CROSBY, Minn. – The embattled mayor of this north-central Minnesota community has resigned.

The Crosby City Council accepted Jim Hunter’s resignation Monday via a letter sent by Ed Shaw, Hunter’s lawyer, council member Ron Prushek confirmed late Monday night.

Hunter was elected in November 2016 for a two-year term and was arrested in March, charged with felony theft by swindle, assault and several other charges. Hunter had denied calls for him to step down prior to Monday’s meeting.

Prushek, who is also acting mayor, said the letter was dated Friday, Aug. 25, and Hunter was not present at Monday’s meeting.

The criminal charges filed in Crow Wing County District Court in March against Hunter weaved allegations of a love affair intertwined with an illegal financial scheme, culminating in confrontation and gunplay. Together with alleged lover and accomplice Candice Ann McCartan, Hunter reportedly ran a confidence trick against her husband, a criminal complaint stated.

Thomas McCartan reported Hunter for a number of alleged crimes, chiefly the swindling of $90,000.

Thomas McCartan told police that his wife and Hunter persuaded him to purchase Buy Sell Trade, one of Hunter’s businesses in Crosby. McCartan had been working for Hunter at Buy Sell Trade for about two years, the charges said.

Hunter’s pitch was that owning the store would be steady income, and that it would help fix their credit problems, according to the criminal complaint. Hunter allegedly got Thomas McCartan to believe the store made $8,000 and $12,000 a month in revenue.

Hunter also reportedly told Thomas McCartan the sale price was $45,000. But several days later, after Thomas McCartan had already signed the sale documents, he found out he was actually required to pay Hunter $90,000 via a lien placed on his home.

As Thomas McCartan was divorcing Candice McCartan, his divorce attorney examined the sale documents, and it turned out what Thomas McCartan had actually bought was the inventory of the store, some computers, the cash register and the ATM machine. The value of the purchase was between $5,000 and $7,000, his attorney told him — a far cry from the $90,000 he was supposed to pay.

A later conversation between Hunter and Thomas McCartan’s son allegedly resulted in Hunter pointing a handgun toward him with his finger on the trigger.

The city plans to replace Hunter with a city council member, unless no one on the council is interested, Prushek said. In that case, the council would seek letters of intent from community members in the town of 2,400.

South St. Paul police have arrested three suspects and are looking for more following a shooting that injured two people Monday night.

Officers were called about 8 p.m. to the intersection of Holland and Warner avenues on a report of a disturbance involving people in vehicles.

Police found one person who had been struck by a vehicle and had minor injuries, according to a Tuesday statement by South St. Paul police. The suspects had left the area before officers arrived.

About an hour later, officers were called back to the same area on a report of shots fired. They located a man and woman with non-life threatening gunshot wounds. Both were taken to a local hospital.

An officer spotted the suspect vehicle leaving the area and was able to stop it a few blocks from the scene. The driver was arrested, but two suspects abandoned the vehicle and fled on foot. They were found in a wooded area and arrested.

Police Chief Bill Messerich said Tuesday afternoon that investigators were trying to track down more suspects.

“We’re still looking for suspects, but the main suspects are in custody,” he said.

According to Dakota County jail records, the three suspects — Erik Dontez Poe, Juan Carlos Rojas and Tyrone Lamar Farrow — were booked on suspicion of drive-by shooting, first-degree assault, discharging a weapon in a municipality and disorderly conduct.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call South St. Paul police at 651-554-3300.

A Black River Falls, Wis., man is facing his eighth drunken driving offense — this one while operating on a motorized bike.

The Jackson County sheriff’s office says the 52-year-old man was spotted weaving between lanes of traffic without a light on his bike last Saturday night in the Town of Brockway.

He was out on bond from his seven drunken driving arrest in May. He was booked into the Jackson County Jail.

A man was arrested this week for groping a woman and masturbating in front of children at the Minnesota State Fair, according to charges filed in Ramsey County District Court.

Jeffrey Thomas Pendzimas, 62, of Isanti, Minn., was arrested at 2:11 p.m. Monday in the Coliseum.

One woman told officials she was watching chickens hatch in the Miracle of Birth Center with her son and nephew, both under the age of 6. She felt a man reach into her shorts from the bottom and felt a hand squeeze her buttocks in a cupping motion, according to the complaint.

She thought it was an accident and moved away, but then noticed the man looked like he was “playing with himself.” He lifted his shirt and exposed himself, causing the woman to scream and cover the eyes of her son and nephew, according to the complaint.

A State Fair employee told officials she felt someone elbow her from behind. When she turned around, she saw that Pendzimas had exposed himself and was masturbating in front of the children, the complaint said.

The woman who had been groped screamed, and the man fled to the Coliseum, where fairgoers identified him to police and he was arrested.

Pendzimus has a criminal history dating back to 1979 including fifth-degree criminal sexual conduct, interference with privacy of a minor and several incidents of indecent exposure.

In 2012, Pendzimas masturbated in the presence of two teenage girls, and in 2014 he was arrested and convicted for groping a female shopper at Walmart in Blaine.

