OGALLALA, Neb. — A truck driver from Florida has pleaded no contest to charges stemming from a 2016 crash in western Nebraska that killed six people, including a family of five from the Twin Cities.

Court records say 55-year-old Tony Weekly Jr. entered the pleas Tuesday in Keith County District Court. The charges: three felony and three misdemeanor counts of vehicular homicide and one misdemeanor count of reckless driving.

Sentencing is set for July 20.

Investigators say Weekly was distracted while driving on July 31, 2016, and didn’t slow down in an Interstate 80 construction zone near Brule, smashing into the back of a minivan. Inside were Jamison and Kathryne Pals, both 29, and their three children, 3-year-old Ezra; Violet, who was almost 2; and 2-month-old Calvin.

Another man injured in the crash, Terry Sullivan, 56, of Denver, died later.

Jamison and Kathryne Pals were driving to Denver to complete training ahead of their assignment to work as missionaries in Japan.

The couple had been living with Kathryne’s parents in Wayzata as they prepared to depart for Japan in the fall of 2016. Before that they lived in the Longfellow neighborhood of Minneapolis and, before that, in South St. Paul. Jamison was raised in Lino Lakes, and his parents were living in Hugo at the time of his death.

A former Minneapolis police officer who shot and killed an unarmed Australian woman last summer after she called 911 to report a possible assault didn’t speak in a brief court appearance Tuesday.

Mohamed Noor is charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the July 15 death of Justine Ruszczyk Damond.

Assistant Hennepin County Attorney Amy Sweasy said Tuesday that prosecutors have been providing evidence to the defense as part of discovery. Sweasy told Judge Kathryn Quaintance that no plea negotiations are underway.

Prosecutors say Noor was in a squad car’s passenger seat when he shot Damond through the driver’s side window after she approached the vehicle in the alley behind her home in Southwest Minneapolis. They say there’s no evidence Noor encountered a threat that justified deadly force.

Noor’s attorneys have filed documents indicating Noor will plead not guilty. He was terminated by the Minneapolis Police Department after charges were filed in March.

A New Hope man accused of murdering a Mendota Heights financial adviser in her office while he was on the run from police last summer pleaded guilty Tuesday.

Lucifer Vincent Nguyen, 45, shot and killed Beverly Cory while he was fleeing police on July 29 after committing a home-invasion robbery earlier that day, according to a news release issued Tuesday by Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom. An autopsy showed Cory, 48, of Maplewood died of a single bullet wound to the head.

Nguyen pleaded guilty in Dakota County District Court to one count of second-degree murder and two counts of aggravated robbery, the news release said. Under a plea agreement, Nguyen will be sentenced to more than 45 years in prison, but he could be granted supervised release after serving 30, Backstrom said.

“On behalf of everyone involved in the investigation and prosecution of this case, Backstrom expressed his deep sympathy to the family, friends and co-workers of Beverly Cory for their great loss and his continuing concern for the well-being of the other victims involved in this case,” the news release said.

About 9 a.m. July 29, Mendota Heights police were dispatched to an armed robbery at a home in the 1600 block of Delaware Avenue, where a woman, identified in court documents as “NJ,” told officers that Nguyen had stolen her wallet and and some other cash at gunpoint before fleeing in a white Toyota, according to the criminal complaint against Nguyen.

Officers attempted to stop the car a short time later, but Nguyen sped off and crashed into a pond, where the car was soon found by police with no one inside. The car contained items that tied Nguyen to the vehicle, as well as an empty Glock handgun case and NJ’s wallet.

About the same time, officers were dispatched to a Mendota Heights senior care facility, where Nguyen had forced his way inside and stolen an employee’s building keys. While that facility was being evacuated, officers received a report that blood was seeping out from beneath the door of an office suite in a building across the street.

When officers entered the office suite, they found Cory dead inside, with a 9 mm cartridge case near the body of the Edward Jones financial adviser. Investigators also discovered Cory’s vehicle was missing from the building’s parking lot; it was later recovered at the Washington County Fairgrounds.

Hours after killing Cory, Nguyen encountered an off-duty St. Paul firefighter who was working in his yard in Lake Elmo. Nguyen offered the man up to $300 in cash to drive him to Mystic Lake Casino in Prior Lake. The firefighter declined and Nguyen walked away, he told the Pioneer Press at the time.

Nguyen remained on the lam for two days, prompting officials to advise nearby residents to lock their doors and remain inside while police searched for him.

Nguyen was arrested on July 31 with the help of his brother during a traffic stop in Blaine. Inside the car, officers found a Garmin GPS that belonged to Cory.

