’s death.

Olmsted County Attorney Mark Ostrem said Wednesday that authorities have been waiting for prosecutors to wrap up their case in Wisconsin before Zelich can be extradited to Minnesota. Ostrem said that process will begin as soon as Zelich is remanded to the Wisconsin Department of Corrections.

Zelich told investigators the deaths of both women were accidental. A criminal complaint says Zelich invited Gamez to Wisconsin and they spent several days at a hotel in Kenosha in 2012. He told investigators that after he choked her during sex, he put her body in a suitcase and took it to his apartment and then put the body in his refrigerator.

A criminal complaint filed in Olmsted County said Zelich had been talking online with Simonson, 37, prior to her disappearance in November 2013. The online conservations indicated Zelich would collect Simonson near her mother’s home in Farmington on Nov. 2. According to the complaint, the two drove to the Microtel in Rochester. Surveillance video captured Zelich checking out alone on Nov. 3.

Authorities said after Zelich strangled Simonson with a rope, he took her body home with him in a suitcase and put the remains of both women in the trunk of his car until a co-worker complained about the stench. Zelich told investigators he then drove around looking for a place to dump the suitcases, prosecutors said.

Zelich worked for the West Allis Police Department from February 1989 until his resignation in August 2001.

SUPERIOR, Wis. — A 19-year veteran of the Superior Police Department is facing termination for repeated violations of department general orders and operating procedures, and conduct unbecoming an officer, according to charges filed with the city’s Police and Fire Commission.

Master Officer Lynn Ristau is accused of professional incompetence and willful neglect of duty.

“Officer Ristau has shown a propensity to avoid volatile situations — exactly the type of situations that require immediate and decisive participation by law enforcement,” the charges filed by Superior Police Chief Nicholas Alexander state.

More-recent incidents include her allegedly responding to a vandalism call rather than a domestic call involving a weapon, despite being in close proximity to the more dangerous call, and allegedly allowing a subject of a traffic stop to leave her area of control; the subject was wanted on a warrant, and fellow officers were unable to locate him.

Channy Kek, the pedestrian killed in St. Paul Tuesday, was a Regions Hospital health care interpreter for more than 35 years who dedicated her life to helping others.

When a minivan struck the 55-year-old Eagan woman, she had the right-of-way and was in a Payne-Phalen area crosswalk, according to police. Kek was crossing from 401 Phalen Blvd., HealthPartners Specialty Center, to another building of the center at 435 Phalen Blvd., according to a Regions Hospital spokesman.

“We lost a good person that loved people,” said Bona Phan, 48, who knew Kek since he was a teenager. “She had a good heart and she loved everybody.”

Kek was a mother to three, according to Phan. When she immigrated from Cambodia, she only spoke two words of English — “yes” and “no” — and she remembered her roots when she worked as an interpreter, she told the Pioneer Press in a 1988 article.

“I know how difficult it is trying to get health care if you don’t speak English, because I’ve been through it myself,” the then-27-year-old Kek said. Kek explained in the article that she took extra pains when she started work as an interpreter to ask the doctors detailed questions about medical procedures so she could explain them to the patients.

Though Kek was a Regions employee, she went to any HealthPartners offices where her interpreting services were needed. Kek also was licensed as a nurse from 1987 to 1999, according to the Minnesota Board of Nursing.

Kek had been living in her Eagan home for years when Phan moved to a house behind hers in 1997, he said. Phan knew Kek since he came to the United States in 1983.

He remembered her as an outgoing woman who enjoyed helping at the Cambodian New Year and at celebrations at the Cambodian Buddhist temple in Hampton.

“She was really able to bring people together,” Phan said.

On Tuesday, when Phan’s wife told him what happened to Kek, he could not believe the news. “I feel very devastated,” he said Wednesday.

Police continue to investigate the crash, which occurred Tuesday at 4:15 p.m. Said Ali Mohamed turned left onto Cayuga Street at Arkwright Street and collided with Kek in the crosswalk, according to police.