A 24-year-old South St. Paul man is accused of pointing a laser light at a Minnesota State Patrol helicopter Monday night while the aircraft was hovering over the city helping authorities search for shooting suspects.

The helicopter pilot saw the green laser pointing up to the aircraft around 11:30 p.m. and used a heat-sensing camera to track the alleged perpetrator to a house in the 300 block of 12th Avenue, said Lt. Tiffani Nielson, a public information officer with the State Patrol.

A trooper went to the house and arrested Jacob Anthony Osthoff. He was booked into the Dakota County Jail on suspicion of aiming a laser at an aircraft — a gross misdemeanor that carries a maximum penalty of a year behind bars and a $3,000 fine.

Because lasers can temporarily blind pilots, pointing them at moving aircraft became a crime under a law that took effect in August 2009.

“We don’t want to see anybody hurt or crash from something like this,” Nielson said.

The laser incident occurred as officers responded to a shooting in South St. Paul in which two people were injured and three were arrested and more suspects are sought.

Parties involved in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis bankruptcy proceedings made final arguments in front of a federal judge Tuesday, with each side making accusations of deceptive tactics and baseless claims.

The proceedings are intended to work out a plan for paying survivors of sexual abuse at the hands of clergy.

After listening to arguments by multiple attorneys, presiding U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Kressel took the case under advisement. Kressel is expected to make a decision in the coming weeks on which reorganization plan will be used in the settlement.

Two plans are under consideration in the wake of the archdiocese’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in January 2015.

The first was crafted by lawyers for the archdiocese and rejected by the group of survivors. The second was submitted by attorneys for the survivors.

A number of parishes in the archdiocese and representatives of various insurance companies made their objections to the survivors’ plan Tuesday.

The major difference between the plans is the amount of money accessible to survivors.

The plan submitted by the survivor group, for example, would require the archdiocese to directly pay up to $80 million, depending on the archdiocese’s existing assets, out of pocket to victims. It also calls for the immediate release of an investigative report concerning former Archbishop John Nienstedt.

The archdiocese’s plan, by comparison, calls for it to pay $13 million. There is no mention of the report on Nienstedt.

A key sticking point is over how much exposure the archdiocese’s insurers should have. The archdiocese negotiated with insurers for $114 million in claim exposure, and another $13 million in exposure for its parishes.

The survivors say the archdiocese negotiated with insurers without them. They believe the archdiocese’s assets were highly undervalued during that negotiation. They have previously said that the true claim exposure could be over $1 billion.

Church officials argue their offer would make money available more quickly to survivors, while the opposing plan would require survivors to sue the archdiocese’s insurance companies. That could significantly prolong litigation.

Describing the survivors plan as “fatally defective” in court Tuesday, an attorney for the archdiocese, Richard Anderson, argued that the group’s proposal also placed too much deciding power in the hands of one attorney — Jeff Anderson — who represents most of the claimants.

Richard Anderson added that the plan would do irreparable harm to the archdiocese and its mission.

He also took aim at what he said had been “misleading” and “false” claims by the survivors’ attorneys about the archdiocese throughout the proceedings.

“Given the public statements in this case, is it any wonder that most (survivors) voted the way they did?” Richard Anderson asked the judge. “The pattern of misrepresentation in this case includes … that the archdiocese is hiding assets, and is only devoting 1 percent of its assets … The (survivors committee) is using facts not on record. They are conflating the alleged value (of the archdiocese) … based on some report from years ago.”

An attorney for the survivor group vehemently disagreed with those arguments, maintaining during the hearing that the archdiocese was continuing to grossly underestimate its value at the expense of survivors.

“The value of the (archdiocese) exceeded $1 billion in 2010 … and the debtor wants the courts and claimants to ignore that,” attorney Robert Kugler said. “This is incredibly galling to the survivors … who have been ignored and disrespected … by the archdiocese for years.”

Although he mostly listened during the hearing, the judge did question attorneys for the survivors about the delay their plan would create in a payout.

“Looks to me we are talking years … Some (claimants) have died already,” Kressel said. “So you are rolling the dice, it seems, on this long-term thing instead of (taking the payout that is available now.)”

The judge also questioned whether the same attorneys have over-promised on the payout potential to their clients.

Speaking after the Minneapolis hearing, attorney Jeff Anderson told the survivors present not to be discouraged by the judge’s comments.

Sexual abuse survivor Jim Keenan spoke of his frustrations with the archdiocese’s legal tactics.

“It has been maddening,” Keenan said after the hearing. “They want to … wear you out, they want you to eventually give up.”

He recalled to reporters the abuse he endured as a 13-year-old boy by a priest at his family’s parish, Church of the Risen Savior in Burnsville.

“In this process, (the archdiocese) forgets why we are here,” Keenan added. “We are here because they are scared of taking responsibility (for what’s happened).”

Another attorney for the archdiocese, Charlie Rogers, again defended its plan after the hearing.

“We spent over a year vigorously negotiating with these various insurance agencies,” Roger said. “We felt that given the ages of the victims and the need to bring about healing promptly and quickly that this was the best option we could put on the table that met all the goals of the bankruptcy court .. and (was) fair.”