Nguyen is scheduled to be sentenced at 9 a.m. May 11 in Hastings.

At the time of his arrest, Nguyen had been recently released from Douglas County, Wis., jail after posting $10,000 bond relating to felony drug and battery charges. He allegedly was in possession of nearly a pound of methamphetamine and while in custody assaulted another inmate.

In Minnesota, Nguyen has convictions for misdemeanor theft and drunken driving.

DEERWOOD, Minn. — Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson is “spreading the word” on a wave of newer, modern variants of traditional phone scams that are creating a surge in fraud and identity theft plaguing Minnesotans and people across the United States.

Swanson said innovations in technology — notably, software capable of “caller ID spoofing” — enables scammers to mask their identities and locations in more sophisticated ways. By using these new tools, scammers impersonate local numbers or legitimate businesses, which allows them to target victims across the globe with relative ease.

“It can be big money. I mean, huge amounts of money,” said Swanson during a phone interview. She noted multiple times that older people and the financially insecure are favorite targets. “I always say, ‘Every good scam has a couple criteria — people have to want to believe it, and they have to have a couple grains of truth.’ They’re very, very industrious about how they go about it.”

The slippery nature of caller ID spoofing, coupled with the global reach of these scammers, means it’s nearly impossible to retrieve lost funds — a reality that means preventive measures are crucial, Swanson emphasized.

“Be vigilant against them — there are callers bent on taking your money,” Swanson said. “The best thing to do is hang up on them, don’t talk to them. You don’t have to be nice to them. Get off the phone as quick as you can.”

Posing as a local or legitimate caller ID is an effective, tried-and-true fleece, Swanson said, because potential victims are more inclined to answer calls and trust the scammer in these cases.

This capability to avoid detection also means it’s increasingly difficult for law enforcement to apprehend scammers, a problem resulting from and compounded by the nature of these groups.

Compared to scammers in the past — typically lone actors, localized and less sophisticated — Swanson said these scams represent the work of complex transnational criminal organizations better equipped than their predecessors.

NEW STRAINS OF AN OLD VIRUS

During her interview with Forum News Service, Swanson identified four variations of phone scams victimizing people across the United States and drawing the attention of the Office of the Minnesota Attorney General:

• “The high-tech scam,” as Swanson called it, characterizes scams involving criminals posing as corporate employees for companies such as Microsoft or Apple, who mislead the victim into believing their computer is damaged, infected with a virus or somehow compromised. The scammers convince victims to grant them access to their computers in the guise of help. After sabotaging the victim’s computer, the scammers will request their credit card information to pay a “fee” for repairs. Scammers also may able to install software to extract sensitive information, such as social security numbers, for identity theft purposes.
• “The IRS scam” is defined by scammers masquerading as Internal Revenue Service agents or government employees, Swanson said. In these cases, scammers contact the victim to “address” non-existent irregularities with their tax forms or unpaid back taxes. By banking on the anxieties of these people — who often are financially insecure, elderly or both — scammers can convince victims to pay exorbitant fees or hand over crucial identity information in the misguided effort to protect their finances and credit scores.
• “The ‘Can you hear me?’ scam,” as Swanson noted, differs significantly from the other three in that the objective of the scammer is not to acquire information, but a soundbite. By answering the seemingly innocent question “Can you hear me?” and responding in the affirmative, scammers are able to take that sound bite and use it to authorize purchases. This scam also may be based on the fact the scammers already have the victim’s credit card information, Swanson added.
• “The car warranty company scam,” Swanson said, is similar to “the IRS scam” in that scammers pose as employees of car manufacturers and try to manipulate victims into handing over sensitive information. By acquiring a car’s information, such as make or model, as well as the name and address of the car owner, scammers send a postcard falsely notifying the owner their warranty soon will or has expired. Through appearing legitimate, scammers are able to convince victims to buy useless warranties for $2,000-$3,000. Swanson noted the precarious position of many car owners, 40 percent of whom don’t have enough money for serious repairs, leaves many vulnerable to this scam.

With a wave of scams international in scope, Swanson said, it’s nearly impossible to accurately determine the number of victims and how much damage has been inflicted.

Instead, the recent rash of scams came to the attention of government officials and law enforcement because of numerous reports, Swanson said. An assessment, she added, that’s been reflected by feedback she’s received in her efforts to inform Minnesotans on the subject. Phone scams pose a real and imminent threat for many people in Minnesota and across the United States.

