Attorneys for the former Minneapolis police officer convicted of fatally shooting an unarmed woman in 2017 plan to ask a sentencing judge for no prison time.
If that’s not granted, they’re seeking less prison time than state sentencing guidelines recommend.
Mohamed Noor’s lawyers filed a motion Thursday asking for a “dispositional departure” when he is sentenced June 7 for third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the fatal shooting of Justine Ruszczyk Damond, a dual citizen of the U.S. and Australia. She had called 911 to report a possible crime.
The Star Tribune reports Noor’s attorneys say he would be amenable to probation, in part citing his attitude in court and remorse. The maximum prison term for third-degree murder is 25 years. The maximum sentence for second-degree manslaughter is 10 years.
Burnsville police are investigating a shooting that left a 27-year-old man dead early Friday.
At about 1 a.m., Burnsville police and paramedics responded to multiple 911 calls of gunshots being heard in the area of 13100 South Harriet Avenue. The man was found dead in the parking lot of a nearby apartment complex. He had multiple gunshot wounds.
Police said Friday afternoon that there are no suspects in custody, but officers are following several leads.
Police believe it was an isolated incident and not random, and that there does not appear to be any ongoing threat to the general public. The investigation is active and ongoing.
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call the Burnsville police tip line at 952-641-1105.
The man’s identity will be released by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s office.
It was a normal day at the Ramsey County jail until a shout from a correctional officer grabbed the attention of inmates nearby.
Deonte Blackwell turned around from the television he was watching and saw another inmate was on the second floor, getting ready to climb over the railing. The officer was telling the inmate to get off the guardrail.
“I jumped up like, ‘Oh my goodness, I cannot believe this is happening right now,’ ” Blackwell said Friday. “I knew something wasn’t right, so I rushed over there.”
He figured the man would immediately jump, and he initially thought he could catch him. But then he realized the man was hesitating. Blackwell saw a laundry cart out of the corner of his eye and knew it was his chance to grab the cart and position it underneath the man.
Working together with two other men who are also locked up at the Ramsey County jail, they were able to safely catch the man in the wheeled bin.
“Those three guys are heroes,” said Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher on Friday, the day after he met and commended them. “They saved another inmate. … There’s far more humanity in our jail than most people think.”
As the Ramsey County jail and other detention centers see more people struggling with mental illness, officials say they have been focusing on improving services for inmates and making their facilities safer.
About 10 detention facilities in the state have added higher railings or already had enhanced railings, according to the Minnesota Department of Corrections. The Ramsey and Washington county jails are the latest to take on the projects.
An example of suicide prevention barriers, which will be installed on second-floor tiers of the Ramsey County jail. (Courtesy of the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office)
At the Ramsey County jail, they plan to begin construction on the first suicide prevention barriers to a second-floor housing tier in August. And the county’s Board of Commissioners is due to vote Tuesday on funding capital improvement projects, including an additional $800,000 for suicide prevention barriers.
In Washington County, the sheriff’s office has been evaluating further security measures at the jail for the past six months and hopes to move forward on the project this year. An inmate died after jumping from an upper housing tier last summer.
HELPING ‘ONE SOUL’
The men who saved the inmate at the Ramsey County jail Wednesday didn’t know him. He’d been there a few days and didn’t talk much, they said.
It was about 7 p.m. Wednesday, and Austin Dirkx was talking on the phone with his girlfriend. He also heard the correctional officer holler and ran to help.
The officer ran up the stairs to the second floor and radioed to other correctional officers, said Steve Lydon, Ramsey County jail superintendent. He was about 5 feet away from the man when he jumped.
On the floor below, Blackwell, 33, positioned the laundry bin. Dirkx, 23, and Rodolfo Hernandez del Angel, 27, were on each side of it.
The man tried to jump over the bin, but Blackwell moved the cart to catch him, Lydon said.
“It was brilliant of him to think about grabbing the laundry basket and being able to manipulate it underneath him,” Fletcher said of Blackwell, who wears a different color jumpsuit from most inmates because he is a “swamper” — an inmate who because of good behavior is allowed to take on janitorial work, which comes with extra recreational time and an additional meal.
Lydon estimates it was at least a 20-foot fall from the top of the railing to the ground. A man died two years ago at the Ramsey County jail after jumping from the same distance.