HUDSON, Wis. — An assistant Hudson High School girls basketball coach was placed on unpaid leave from the school district amid sex-related charges filed this week in St. Croix County Circuit Court.

Louis J. French, 42, was charged Tuesday with first-degree child sex assault, repeated sexual assault of a child, using a computer to aid in a sex crime and causing a child to view sexual activity.

Hudson School District spokeswoman Tracy Habisch-Ahlin said French had coached the JV-2 program — the freshman girls team — since October 2016. He was placed on unpaid administrative leave in the wake of the investigation, Habisch-Ahlin said.

The case involves sexual abuse of a teenage baby-sitter, according to a criminal complaint.

Hudson Police Chief Marty Jensen said Tuesday there is “no indication right now” that any students or players were abused. However, he urged anyone who might have additional information about French to come forward to police or school officials.

“If you know something, give us a call,” Jensen said. “Our hope is that this was an isolated incident.”

Hudson police took a sexual assault report on Saturday at a Hudson home.

Officers spoke with the victim’s father, who said his daughter baby-sits for French and his wife. She was supposed to baby-sit that night for French. The father said he found her hurting herself and asked what was going on.

The girl responded that French had been sexually assaulting her since she was in the fifth grade. The most recent incident had occurred about two weeks ago, the father learned.

In a follow-up interview with a detective on Monday, the girl said the contact began about two years ago with inappropriate comments at his house. The behavior later escalated to repeated molestation, she reported.

French’s behavior, the victim told the investigator, also included arriving home early from work, then intentionally leaving a bathroom door open so she could see him showering. She said he also sent her sexual recordings of himself over the social media app Snapchat.

The victim’s parents turned over an explicit Snapchat message the girl received Saturday from French. A staged response was sent in order to see how he replied. He responded within a minute with a photo of his genitalia.

Police arrested French on Monday during a traffic stop in Hudson. A St. Croix County sheriff’s investigator attempted to interview him and asked if he knew why he’d been jailed. After he said he didn’t know, the investigator showed him a copy of the Snapchat photo he’d sent Saturday.

“He then sighed and requested an attorney,” the complaint states.

A criminal background check by the district turned up “nothing” on French, Habisch-Ahlin noted.

“Student safety is a priority,” Habisch-Ahlin said. “We’re taking it seriously. We’re working with law enforcement as the legal process moves forward.”

St. Croix County Circuit Judge Scott Needham set French’s cash bond at $50,000. Prosecutor Erica Ellenwood requested $100,000, arguing the potential prison exposure and fines facing French could be motivation for absconding. She noted that he had recently visited family in Tijuana, Mexico.

Public defender Brian Smestad countered that French had “never been in any trouble whatsoever” and that there were no indications he was a risk to offend while on bond.

Needham concluded his risk would be low, but noted that the maximum sentence upon conviction would effectively place French in prison for life — a comment that appeared to prompt French, clad in an orange jail jumpsuit and shackled at the arms and ankles, to lower his head.

French was seen choking back sobs, sighing and laying his face on the defendant’s table before the brief hearing concluded.

A preliminary hearing in the case was set for 2:30 p.m. Thursday.

FARGO, N.D. – Preliminary results of an autopsy on Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind, the Fargo woman who disappeared while eight months pregnant, show that she died from “homicidal violence,” police said Tuesday.

Fargo Deputy Police Chief Joseph Anderson said no other information about the autopsy could be released because it would compromise the investigation.

“Many of the facts of this case won’t be known to the media or the public until released at the trial,” he said.

Police have not divulged any information on whether the baby was born naturally, whether it was induced early or taken from LaFontaine-Greywind violently.

The 22-year-old’s body was found in the Red River eight days after she went missing. Authorities recovered it on the Minnesota banks, so her autopsy is being conducted by the Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office in St. Paul.

Family members said on Tuesday that funeral arrangements have not yet been made because of the uncertainty about when the body will be returned to the family.

Tarita Silk, the woman’s aunt, said the funeral will likely take place on the Spirit Lake Reservation near Devils Lake. LaFontaine-Greywind was a member of the Spirit Lake tribe and grew up on the reservation. Her father is a Spirit Lake member, while her mother is a member of the Turtle Mountain Tribe of Chippewa Indians.

FARM SEARCH

LaFontaine-Greywind disappeared on Saturday, Aug. 19, after going upstairs in her north Fargo apartment building to help a neighbor who, according to family, asked her to model a dress that the neighbor was sewing. She was not seen again until her body was discovered.

On Thursday, police entered the neighbor’s apartment by force, arrested one of the tenants, Brooke Crews, and found a healthy newborn baby girl that is believed to have belonged to LaFontaine-Greywind. That same day, police arrested Crews’ live-in boyfriend, William Hoehn, at his place of employment. But LaFontaine-Greywind remained missing despite intensive searching.

Kayakers came across her body in the Red River on Sunday night. About the same time, volunteer searchers uncovered what police said were suspicious items at an abandoned farmhouse nearby in rural Clay County. The Clay County Sheriff’s Office and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension conducted an extensive search of the property.