If readers have concerns, need more information or wish to report these instances of fraud, they can call the Minnesota State Attorney General’s Office at 651-296-3353 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Swanson noted callers will be connected with specialists and not voicemails or automated customer service.

NEW YORK — Many members of what’s widely known as the kink community are outraged that Eric Schneiderman, in resigning as New York’s attorney general, depicted his alleged violence toward several women as “role-playing and other consensual sexual activity.”

Aficionados of kinky sex noted that Schneiderman’s accusers insisted they had given no consent — which is considered obligatory among most practitioners of kink.

The story brought new attention to the world of kink that’s often known as BDSM — standing for variations of bondage, dominance, submission and masochism. The practice — though still a taboo topic in some respects — has made incursions into the cultural mainstream in recent years, in part because of the popularity of the “Fifty Shades of Grey” novels and films.

However, some of Schneiderman’s critics noted that “Fifty Shades” hero Christian Grey meticulously negotiates a contract with Anastasia Steele before she agrees to submit to his demands.

The Schneiderman story was the topic of conversation on various online communities on social media and blogs devoted to the subculture of BDSM.

A Seattle dominatrix named Mistress Matisse called any non-negotiated encounter “ABUSE. End of story.” Others expressed hope that it would increase public understanding of BDSM and help highlight the distinction between its traditions and non-consensual violence.

Ronan Farrow, co-author of the New Yorker story that first revealed the allegations against Schneiderman, told CNN that the accusers made clear “that this was not role-playing, that this was not ‘Fifty Shades of Grey.’ It wasn’t in a gray area at all.”

Ej Dickson, an editor with MensHealth.com who writes often about dating and sex, wrote Tuesday that the kink community “puts a premium on consent.”

“It is one of the very basic tenets of BDSM,” she wrote. “Often, sex acts will be negotiated beforehand in the form of contracts, and either way, anyone practicing BDSM responsibly will implement a ‘safe word’ to make it clear if they are uncomfortable with anything happening.”

There have been previous cases where a man accused of violence toward women contended that the incidents in question occurred during consensual “rough sex.”

That was the gist of the defense by Jian Ghomeshi, a former Canadian Broadcasting Corp. radio host who was acquitted in 2016 of multiple charges of sexual assault involving three women. He was fired after the allegations surfaced.

The so-called “preppie killer” Robert Chambers used a “rough sex” defense during his 1988 trial for the killing of 18-year-old Jennifer Levin in New York City’s Central Park. Chambers was convicted and served 15 years in prison.

The anger directed at Schneiderman echoed, in some ways, the LGBT’s community’s outrage at Kevin Spacey after he was accused by fellow actor Anthony Rapp of making sexual advances on him during a party in 1986, when Rapp was 14 and Spacey was 26.

Many gay activists were furious that Spacey, in asserting he didn’t remember an encounter with Rapp, took the opportunity to come out as a gay man — a step he’d previously avoided despite long-running speculation about his sexual orientation.

Jillian Keenan, author of the BDSM memoir “Sex with Shakespeare,” mentioned both Spacey and Ghomeshi in an email to The Associated Press reflecting on the Schneiderman case.

“Just as sex without consent is rape, kink without consent doesn’t exist – that’s assault,” Keenan wrote.

MOORHEAD, Minn. — A judge says a Moorhead man must serve 10 years in prison for the shooting death of a man who was living in his garage.

KFGO radio reports that 26-year-old Neil Johnson killed Jacob Glover, of West Fargo, North Dakota, during an argument outside Johnson’s home last April. Prosecutors say Johnson and Glover were arguing over coins that Glover had tried to steal from the father of a man that both of them knew.

Johnson admitted that he had taken methamphetamine earlier in the day.

Customer complaints led to criminal charges Tuesday for a 31-year-old Minnesota man accused of bilking the elderly out of snow-removal payments in Minnesota, Wisconsin and seven other states.

The Wisconsin Justice Department  on Tuesday announced five theft charges — two felonies and three misdemeanors — against Matthew D. Erickson, the owner of Snow Angels LLC.

Erickson, a Cottage Grove resident ran an unsuccessful 2016 Republican bid for Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District, was being held in the Hennepin County jail Wednesday without bail while awaiting extradition to Wisconsin.

Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel alleges Erickson contracted snow removal jobs for 111 customers and never completed the work. The attorney general’s office, which is prosecuting the case, noted that many of Erickson’s customers were older than 60.

Prosecutors said Erickson owes his victims more than $50,000.

Allegations against Erickson first came to light in March when the Better Business Bureau issued a warning about Snow Angels and its allegedly unfulfilled services.