Mohamed stopped and was cooperating with investigators. The 41-year-old St. Paul man showed no signs of impairment, police said.

Regions Hospital said in a statement Wednesday that they were grieving “the loss of Channy Kek, a beloved team member and friend to many here at Regions Hospital and HealthPartners. Channy was a long-time colleague in interpreter services, and words cannot describe how deeply her presence will be missed.”

There have been 67 pedestrian crashes, resulting in 47 injuries, is St. Paul this year according to police department records. Kek was the third pedestrian killed in the city this year as a result of a pedestrian crash.

“Drivers need to slow down and pay attention to pedestrians and pedestrians need to pay attention to vehicles and make sure they never step in front of a moving car,” said St. Paul police Sgt. Jeremy Ellison, the department’s Toward Zero Deaths grant coordinator.

Ten days before Kek’s death, another pedestrian died after being struck in the Payne-Phalen neighborhood. The Payne-Phalen Transportation Committee planned a community forum to discuss pedestrian safety after Erin Durham, 34, was gravely injured and later died. A car struck her at Maryland Avenue and Greenbrier Street.

The forum is Thursday, 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., at the Arlington Hills Community Center, 1200 Payne Ave.

Gino Terrell contributed to this report.

DILWORTH, Minn. — A North Dakota sheriff is facing a misdemeanor charge for his role in an altercation at a bar in Minnesota.

Sargent County Sheriff Travis Paeper is charged in Clay County, Minn., with disorderly conduct for the May 14 incident at the Red Hen Taphouse in Dilworth.

Paeper told KFGO radio that the charge was a surprise.

Court documents say Paeper was sitting at a table with three women who asked him to leave after he said something they didn’t like. One woman said Paeper was “grabby.” Paeper told police that a woman hit him in the face five times for no reason.

Police say Paeper was uncooperative and criticized a Dilworth officer for not “backing a brother in blue.”

Fifty-year-old Karen Beyer, of Moorhead, is also charged with disorderly conduct.

BEMIDJI, Minn. — A Bemidji foster parent has been charged with two counts of second-degree manslaughter in connection with the death of 2-year-old girl who apparently drowned in a laundry tote in a shower.

Nathan Daniel Jackson Sr., 38, was arrested Sunday after the Bemidji Police Department responded to a report of an unresponsive 2-year-old at a residence at about 11:21 a.m., according to a criminal complaint from the Beltrami County Attorney’s Office.

Jackson appeared in court Wednesday afternoon. He has not yet entered a plea.

Jackson told police he had put the child in the shower at about 7:30 a.m and that there was a laundry tote  — an 18-gallon Rubbermaid with no holes — in the shower with her. Jackson said he left the child alone in the shower for a period of time and that when he came back to check on her he found her in the bin, which was filled with water.

Jackson said the girl was breathing when he pulled her out of the bin, but she didn’t “seem right,” according to the complaint. He dressed her and laid her down in her bed as he didn’t think she was in that bad of shape.

Jackson’s fiancé told police one of the couple’s 7 children, including two foster children, woke her up Sunday morning saying the young girl was not breathing.

A police sergeant arrived at the residence and was told by Bemidji Fire and Ambulance personnel that the child was deceased. The sergeant noticed that rigor mortis had set in.

A preliminary autopsy report indicated the 2-year-old died as a result of a freshwater drowning.

Investigators noted the girl was described by her foster mother as being non-verbal and was just learning to walk.

A judge ordered Jackson to remain held in jail until a further court hearing on June 20.

Both police and prosecutors declined comment about the case.

A foster care agency on the Leech Lake Reservation is responsible for the placement of the foster child, according to WDAZ-TV.

Second-degree manslaughter carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, a fine of $20,000 or both.

A homeless man who pawned stolen musical instruments in St. Paul will go to prison for receiving stolen property.