On Tuesday, Clay County Sheriff Bill Bergquist said the searches of the abandoned farmhouse have been completed, but no information is yet available about what was found.

“They’ve gathered materials, and now they’re looking at them,” he said. “At this point, we don’t have any answers.”

The farmhouse is located at 1575 90th Ave. N.W. in rural Clay County, just east of the Red River, about 9 miles north of downtown Fargo. The property owner, William Borgen of Moorhead, said the farmhouse has been unoccupied for 15 to 20 years. His family farmed there for 30 years, and he bought the property about a decade ago. He retired from farming three years ago. He still hunts there, as does Sheriff Bergquist, who is a friend.

The property encompasses about 200 acres and includes about 140 acres of farmland, which is rented. Borgen said he had removed several buildings on the property, but had left the house in hopes that its presence would discourage people from trespassing. But he said the house has been “somewhat destroyed” by vandals and people taking copper and other items of value.

Borgen said he’s occasionally found people living on the property in vehicles.

BABY IN COUNTY’S CARE

The two suspects, Crews and Hoehn, were formally charged on Monday. They were each charged with conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, and providing false information to police. Both are being held at the Cass County Jail on $2 million bail. Crews’ attorney, Steven Mottinger, declined to comment on the case Tuesday. Hoehn’s attorney, Stormy Vickers, did not return a phone message.

The baby found by police in the suspects’ apartment remains in the protective custody of Cass County Social Services.

The suspects told police that the child belonged to LaFontaine-Greywind. However, DNA tests are being conducted to determine whether she and her boyfriend, Ashton Matheny, are the parents. Fargo police Lt. Jason Nelson said on Monday that results of the tests may not be available until next week.

Matheny said he attended a shelter hearing about the child on Tuesday, but would not say what happened at the hearing. North Dakota law requires that a shelter hearing take place within 96 hours of a child being placed in shelter care to determine whether a child should remain in shelter care. It’s possible the child was placed in shelter care until custody can be awarded.

The policies of Cass County Social Services prohibit the agency from releasing any information about children under its care.

Events continue to be held in memory of LaFontaine-Greywind. Three memorials are planned for 8 p.m. Wednesday: one at the North Dakota State Capitol in Bismarck, another at the White Shield community on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, and a third at Nickeus Park in Jamestown. Ceremonies were held on Tuesday in Grand Forks and on Monday in Fargo, Belcourt, N.D., and Sisseton, S.D.

Others are honoring her memory in diverse ways, including selling T-shirts and window decals with some or all of the proceeds going to the family.

The North Dakota Human Rights Coalition in Fargo is selling red light bulbs for $5 and asking the public to light them at their homes for eight nights, the number of nights she was missing. The color red is used to recognize indigenous women who go missing or are murdered. The red bulbs can be purchased at the group’s office at 4211 12th Ave. N.

Massoud Amin, director of the university’s Technical Leadership Institute, is under felony indictment for a charge of providing fabricated financial documents during his divorce, KSTP-TV reported . The indictment bans him from buying guns.

Records show he purchased a gun six days after the forgery charge.

Investigators say Amin purchased 14 handguns from seven different gun shops in Minneapolis in a two-and-a-half week span this summer. Authorities seized the newly purchased weapons when they executed a search warrant on July 19. They didn’t confiscate handguns that Amin already owned.

Amin is charged with seven misdemeanors for buying the weapons.

Those who purchase a gun must fill out a federal document called a Firearms Transaction Record. One of the questions on the form asks if you’ve been charged with a felony. Court records show that Amin checked “no” on at least one of the forms.

Retailers also run an FBI background check on gun purchasers. That background check will indicate if a buyer has been convicted or charged with a felony.

Amin said the allegations against him are false. Defense attorney Christopher Madel said Amin will prove his innocence in court.

A university spokesman said the school wasn’t aware of the charges against Amin and that he remains an active faculty member.

An unlicensed home day care provider in North St. Paul tearfully admitted in court Wednesday that her negligent care of an infant last summer caused the girl’s death.

With the child’s parents seated behind her, Amy Jo Englebretson pleaded guilty in Ramsey County District Court to one count of second-degree manslaughter in the death of the 6-month-old girl.

Englebretson, 44, was ordered to describe the events leading up to the girl’s death.

Englebretson had been watching more children than state law permits at her at-home day care in North St. Paul on Aug. 8, 2016, when she strapped the infant into a car seat for a nap, placed the seat on her bed, and left the room, she said.

When she returned to check on the girl, the child wasn’t breathing.

“I don’t know how to describe it; she slipped down,” Englebretson said. “The (car seat’s) straps were around her neck.”

She started CPR immediately on the girl and called 911. Neither she nor first-responders were able to revive the child. A medical examiner determined she died of asphyxiation.

Englebretson, who did not have a day care license, had 10 children in her home at the time, five of whom were toddlers or younger. State law mandates that day care providers be licensed and limits the number of children in a home to eight if more than two of the children are toddlers or younger, according to the Minnesota Department of Human Services.