According to complaint, a woman acting as power of attorney for her 92-year-old father reported Erickson to Elm Grove, Wis., police after she paid the company $625 for a full season of snow removal that never took place. Attempts by the woman to contact Snow Angels went to inactive telephone numbers and an email address that didn’t respond.

The complainant turned to the BBB, which had a number on file for Snow Angels. That number connected with a woman in Florida who said she, too, had contracted with the company for snow removal at her mother’s home in Milwaukee, according to the complaint.

The reports led to a BBB investigation that turned up “a large scale, nationwide criminal theft scheme” perpetrated by Erickson, the complaint states.

The charging document states Erickson launched the business in September 2017, with an Eden Prairie address. He registered it with a post office box in his Wisconsin filing, the complaint states, which goes on to note P.O. boxes were used in other states, as well.

The complaint states Erickson sold the services last fall, took fees in varying amounts “and never performed services in Wisconsin,” the charging document states. Seventeen of the Wisconsin victims were elderly, which prosecutors said enhances the theft charges in those cases.

Authorities said anyone else with information about Erickson or Snow Angels can call Wisconsin Department of Justice consumer protection investigators at 608-266-8063.

An Anoka County school bus driver is accused of texting while driving and looking up jokes on her cellphone.

Brenda Carsten, 39, is charged in Anoka County District Court with more than a dozen misdemeanor and gross-misdemeanor charges of child endangerment. Her first court appearance is June 6.

Authorities say the charges stem from video and audio taken on the bus in Blaine on Feb. 6 showing Carsten driving erratically and children moving around the bus while it was on the road.

Carsten allegedly had both hands off the steering wheel and was looking up “your mama” jokes on her phone. At one point, authorities say she handed the cellphone to a student to read the jokes over the bus intercom.

A phone number for Carsten could not be found.

Traffic was diverted from Minnesota 95 in northern Washington County Tuesday night so a helicopter could land on the highway to transport a man who was critically injured after jumping from the Arcola High Bridge, six miles north of Stillwater.

The man who was injured, a 22-year-old from Roseville, was flown to Regions Hospital in St. Paul, said St. Croix County Sheriff Scott Knudson.

A deputy from St. Croix County went to the railroad bridge about 8:30 p.m. after the man called 911 and hung up. Officials tracked his cell phone to the middle of the bridge and attempted to call him back with no success, Knudson said.

The man’s name was on his caller ID, however, and a 2009 Pontiac G6 found on the Wisconsin side of the St. Croix River was registered in his name, Knudson said.

The man was standing on the 180-foot-high bridge when the deputy arrived.

“As soon as the deputy stepped onto the bridge, he identified himself,” Knudson said. “Without hesitation, the person grabbed the railing and vaulted over.”

The deputy made his way down the rocky terrain to find the man conscious and semi-alert on land, he said.

The man was taken by boat to the Minnesota side of the river by a crew from the Stillwater Fire Department, said Fire Chief Stuart Glaser.

FOR HELP: The National Suicide Prevention lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) will route people to the nearest crisis center. Information is available at save.org.

A St. Paul man was charged Wednesday with stalking and making threats of violence to Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton.

The man allegedly left several voicemails for Dayton. They included him saying, “All I want is your (expletives) office executed … I want (Homeland Security, the Secret Service, or the FBI, or a hospital) to execute you in a painful manner for your treason …” and “You can start counting the (expletives) days you have left to walk the earth.”

David Alexander Tourville, 57, called Dayton three times in January and four more in April, according to a criminal complaint filed in Ramsey County District Court.

In his calls, Tourville suggested that Dayton kill himself, accused him of treason and suggested that either the Treasury Department or the people would kill Dayton in the near future, among other threats, the charges said.

Recent efforts by law enforcement to contact him have been unsuccessful, the complaint said.

The governor’s office had no comment Wednesday.

The Minnesota State Patrol previously had contact with Tourville in March 2015 regarding another voicemail left on the governor’s reception line.

Later that year, he was charged with stalking for calling a Ramsey County official 60 times, expressing threats and profane language. The calls were related to property that had been forfeited for failure to pay taxes, according to the 2015 criminal complaint. He was found incompetent to stand trial and the complaint was dismissed.

Some of Tourville’s comments to Dayton last month referenced the forfeiture.

“I told you, stealing my house was gonna cost you and your (expletives) state more money than any house you have ever (expletive) stolen from anybody before. And now it’s going to cost you your life on top of it,” Tourville said, according to charges.