On Wednesday night, Drikx and Hernandez del Angel helped guide the man into the cart, which was half full of laundry and cushioned his fall.
The man had a sore ankle but was otherwise uninjured, Lydon said. He was put on suicide watch and referred to mental health services at the jail.
“Everything happened so fast, and it was actually a harrowing experience for me because I’ve lost friends and people who were like family members to suicide,” Blackwell said. “If I can help one soul, that makes me feel good.”
Dirkx said he, too, has mourned people who died by suicide and overdoses.
“Life is so precious, and you don’t ever want to see anyone ever take their life like that, you know?” he said. “I’ll always rise to the occasion to help someone.”
ROCHESTER, Minn. — A former Red Wing High School soccer coach was arrested on May 29 for charges of criminal sexual activity with two 14-year-old girls. The allegations currently are not tied to his time in Red Wing.
Dustin Gary Beckman, 31, Rochester, was arrested following an investigation that began in March, said Capt. Scott Behrns of the Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office.
The case began with allegations of inappropriate touching at an off-season soccer training session while coaching at Dover-Eyota High School last December.
Dustin Beckman. (Courtesy photo via Forum News Service)
As that investigation progressed, Behrns said, authorities learned of another case in which Beckman is alleged to have engaged in forced sexual contact with a 14-year-old girl from July 2016 through December 2017. The alleged assaults occurred at Beckman’s Rochester residence, Behrns said. The victim was known to Beckman through soccer-related activities.
“We are very concerned with the things we found” during the investigation, Behrns said. He said it is “quite possible” there are other victims and made a public request for them to come forward.
Beckman coached soccer in Red Wing from 2011-2012 and during a portion of the 2012-2013 season, according to Superintendent Karsten Anderson.
Beckman was employed by Dover-Eyota from August to December 2018. He was listed as head girls soccer coach as of last August.
Beckman is in custody at the Olmsted County Adult Detention Center and was expected to be arraigned Friday on charges of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct in the first case, and first-degree criminal sexual conduct and third-degree criminal sexual conduct in the second case.
Beckman was interim soccer coach at Winona State in 2017, and coached the Winona High School team for four years previous to that, according to news reports. He had also coached with Rochester Youth Soccer.
People can reach the Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office at 507-328-6800.
Police say six people found on a South St. Paul lawn late Saturday — most of them unconscious and not breathing — had accidentally overdosed.
Medics responding to a 10 p.m. call in the 200 block of Bircher Avenue attempted to revive the people with Narcan, a drug that reverses the effects of an overdose, South St. Paul police said.
Investigators say that it appears the people had accidentally overdosed on an unknown substance. An officer from another agency who responded to the scene was taken to a hospital for exposure-related symptoms and has been released.
The six people were still in the hospital as of Sunday afternoon, and their conditions were not available.
A South Dakota couple riding a motorcycle was killed Saturday afternoon in Sibley County when a tractor driving on the same highway lost its trailer, which then struck the pair, according to the State Patrol.
Officials say Marvin Duane Fandrich, 60, and Kathy Lynn Fandrich, 61, both of Aberdeen, S.D., were on a 2016 Harley Davidson Ultra Limited traveling eastbound on Highway 19 in Arlington Township when the 4 p.m. accident occurred.
Curtis Marc Petzel, 60, was driving an International Tractor 1086 with a farm trailer behind it and traveling westbound when the trailer came loose and crossed into the eastbound lane, striking the motorcycle, sending it into the ditch.
The couple were pronounced dead at the scene.
Petzel, of Arlington, was involved in another fatal crash involving a motorcycle in 2017 on the same highway, according to State Patrol reports.
In the 2017 crash, Petzel was driving a Chevy Silverado pickup on Highway 19 when he rear-ended a Toyota Camry slowing to turn left onto 3rd Street Southeast. The impact caused the Camry to spin into the eastbound lanes of the highway where it was struck by a man driving a 2016 Harley Davidson motorcycle.
The driver of the motorcycle, Brian Reynold Severin, 59, of Gaylord, Minn., died at the scene. The Toyota driver was taken to the hospital with non life-threatening injuries.
Petzel was convicted of misdemeanor careless driving in the 2017 crash. He was not injured in either crash.