“You agree that your failure to properly supervise (the 6-month-old) caused her death,” Assistant Ramsey County Attorney Colin Haley asked Englebretson.

“Yes,” she cried.

The girls’ parents shoulders shook and they wiped tears away as they listened from the courtroom’s gallery.

Englebretson’s attorney, Earl Gray, made a point to address his client’s lack of intentionality during the hearing.

“Although you agree you were reckless … you did not intend in any way to harm this child?” Gray asked Englebretson.

“No, I did not,” she replied.

Englebretson entered her plea without any guarantee about the length of the sentence she’ll get for her conviction, though Gray stated he plans to argue for a shorter term than what is recommended by sentencing guidelines.

Englebretson has no criminal history aside from a speeding ticket.

Ramsey County District Judge Judith Tilsen will sentence her in January.

“You understand that I have made no promises … for a departure,” Tilsen told Englebretson. “This is very, very serious, as you well know, and I take it very seriously.”

The crime is punishable to up to 10 years in prison, a $20,000 fine, or both.

A director at Child Care Aware of Minnesota encouraged parents looking for quality child care to check out their website, where staff members list day cares that have met the organization’s standards.

“It goes above and beyond safety,” Cory Woosley, professional development director for the organization, said of the site’s assessment system. “Our program also looks at curriculum, caregiver attitudes, dispositions, and we also help (providers), because caring for kids is amazing but it’s hard and we want to make sure you don’t burn out.”

Child Care Aware also offers a class on safe sleeping that is required for all day care providers and available to all caregivers.

It teaches caregivers to put infants to sleep on their backs on firm mattresses in cribs free from any pillows, blankets, bumpers or any other potential breathing hazards.

“Your baby is not going to get cold; they will be just fine,” Woosley said. She added that many people choose to put their baby in a one-piece sleeper to make sure they are warm enough while they sleep.

The guidelines help prevent Sudden Unexpected Infant Death Syndrome or accidental asphyxiation, Woosley said.

Information about proper sleep protocols or where to find a class is also available on the organization’s website.

Caregivers can check on the status of a child care provider’s license on the Department of Human Service’s website. Additional information on how to ensure your child’s safety in family child care settings is also available on the department’s website.

Gray said neither he nor Englebretson wanted to comment on her guilty plea following the hearing.

The mother of three said during the proceedings that she is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and severe depression.

A Minneapolis teenager is accused of fatally shooting a Brooklyn Park man outside a SuperAmerica in Crystal over the weekend.

Cortez Ananias Williams, 17, was charged Wednesday in Hennepin County court with with second-degree manslaughter in the death of 18-yer-old Haeveon Martese Chavez Wesley, according to a news release issued by the Hennepin County attorney’s office.

Witnesses told investigators that Williams and Wesley were both armed at the gas station on Saturday night and decided to exchange weapons, the news release said. It was during this exchange that Wesley was shot once in the chest, according to the release. He later died at North Memorial Hospital.

Williams, who turned himself in to police on Monday, told investigators that he and Wesley were drinking alcohol in the back seat of a car in the SuperAmerica parking lot when the shooting took place, the news release said.

Minneapolis police are looking for suspects in a fatal shooting near the University of Minnesota’s West Bank campus.

Authorities say a man was found fatally shot in the parking lot of Bullwinkle’s Saloon about 3 a.m. Thursday. Investigators have not yet identified the victim.

Classes at the university begin next week.

FARGO, N.D. — After 10 days of misery, Ashton Matheny finally got to feel a little joy this week.

Matheny, boyfriend of Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind, the pregnant Fargo woman who disappeared and whose body was found eight days later in the Red River, finally got to see the baby girl that everyone assumes is theirs.

The baby is being held in protective custody by Cass County Social Services until DNA results can confirm that they are the parents.

Matheny got to visit her for 90 minutes on Tuesday and Wednesday. Savanna’s parents, Norberta and Joe Greywind, got to the see the baby for the first time on Wednesday.

“It was the best feeling I’ve ever had,” Matheny said. “I wish Savanna could have been there to enjoy it with me. After all these dark days, she lit my day right up.”

Matheny and LaFontaine-Greywind named the child Haisley Jo. She was expected on Sept. 20. LaFontaine-Greywind was eight months pregnant when she disappeared on Saturday, Aug. 19, after going upstairs in her north Fargo apartment building to help a neighbor who asked her to model a dress the neighbor was sewing. She never returned.

The following Thursday, Aug. 24, police entered the upstairs apartment by force and found a healthy newborn baby girl in the possession of the same upstairs neighbor, Brooke Lynn Crews. Crews and her live-in boyfriend, William Hoehn, were arrested and have been charged with conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, and providing false information.

The suspects told police that the child belonged to LaFontaine-Greywind, but custody cannot be awarded until DNA results are received. Police have not released any information on whether the baby was born naturally, induced early or taken from the mother violently.

Remarkably, the baby has experienced no significant health problems, according to Matheny, despite the circumstances of her birth and the fact that she was born four weeks early.