Tourville does not have any felony convictions on his record.

Dave Orrick contributed to this report. 

The Minnesota Department of Health has received reports of callers posing as being from the department and asking for personal and business information, including credit card numbers.

The department said it appeared to have been subjected to this “spoofing” attack, a practice used to falsify the telephone number or name on caller IDs to disguise the identity of the real caller.

These calls have been designed to appear to come from MDH’s main phone number of 651-201-5700. These calls are not being made by MDH, and MDH urges recipients of suspicious calls to not give out any personal or financial information.

With the increased use of technology that allows people to make calls using the internet, spoofing has become more common.

“This is a type of attack, among many methods, that we are seeing with increasing frequency and sophistication in Minnesota, and we have been working to raise this issue at the Legislature this session,” said Aaron Call, the state’s chief information security officer. “This example is demonstrative of the tactics used every day by those intent on stealing our personal information or disrupting the important services on which so many Minnesotans rely.”

Persons shouldn’t give out personal information in response to an incoming call. Identity thieves will pose as representatives of banks, credit card companies or government organizations to get people to reveal their personal financial information.

A Bloomington woman is accused of beating and choking her roommate to death last weekend in the sober home apartment where they lived.

Donna Mae Bastyr, 46, was charged Wednesday with second-degree murder in the death of 69-year-old Corrine Gibbs, according to a criminal complaint filed in Hennepin County District Court.

Bastyr is currently in custody, according to the Hennepin County attorney’s office.

Bloomington police were dispatched about 8:10 p.m. Sunday to an apartment in the 8100 Block of 12th Avenue, where they found Gibbs dead on her bedroom floor, the criminal complaint said. Gibbs had several bloody injuries on her face and head, as well as an electrical cord wrapped around her neck.

One of Gibbs’ two roommates, identified in court documents as Witness 1, told investigators she had been away from the apartment all weekend and called 911 when she returned to find Gibbs’ body, according to the complaint.

Police soon found Bastyr, Gibbs’ other roommate, assaulting her boyfriend in the parking lot of another nearby sober living home after receiving a report of a domestic disturbance, the complaint said.

Bastyr told police she had not been at her apartment since noon that day, when she left to spend time with her boyfriend, according to the complaint.

Bastyr’s boyfriend told investigators that Bastyr was very drunk on Sunday and admitted over the phone that she had killed Gibbs and asked him to help her hide Gibbs’ body, the complaint said.

The boyfriend said Bastyr was angry at Gibbs because she believed Gibbs had reported her for drinking at the sober home, which was prohibited, according to the complaint.

GARFIELD, Minn. — A man died of a gunshot wound Wednesday at a rural home near Alexandria in west-central Minnesota.

At about 4:10 p.m., the Douglas County sheriff’s office said, authorities received a 911 call about a domestic disturbance in progress near the town of Garfield, about 10 miles northwest of Alexandria.

As law enforcement officers were responding to the scene, they were advised by a dispatcher that a firearm was involved and that shots had been fired.

Upon arrival, deputies talked to three people who were present at the residence during the disturbance, according to the sheriff’s office. The three were all uninjured.

Deputies then found one person in the residence who had died. According to police scanner traffic, the victim was a man.

The case remains under investigation by the sheriff’s office and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

Sheriff Troy Wolbersen emphasized that the shooting was an isolated incident and that there is no further threat to public safety.

A Brooklyn Center pastor is accused of sexually assaulting a woman during a spiritual guidance session.

The Hennepin County attorney’s office says 55-year-old Meally Freeman faces two felony counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct in the alleged incident last September.

A 28-year-old woman reported she was sexually assaulted during a private religious ritual with Freeman at the Grace Mountaineer Tabernacle Church in Brooklyn Center. She told police that she had known Freeman for several years and considered him her spiritual father.

Freeman did not immediately respond to an Associated Press request for comment Thursday.

A string of early-morning break-ins Friday in Roseville has police urging residents to take precautions and asking for help as they investigate.

At least two residents called police after burglars had entered their homes. In a third home, burglars broke in and stole electronics and other items before stealing two vehicles from the garage, according to Roseville police. The times ranged from 2 a.m. to 5:15 a.m.

There were also a number of additional reports made by residents of attempted burglaries and thefts from autos in the neighborhoods. The incidents appear centered around the intersection of Chandler and Glenwood avenues, as well as the community around the 1700 block of Alameda Street.