A 17-year-old Blaine teen swimming with friends drowned Saturday night, according to the Anoka County sheriff’s office.
Investigators say that shortly before 8 p.m. Tim Cao Nguyen, 17, was swimming with two friends at Coon Lake Beach, east of East Bethel, when he began to struggle in deeper water and then went under.
He was later found by others at the beach and brought to shore. Bystanders and then deputies attempted CPR on the teen. He was taken to the Hennepin County Medical Center and pronounced dead.
A man who threw a 5-year-old boy from a third-floor balcony at the Mall of America in Minnesota has been sentenced to 19 years in prison.
Emmanuel Deshawn Aranda
Emmanuel Aranda showed little emotion and said almost nothing as he was sentenced Monday in Minneapolis. The 24-year-old Minneapolis man pleaded guilty last month to attempted premeditated first-degree murder in the April 12 attack.
Authorities say Aranda told investigators he went to the mall “looking for someone to kill.” The child survived the attack but has required multiple surgeries for head trauma and broken bones.
His parents, who have requested privacy, had impact statements read in court. The boy’s father told Aranda ,”You chose to take your hate and your hurt out on my precious boy.”
Aranda’s mother, Becky, said her son is mentally ill. She said he belongs in a mental hospital, not prison.
The man fatally shot in Burnsville early Friday has been identified as Hassan Mohamed Hassan Ibrahim.
Ibrahim, 27, died of multiple gunshot wounds in the 13100 block of South Harriet Avenue, the Hennepin County medical examiner’s office said Monday.
Police said Monday afternoon that no suspects were in custody, but officers were following several leads.
Around 1 a.m., Burnsville police and paramedics responded to area of multiple 911 calls of gunshots being heard in the area. Ibrahim was found dead in the parking lot of a nearby apartment complex.
Ibrahim’s criminal record in Minnesota included four convictions for petty misdemeanor marijuana possession, the most recent coming in January 2018 in Hennepin County. In April 2018, Ibrahim was convicted in Dakota County of gross misdemeanor financial transaction card fraud.
MOORHEAD, Minn. — Abby Rudolph died in 2016 at the age of 19 when she was an inmate in the Clay County Jail.
The circumstances of the Fargo, N.D., woman’s death are the subject of a civil lawsuit that’s making its way through U.S. District Court. The lawsuit asserts that after nearly four days in jail Rudolph died on Nov. 3, 2016, from a lack of medical care that surpassed “mere negligence” to something that shocks “the conscience.”
By contrast, a state agency’s review of the Clay County Jail after Rudolph’s death determined that the jail had displayed professionalism and treated Rudolph with compassion.
Rudolph’s mother, Jill Rudolph, who filed the wrongful death lawsuit in early 2018, died in December 2018 at the age of 52. In an interview, Craig Casler said it’s believed his sister, Abby’s mother, likely died of a medical condition after lying down to take a nap, but he suspects there was more to it than that.
Abby Lee Rudolph (Courtesy photo)
“She died of grief. She could not go on,” said Casler, who feels his sister simply could not endure another Christmas without Abby.
The wrongful death lawsuit states that at the time of her death Abby Rudolph was struggling with an addiction that started when she became hooked on pain medication while recovering from a broken hip she suffered during her junior year in high school.
It was that addiction that led to her arrest the afternoon of Oct. 30, 2016, in connection with a shoplifting incident, according to the suit, which says Rudolph began experiencing withdrawal symptoms shortly after her arrival at the jail.
The suit claims Rudolph’s symptoms were brought to the attention of jail officials the evening of Oct. 31, 2016, by fellow inmates concerned about her health.
The inmates wrote a note to jail officials stating Rudolph had not been eating or drinking, and they urged that she be monitored because of her deteriorating condition, according to the suit.
The suit states Rudolph informed a jail officer at 5 a.m. on Nov. 1, 2016, that she could not eat her breakfast, and jail records indicate it was at about that time jail officials became aware of sporadic bouts of vomiting that would continue until about 2 p.m. on Nov. 3, 2016.
At that time, the suit states, a jail officer and a nurse noted that Rudolph appeared sluggish and was cool to the touch.
The nurse and jail staff decided to take Rudolph to the shower, but once there Rudolph became unsteady and sat on the floor, where her body began to jerk and she appeared “catatonic,” according to the suit.