“She’s my miracle baby,” Matheny said. “She was perfect coming in.”

Matheny, 21, got to hold Haisley Jo and take photos, though he’s not yet willing to share those with the world. A social worker supervised the visit. He’s hoping to be able to visit her again soon.

He brought the baby a rosary and a star quilt. Her grandfather, Joe Greywind, brought balloons.

“It was pretty overwhelming,” Matheny said.

Matheny and LaFontaine-Greywind, both members of the Spirit Lake tribe, met in 2011 at Devils Lake High School. They started dating two months later and had been together ever since.

LaFontaine-Greywind had long, straight brown hair, big green eyes and freckles. Matheny looked at baby pictures of her before going to the hospital on Wednesday and said the baby looks exactly like her, particularly how she looked as an infant.

“She’s beautiful,” said Matheny. “She’s Savanna all the way.”

LaFontaine-Greywind, 22, lived in an apartment on Ninth Street North with her mother, father and siblings. She worked as a certified nursing assistant at Eventide Fargo, a senior citizens residence. She had moved to Fargo in January 2016 for her job.

Matheny had been living in Minneapolis, working construction, when she became pregnant, but quit his job and moved back to North Dakota as the baby’s due date approached. They had rented an apartment together across McKinley Park from the building where the Greywind family lives and were scheduled to move in Sept. 1. He was looking for work in Fargo.

Once custody is awarded, however, Matheny now plans to move back to the Spirit Lake Reservation with his daughter. He had been living there temporarily with his father, and doing construction on his dad’s house to earn money for the baby. Now he wants to return to the reservation permanently. He’s found a place to live and will look for a job once he returns.

He’s now staying in a hotel in Fargo with his father, awaiting the DNA results and custody decision. He hasn’t been told when to expect the test results or how long it will take for custody to be awarded.

“All I’m doing now is playing the waiting game,” he said. “We have to go through the courts, the whole legal system. I wish I could have brought her home already. But they have guidelines to follow.”

A St. Paul man is accused of giving a concussion to a nationally known comedian last month after punching him in the face at a bar on University Avenue, authorities say.

Anthony Charles Deberry, 35, then took off with the comedian’s wallet, which contained about $700 as well as Josh Blue’s credit cards and driver’s license, according to the criminal complaint filed against Deberry on Thursday in Ramsey County District Court.

Deberry faces one count of first-degree aggravated robbery in the alleged assault.

Blue, a St. Paul native, was in town for a gig at the Joke Joint Comedy Club when he and some acquaintances stopped in at Hot Rods Bar & Grill on University Avenue around 9 p.m. July 17.

Two hours later, while Blue was in the bathroom, Deberry approached him, punched him twice in the face with a closed fist, and fled with his wallet, charges say.

A bar employee told police that Deberry, a regular at the establishment, was the assailant.

A woman walking her dog in the area the next day found Blue’s wallet with his cash missing, according to the complaint.

Police arrested Deberry this week.

In an interview with officers, he admitted to punching Blue but said he did so only once and that he stole $79 in cash that he found in the comedian’s pocket, the complaint said.

He denied taking his wallet and said Blue provoked the assault by “disrespect(ing)” him, charges say.

Blue went to the emergency room after the incident, where he was treated for a bump above his left eyebrow and diagnosed with a mild concussion, the complaint said.

Blue, 38, graduated from Como Park Senior High School. He who won TV’s “Last Comic Standing” in 2006 and now tours the globe doing about 250 shows a year, he recently told the Pioneer Press.

A Hibbing man peered into the windows of people’s homes in northern Minnesota and recorded the activities of juvenile girls in private moments inside, authorities say.

Then he downloaded the footage onto his laptop, adding to a stockpile of child pornography he had been building for several years.

Kevin James Petroske, 36, was found guilty of eight counts of producing or attempting to produce child pornography as well as one count of possessing child pornography.

The verdict was delivered after a three-day jury trial in federal court in downtown Minneapolis.

“Mr. Petroske preyed on vulnerable and unsuspecting victims in their homes. Fortunately, the jury recognized Mr. Petroske for the predator he is and returned a just result,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Manda Sertich said Thursday in a written statement.

Petroske’s attorney, Craig Hunter, declined to comment about his client’s conviction.

Authorities received a report of a man lurking outside houses in Hibbing in the fall of 2015.

After arresting Petroske and executing a search warrant at his home, investigators found hundreds of images and videos of child pornography, authorities report.

Many of the videos were captured between 2011 and 2015 and depicted juvenile girls that Petroske recorded without their knowledge by spying on them through windows into their private bathrooms and bedrooms.

In many of the videos, Petroske is heard masturbating and making sexual remarks, authorities say.

His criminal record includes five convictions in Stearns County for felony-level stalking as well as one conviction for invasion of privacy.

Petroske will be sentenced Jan. 18.

Gary Masterman, recently the chairman of the Oakdale Parks and Recreation Commission, has been charged with swindling nearly $15,000 from a youth athletic association.

Masterman, 63, is also a former fire chief for the city of Oakdale.