CHECK YOUR HOMES, SECURITY VIDEO

Residents in those and nearby neighborhoods are encourage to check their residences and vehicles for anything missing or suspicious, a statement by Roseville police said. If you’ve been a victim, call 911.

Residents with security systems are also asked to review their Friday-morning videos for anything that may help identify the suspects and to call police.

TAKE PRECAUTIONS

Roseville police urged residents take the following precautions to ward of potential thieves.

• Lock all doors and windows. Don’t make it easy for them. And don’t forget garage, patio and porch doors.
• Lock cars, too. Don’t leave valuables in vehicles. Don’t leave garage door openers in vehicles parked outside the garage.
• Keep lights on or use motion-sensor lighting.
• Report suspicious activity. Get a description of the person or vehicle and note which direction they are traveling.
• Know your neighbors.

WHO TO CALL

Anyone with information about these cases is asked to call Roseville police at 651-792-7008. Tips can also be submitted anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or through the Crime Stoppers website at http://crimestoppersmn.org.

People with minor warrants can find their lives derailed if they have to go to jail for it — they might miss work or have to find someone to take care of their kids.

Ramsey County and community groups are offering a solution on Saturday.

Anyone with a misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor warrant in Ramsey County can attend Warrant Resolution Day at a high school in St. Paul. Officials and community members are telling people they don’t have to fear being arrested there.

“It’s giving people a chance to move on with their lives,” said Jana Kooren, American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota public education and communications director. “Having a warrant out for a relatively minor offense can make it hard to get a job and with housing, and it’s problematic because there’s not an easy way to resolve a warrant.”

Community groups and public-safety officials are aiming to make it easier for people on Saturday.

Public defenders, prosecutors and judges will be at the High School of Recording Arts.

Anyone who doesn’t have a felony warrant in the county and who shows up will be able to get their warrant quashed and, in many instances, a resolution in their case, according to Gwen Upton, Second Judicial District criminal division administrator.

That could range from a judge dismissing a case, sentencing someone to community service, or setting a future court date.

There will also be representatives from Minnesota Driver and Vehicle Services to provide people with information about getting their driver’s licenses restored, Upton said.

The last warrant resolution event was held in Ramsey County in 2015. There were 54 cases handled then and authorities are hoping to handle at least 150 cases Saturday “to clear as many warrants as possible” and to help individuals, Upton said.

As of Friday, there were 1,817 active gross misdemeanor warrants and 5,463 active misdemeanor warrants in Ramsey County.

Ramsey County District Court Judge Tim Mulrooney said he believes many warrants for low-level offenses are issued because people don’t appear in court. It could be that the individual didn’t receive a notice about their court date because they’re homeless or having to move frequently because of poverty, he said.

“While warrants are perhaps a necessary tool, they’re a pretty heavy-handed tool,” Mulrooney said. But he said the court system wants to build trust with the community to show, “We’re here to treat people fairly.”

There has been preliminary discussion about finding ways to more regularly offer people a way to resolve minor warrants without going to jail, Mulrooney said.

People from the ACLU, NAACP and Ujamaa Place have been helping get out the word about Saturday’s event, including reassuring anyone “nervous that it’s not going to be a trap,” which was a sentiment they heard from some, Kooren said.

IF YOU GO

What: Warrant Resolution Event for people with misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor warrants in Ramsey County
When: Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Where: High School of Recording Arts, 1166 W. University Ave., St. Paul
More info: ramseycounty.us/warrantday, which includes a link to look up whether you have a warrant in Ramsey County

A New Hope man has been sentenced to more than 45 years in prison for a crime spree in Mendota Heights in July that included the killing of 48-year-old Beverly Cory of Maplewood, who was working a weekend shift as a financial adviser when she was gunned down in her office.

Dakota County District Judge Christian Wilton sentenced Lucifer Vincent Nguyen, 45, on Friday, just three days after Nguyen pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and two counts of aggravated robbery.

On July 29, Nguyen, on the run after robbing a grandmother at gunpoint in Mendota Heights and crashing his car into a pond, dashed into Cory’s office building. The career criminal happened on Cory, shooting her once in the head.

Nguyen, who did not make a statement at the sentencing hearing, was to be immediately transferred to the custody of the state Department of Corrections and will serve a minimum of 30 years in prison, the Dakota County attorney’s office said in a statement Friday.

“We seldom see random crimes of extreme violence of this nature,” said Jim Backstrom, county attorney. “These senseless acts of violence have devastated the family and friends of Beverly Cory and significantly traumatized the other victims. We are pleased to have brought the defendant to justice. He clearly deserves the lengthy prison sentence he has received.”