Curtis Michael Walker, a convicted burglar who was staying at the Dorothy Day homeless shelter in downtown St. Paul, was charged in February with stealing a French horn from the University of St. Thomas and a bassoon and guitar from Concordia University. He told police he had bought the instruments before pawning them, although he acknowledged he bore a resemblance to the thief in one surveillance video.

Walker, 45, was identified after police located the Concordia instruments at a pawnshop with his name associated. He admitted he pawned them but said he’d bought the instruments from a friend for $40, according to a criminal complaint. He claimed he didn’t know anything about the French horn stolen from St. Thomas, but when investigators confronted him with surveillance images of the thief holding the instrument, he said, “That looks like me.”

A man wearing the same clothes as the French horn thief also was caught on surveillance camera using credit cards stolen from a locker at a Woodbury YMCA, the complaint said. The complaint said Walker also sold a trumpet and oboe last fall, but he “claimed he just bought the items and didn’t ask questions.”

Walker pleaded guilty to receiving stolen property, a felony. The theft charge was dismissed. He was sentenced May 18 in Ramsey County District Court to 20 months in prison.

Walker’s criminal history includes convictions for burglary, receiving stolen property, theft, credit card fraud, check forgery, domestic assault, fleeing police, failing to register as a predatory offender and criminal sexual conduct.

Authorities say an argument led to the fatal shooting of a teenage mother last week in a rural Wright County park.

The motive was detailed Wednesday in criminal complaints charging three men in the slaying of Cheyenne Clough, 19, of Buffalo.

Clough was found near death early June 1 in Crow Springs County Park. She died Saturday at North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale. Authorities said she had been shot four times in the back of the head, neck and shoulders. She had also been beaten.

After investigating, authorities arrested six individuals.

On Wednesday, three of them were charged in Wright County District Court in connection with Clough’s slaying.

Shawn Benson, 21, of Maple Lake was charged with second-degree intentional murder. Justin Jensen, 28 of Maple Lake and Edward Zelko, 26, of Buffalo were each charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder. They remained jailed Wednesday on $1 million bail each.

According to the charges, authorities said Clough had argued with the defendants and two women connected to the case at a Maple Lake home early July 1. The argument was sparked by Clough’s belief that someone had snitched on her boyfriend, who had an outstanding warrant. The argument was further fueled by the belief that Clough was going to snitch on one of the women, who also had an outstanding warrant.

Authorities allege Jensen then ordered that Clough be killed and gave Benson and Zelko a stolen .22-caliber handgun. Benson and Zelko then drove off with Clough on the pretext of taking her home. That’s when Benson allegedly shot her in the park.

The three defendants and the two women then left the area. Jensen, Benson and the two women were arrested Sunday near International Falls on the Canadian border. Zelko was arrested Saturday in Todd County, Minn. A fourth man was also arrested Sunday in International Falls, where he lives, and was charged with aiding a defendant to avoid arrest.

According to WCCO-TV, prosecutors said the two women likely would not face charges.

The handgun, which was apparently tossed in a northern Minnesota river, hasn’t been found.

Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said he will not press charges against a Plymouth police officer who shot a man to death during a struggle last summer at an Arby’s restaurant.

Officer Amy Therkelsen and three restaurant employees wrestled to get the Plymouth man, who was having a psychotic episode, under control July 23 at the Arby’s on Sixth Avenue South, Freeman said. Therkelsen used her Taser against him, but the man tried to take her gun as they fell to the floor of the restaurant.

Therkelsen shot the man, Derek Wolfsteller, 31, twice in the head. DNA evidence indicated Wolfsteller’s hands were on Therkelsen’s gun before she regained control, Freeman said Wednesday.

“She and three civilians were in a long, exhausting struggle with him and he had both hands on her gun,” Freeman said in a statement. “When she was able to regain control of her gun it was reasonable for her to conclude that she must shoot Mr. Wolfsteller in order to protect herself, the three employees and others in the restaurant.”

Freeman’s office released the investigative report, 911 recordings and other information in support of the decision not to charge Therkelsen.