Masterman allegedly gave himself a salary increase, billed the association for work he did not do and added his wife to the payroll even though she was not an employee.

The various felonies and misdemeanors allegedly happened between December 2015 and February 2017. He was charged in Washington County District Court on July 19.

Masterman was the charity gambling manager of the Oakdale Athletic Association, a nonprofit youth sports group.

He was in charge of handling the payroll for the association. He allegedly increased his own monthly salary of $2,100 and received extra payments for work he did not do, such as selling pull-tabs or working at bingo fundraisers.

According to the complaint, on Feb. 23, 2017, Masterman wrote a letter to the association apologizing for his actions and offering to pay back the money.

City administrator Bart Fischer said that Masterman asked for an indefinite leave of absence from his duties on the city commission several weeks ago. Fischer said the City Council appoints and dismisses commission members, and will decide later what course of action to take regarding Masterman.

Masterman is scheduled to make a court appearance in November.

Five people have been charged in connection with a Monday night drive-by shooting in South St. Paul that injured two people outside a house and allegedly happened after a fight over a pot deal.

Charged Thursday in Dakota County District Court in Hastings with one count each of drive-by shooting and second-degree assault were Tyrone Lamar Farrow, 37, of Big Lake, Minn.; Erik Dontez Poe, 18, of Burnsville; Cheridan Bree Redmond, 19, of Inver Grove Heights; Juan Carlos Rojas, 19, of Inver Grove Heights; and Sopearvy Ogbondah Michelle Sam-Farrow, 18, of West St. Paul.

According to the criminal complaint:

Around 10 p.m. Monday, a South St. Paul police officer responded to a house in the 900 block of Warner Avenue on a report that a woman was receiving threatening text messages and that a gun was involved.

Earlier in the night, an officer had spoken with her about an ongoing argument she had with some former friends.

As the officer was approaching the house in his squad car, he noticed a dark-colored SUV slowly rolling past the residence. Then the officer heard gunshots in rapid succession and saw several flashes of light coming from the passenger side of the SUV.

The officer pursued the SUV, which made several turns and ended up in a cul-de-sac. When it stopped, Rojas and Poe fled from the front seat and Tyrone Farrow stayed in the backseat.

In the SUV, police found a 9-mm handgun and a shotgun, both with live rounds, as well 9-mm shell casings.

Two victims who were outside the house sustained non-life threatening injuries from shotgun birdshot. A man had injuries to his head, left foot and right leg, while a woman had injuries to both her legs, abdomen, right side, right shoulder, right arm and chest.

Sam-Farrow told police she and Redmond had gone to the house on Saturday to buy marijuana and that an argument broke out and that Redmond was punched in the face.

One of the shooting victims told police that right before the shooting she saw a silver vehicle belonging to Sam-Farrow driving past the house with its lights off. In front of the house, the driver flashed the car’s lights and a woman stuck her arm out of the window and pointed at the house.

The dark SUV was behind the silver car. It drove past, turned around and stopped. Shots were fired from a window.

“This was a violent crime which easily could have taken a life,” Dakota County Attorney Jim Backstrom said in a Thursday statement. “We are thankful that no deaths occurred and that no other individuals were injured in this incident.”

When autistic 24-year-old Jacob Brasch is having a meltdown, all he needs is some Aladdin music or Terminator questions to calm him down.

Now St. Paul police will have that information as soon as they’re within 30-60 feet of Brasch. And they’ll be able to use it calm what might otherwise turn into a difficult situation.

The St. Paul Police Department is the first police force in the country to use Vulnerable Individuals Technology Assisted Location Service, a voluntary program that can alert officers when people with “invisible” disabilities are in the vicinity.

People who want the police to know about specific conditions, such as autism, diabetes or dementia, keep a “beacon” transmitter on them at all times. Their location is then visible to officers through a secured app, allowing officers to de-escalate confusing situations.

“For me, this program means freedom,” said Jillian Nelson, an autistic adult. “It means when I walk out of the house knowing I have this card in my wallet with me all the time that I have a security net. If I have an interaction with the police department, they’re going to have that information immediately, they’re going to know how to de-escalate me.”

St. Paul police have been working with VITALS for about nine months and signed a two-year contract to use the program. Because of work on the pilot program, St. Paul will use the program free for at least two years. Other departments will pay $5 per officer each month.

Users with disabilities pay between $9 and $15 for the beacon and an additional $9.95 per month for the application — a small fee to pay for the freedom it provides, according to Nelson. She’s had her beacon since February and said it’s “pinged” her information to officers more than 50 times.

Nelson is one of fewer than 200 people in the Twin Cities with the app so far, but there have already been more than a million pings to officers alerting them of people with disabilities in the vicinity.

Officers can “snooze” the app when they’re off duty and can set the notification to whatever volume and sound they choose.

The department has not yet decided whether officers will be required to use it.

Caregivers have a separate, similar app. While it’s helpful for adults like Nelson, it’s also useful for parents of children with disabilities such as Charlene Wilford.