At the hearing, five impact statements were read by Cory’s family members and one by the grandmother whom Nguyen robbed at gunpoint.

Cory’s five sisters also issued a public statement afterward, saying that their “world has been changed forever.”

“One of our sisters is missing,” the statement read. “We had the privilege and honor of being Beverly’s family before she was so senselessly taken from us. Although we have four other sisters who we love with all our hearts, there is an emptiness inside of us due to Beverly’s death that will haunt us every day for the rest of our lives.”

The family also thanked the county attorney’s office, as well as Mendota Heights police, the Dakota County sheriff’s office and other local and state law enforcement agencies that had a hand in taking Nguyen into custody.

WHAT HAPPENED

About 9 a.m. July 29, Mendota Heights police were dispatched to an armed robbery at a home in the 1600 block of Delaware Avenue, where a woman, identified in court documents as “NJ,” told officers that Nguyen had stolen her wallet and some other cash at gunpoint before fleeing in a white Toyota, according to the criminal complaint against Nguyen.

Officers tried to stop the car a short time later, but Nguyen sped off and crashed into a pond, where the car was soon found by police with no one inside. The car contained items that tied Nguyen to the vehicle, as well as an empty Glock handgun case and NJ’s wallet.

About the same time, officers were dispatched to a Mendota Heights senior care facility, where Nguyen had forced his way inside and stole an employee’s building keys. While that facility was being evacuated, officers received a report that blood was seeping out beneath the door of an office suite in a building across the street.

When officers entered the office suite, they found Cory dead, with a 9 mm cartridge case near her. She was working as a financial adviser for Edward Jones. Investigators also discovered her vehicle missing from the parking lot; it was later recovered at the Washington County Fairgrounds.

Hours after killing Cory, Nguyen encountered an off-duty St. Paul firefighter who was working in his yard in Lake Elmo. Nguyen offered the man up to $300 in cash to drive him to Mystic Lake Casino in Prior Lake. The firefighter declined and Nguyen walked away, the firefighter told the Pioneer Press at the time.

Nguyen remained on the lam for two days, prompting officials to advise residents to lock their doors and remain inside.

Nguyen was arrested July 31 with the help of his brother during a traffic stop in Blaine. Inside the car, officers found a Garmin GPS that belonged to Cory.

Five days before Cory’s killing, Nguyen was released from the Douglas County, Wis., jail after posting bond relating to felony drug and battery charges. He allegedly had possessed nearly a pound of methamphetamine and while in custody assaulted another inmate.

In Minnesota, Nguyen has convictions for misdemeanor theft and drunken driving.

A 25-year-old Farmington woman was released from custody Friday after a search of her rental home where she ran a nonprofit animal rescue operation uncovered 60 dead cats and more than 40 other neglected animals.

Caycee Bregel, who runs the Minnesota Animal Rescue, formerly called Minnesota Foster Cats, was arrested Wednesday following a complaint of a pig being loose on the property on 250th Street. Bregel also owns Next Level Fitness at 109 Elm St. in Farmington.

Agent Keith Streff with the Animal Humane Society in Golden Valley said Bregel may yet be charged with animal cruelty once the investigation is complete.

Neighbors said the pig had been roaming free since February, sometimes eating out of their bird feeders.

Dakota County sheriff’s deputies executed a search warrant on the property Wednesday.

The Humane Society, which had given Bregel many of the cats, removed the animals from the residence.

Keri Bedeaux, owner of Protecting Paws Animal Rescue in Prior Lake, came to the home to help out and was admitted entrance by Bregel.

“I am still traumatized by what I saw,” Bedeaux said. She placed the pig in a sanctuary. “It was very clear that it was neglect and abuse.” She described filth, feces and food bags torn open by the cats.

Bedeaux said she thinks Bregel meant well at first, but became overwhelmed.

Tania Richter, owner of Fur-Ever Home Rescue in Zimmerman, blames the Humane Society for giving the animals to Bregel in the first place.

“I kept reporting her, but no one listened,” she said.

Richter said Bregel received thousands of dollars in donations to help place the animals that would otherwise be euthanized.

Streff said he knew about the controversy between Bregel and other rescue groups, but could not provide details.

A motorist who struck and killed a Wayzata police officer as he removed debris from a highway last September has been sentenced to more than eight years in prison.

Fifty-four-year-old Beth Freeman of Mound pleaded guilty to criminal vehicular homicide in the death of 47-year-old officer Bill Mathews and was sentenced to 98 months on Friday. She’ll be eligible for parole in about 5½ years.

She is already incarcerated at the women’s prison in Shakopee after receiving a 17-month sentence in November for felony drug possession. That prison term will be served concurrently with Friday’s sentence.

Authorities say Freeman, who had a criminal record and no valid driver’s license, was on drugs and texting behind the wheel when she hit Mathews with her SUV the afternoon of Sept. 8. She admitted in court Friday to having used cocaine before the crash.

Freeman said she did not see Mathews “until he stood up.” However, she agreed with a Hennepin County prosecutor’s question that she was driving her car in a negligent manner.

“I hold myself accountable for this accident and the heartbreaking results that followed where a good officer in the community lost his life and, most importantly, a wife lost her husband and a son lost his father,” Freeman said when asked if she wanted to say anything.

In her victim impact statement, Mathews’ wife, Shawn, said the impact of the crash severed her husband’s spinal cord, lacerated all of his organs and broke many of his bones.

“The selfish act of getting behind the wheel without a license and (under the influence) was cold and malicious,” Shawn Mathews told Hennepin County District Judge Tamara Garcia. “Bill was taken in the sweet spot of his life.”

The couple’s son Wyatt, who was 7 at the time of his father’s death, wore a specially fitted Wayzata police officer’s uniform in court and told Garcia that he can no longer play with his father.

“That makes me feel sad and lonely,” he said. “Her actions changed my life forever.”

Gov. Mark Dayton this month signed a bill into law designating a section of U.S. 12 within Wayzata city limits as “Officer Bill Mathews Memorial Highway.”

HUDSON, Wis. — A former Hudson pediatric dentist was being investigated on accusations of unnecessarily pulling children’s teeth, billing fraud and overuse of laughing gas when he surrendered his license to practice last month.

Documents obtained through a public records request show Dr. Andy Mancini was being investigated in seven different cases by Wisconsin’s Department of Safety and Professional Services.

The alleged violations included engaging in practices that constitute a substantial danger to patients, according to records.

Cases investigated by the state agency resulted in criminal charges and a civil suit brought by the state for falsified Medicaid claims.

An attorney for Mancini, who lives in Woodbury, Minn., previously said he would not comment on legal matters involving his client. Mancini denied all allegations in a Wisconsin Dentistry Examining Board document outlining the permanent surrender of his license in Wisconsin.

Dozens of allegations

A 2016 memo from the state alleged 37 separate complaints, including multiple reports of unnecessary tooth extractions, billing problems, children being held down, “aggressive procedures” and a threat to a child.

Among the allegations outlined:

• Patients were billed for treatments that weren’t performed.
• A child was held down while “kicking, pinching and clawing to get out of the seat during an extraction procedure,” during an unnecessary extraction procedure that a parent was not allowed to sit in on.

A dentist from the Department of Human Services Office of the Inspector General conducted an audit — generated by patient complaints — that revealed:

• Mancini used the sedative nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, at levels sometimes reaching a 70 percent concentration of nitrous oxide-to-oxygen, about double the recommended concentrations of 30-40 percent nitrous oxide for children.
• Patient files included “grossly mislabeled” X-ray files. The audit noted that Mancini would take the same six X-rays each time he’d see a patient. Medicaid, the report notes, reimburses for up to six X-rays on any date of service.

In a November 2016 interview with investigators, Mancini denied performing unnecessary work, but admitted to the possibility of billing errors “due to the incompetence of previous staff.”

Mancini told investigators he allowed parents in the room while he’s performing exams, but discourages family from being present during procedures “because it can be distracting” and can lead to anxiety for patients.

Kirsten Reader, assistant deputy secretary of the Department of Safety and Professional Services, said Mancini voluntarily surrendered his license April 10. She said that happened during the investigations — the outcomes of which could have led to revocation of his license.

Parent complaints

The latest allegations didn’t surprise former La Petite client Rebecca Viebrock of Hudson

She said that after being initially impressed with La Petite’s kid-friendly atmosphere, she found herself having to return over and over.

“I practically lived at that place,” she said.

She grew skeptical, but she said her questions about X-rays and cavities were met with defensiveness from Mancini.

Viebrock said La Petite was one of the only dentists in the area that took state insurance. Without La Petite — where she also received dental care — Viebrock said she and her children are left without options in the area.

Stillwater resident Ashley Foley said she’s also in search of answers after learning about allegations of questionable care at La Petite. She said she took her children there for two years beginning in 2012 and never questioned the multiple tooth-pullings Mancini recommended.

“What if this didn’t need to happen?” she said.