Wilford’s 14-year-old autistic son Devonte Ray-Burns was one of the first people to use the app. Wilford said officers have used the information available 10 times since she downloaded the app.

“I feel safe at night and actually all day. If anything happens to my child I can locate him,” Wilford said.

It was a confusing encounter with someone on the spectrum that initially spurred the idea.

Members of the autism society and St. Paul police officers met up to brainstorm how to prevent future problems and VITALS was born.

No other departments have signed contracts yet, but VITALS co-founder G.L. Hoffman said 20-30 suburban departments nearby are looking to sign up after this launch.

St. Paul Officer Robert J. Zink, one of the leaders of the project, said he expects it to be fully implemented in the St. Paul department by mid-September.

“Our department has been at the forefront of looking for better ways to serve our community with invisible disabilities,” St. Paul Chief of Police Todd Axtell said. “Knowledge is the best tool a police officer can have in responding to a difficult situation….and it’s really important to have that information on the front end. That’s what this program is really about.

A St. Paul police officer has apologized for his behavior in a Facebook video recorded Thursday afternoon.

The 34-second video, which was posted by Facebook user Andrew Casey shortly after 1 p.m., begins in the middle of a confrontation between Casey and officer Benny Williams, who was on duty but dressed in plain clothes.

“This guy works for the — some police department,” Casey can be heard saying at the beginning of the video. “Because he shoved his (expletive) badge in my face.”

“Exactly, I work for St. Paul police, (expletive),” Williams replied.

“And this is a class act, man,” Casey said.

Williams then approached Casey and said, “Put it in my face, I’m gonna slap you down, (expletive),” apparently in reference to Casey’s recording device.

As Williams turned and walked back to his car, Casey can be heard saying that Williams spit on him and hit him.

Sgt. Mike Ernster, a St. Paul Police Department spokesman, said Williams is a member of the department’s missing persons unit and was searching for a vulnerable adult when the encounter with Casey took place.

About 4:30 p.m., the Police Department posted Casey’s video on its own Facebook page, along with a video apology from Williams.

“I said a lot of things that I shouldn’t have said, and it was very unprofessional on my part,” Williams said in the video. “I want to apologize to this individual. It does not represent who I am or my organization, the St. Paul Police Department.”

Neither Casey’s nor the Police Department’s Facebook post addressed how the confrontation began or where it took place.

Police Chief Todd Axtell also sent a department-wide email Thursday afternoon addressing the video, saying Williams’s behavior “falls far short” of his agency’s standards.

“I am disappointed in the conduct depicted in the original video,” Axtell wrote. “However, I am also incredibly proud of how our officer has chosen to respond to this incident. His response has been honorable and truly representative of the Saint Paul way.”

Williams is the subject of an open internal affairs investigation, Ernster said. However, in accordance with state law, Ernster said he could not disclose whether the investigation is related to the incident depicted in the video.

Casey did not immediately respond to a Facebook message seeking comment.

A Savage man with a history of epileptic seizures that he failed to disclose when applying for a driver’s license will face charges in a December wrong-way crash on Interstate 494 in Bloomington that killed three people and injured two others.

Patrick John Hayes, 35, was charged Tuesday in Hennepin County District Court with three counts of criminal vehicular homicide and two counts of criminal vehicular operation. Hayes’ Chevrolet Malibu crashed head-on with a Jeep Cherokee near Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport shortly before 8:25 p.m. on Dec. 2.

Traffic camera video of the collision shows Hayes’ Malibu traveling westbound on I-494 before pulling over to the shoulder, making a U-turn and proceeding eastbound in the westbound lanes, according to court documents. Meanwhile, the Jeep can be seen exiting Minnesota 5 and entering the westbound lanes of I-494, where it collided with the Malibu.

The driver of the Jeep, 51-year-old Dawn Chiodo of Bloomington, was killed instantly. The crash also killed her daughter, 24-year-old Dylan Bailey of Bloomington, and Bailey’s 2-year-old son, Payton, who died a week after the crash.

Two other passengers in Chiodo’s Jeep — Jennifer Nord, 50, of Richfield and her daughter Olivia Nord, 18, of Richfield — were seriously injured.

Olivia Nord had just graduated from Marine Corps boot camp, and Jennifer Nord had been in South Carolina attending her daughter’s graduation. Chiodo, a family friend, was driving the Nords home from the airport when the collision occurred.

Hayes was observed suffering a seizure at the scene of the crash and was given anti-seizure medication, court documents say. A blood test revealed no alcohol in his system at the time. At the hospital, he told investigators he wasn’t on any medications and was driving the wrong way because he was lost and not thinking.

Hayes’ ex-wife told investigators that he has a history of epileptic seizures that cause him to behave erratically, but not to lose consciousness, according to court documents. She also said he took daily medication. Hayes failed to disclose his condition when he applied for Minnesota driver’s licences during the past five years — a requirement under state law, court documents say.

A review of Hayes’ medical records indicate he has suffered from epilepsy since he was 16 years old, according to court documents. Investigators also discovered that Hayes had been involved in three previous crashes since 2014, at least one of which involved a seizure, court documents say.