Rudolph lost control of her bodily functions about the time an ambulance arrived and medics began working on her, according to the suit, which says Rudolph was moved to the ambulance in the parking lot and shortly afterward resuscitation efforts were discontinued.
The suit states that during her stay in the jail Rudolph received no treatment other than being put on a liquid diet and did not see a doctor at any point while incarcerated.
Defendants named in the suit include MEnD Correctional Care, a company that provided the jail with health care services; the jail nurse; and Clay County, including a number of county employees.
Claims made in the suit include allegations Rudolph was denied access to adequate medical care and that the county failed to adequately train employees.
Defendants respond
Court papers filed by Clay County say that when Rudolph was brought into the jail she denied using drugs or alcohol and denied having any medical problems.
Abby Lee Rudolph
The county’s court filings also state that on the evening of Nov. 1, 2016, Rudolph told a jail officer she was detoxing from heroin, and Rudolph was moved to a high-risk holding cell and placed on medical watch. From Nov. 2 to Nov. 3, 2016, the filings say, jail officers “continued to address Rudolph’s needs” while regularly checking on her condition.
At about 4:30 a.m. on Nov. 3, 2016, a jail officer gave Rudolph a new vomit bag and 30 minutes later she was given juice, milk and Gatorade for her breakfast. Around noon that day, a jail officer offered Rudolph her hour out of her cell, but she declined, according to papers filed by the county.
Then, at about 2:07 p.m., a jail officer requested that a nurse come to the shower area because Rudolph was possibly having a seizure. About seven minutes later, the Moorhead Fire Department and an ambulance crew arrived and began providing medical care to Rudolph, according to the county’s answer to the suit.
The document says paramedics continued life support for Rudolph until a doctor at a local hospital gave them the order to discontinue such efforts at 2:52 p.m.
In its answer to the suit, MEnD lists a number of affirmative defenses, including the assertion that any damages Rudolph suffered were the result of preexisting and/or subsequent conditions and that any action or inaction on the part of MEnD employees was not a direct cause of any injury Rudolph suffered.
A death certificate on file with the Minnesota Department of Health’s Office of Vital Records says Rudolph died from acute bronchopneumonia, a medical condition affecting the lungs. The certificate lists the manner of Rudolph’s death as natural and indicates neither injury nor trauma contributed to her death.
State review
The Minnesota Department of Corrections investigated Rudolph’s death, and in June 2017 the agency sent a report to then Clay County Sheriff Bill Bergquist.
The report, signed by Timothy Thompson, manager of the state Inspection and Enforcement Unit, says jail staff “appear to have been very compassionate and treated Ms. Rudolph very professionally.” The report also says staff appeared to take appropriate action based on knowledge of the situation.
The report notes that after Rudolph was placed on “seclusion checks,” video footage from the jail showed she was checked more frequently than every 15 minutes, though staff only logged checks at 15-minute intervals.
The report says corrective action was required, including a directive that jail staff be retrained to stress the importance of proper well-being checks and proper documentation of well-being checks.
Abby Rudolph’s death was just one of several deaths in the region in recent years involving drug use and withdrawal.
National experts on addiction and safe withdrawal in jails say there are ways to prevent such tragedies. The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse has found that 85 percent of incarcerated adults are substance involved, though just 10 percent of those incarcerated with addiction receive care.
The mother of a young woman killed by a teen driver in a St. Paul hit-and-run tearfully pushed back against the judge sentencing the driver Monday.
Sarah Wilson told Ramsey County District Judge Teresa Warner that it wasn’t fair that she had to bury her 22-year-old daughter, Taressa Diana Wilson-Snyder, because of Johnathan Yang’s decision on March 16. Wilson accused prosecutors of letting Yang off the hook for his crime because he was a “good kid from a good family.”
Wilson said: “I don’t understand how someone could do that and then just walk away. … My daughter cannot live her life, but he can … scot-free. Because he has a good background?”
Based on findings that the 17-year-old’s case was best suited for extended jurisdiction by the juvenile system, rather than trying him as an adult, Warner placed Yang on probation until he turns 21.
He also was ordered to pay restitution, attend therapy, complete restorative justice practices and do 12 hours of community service a month.
Taressa Diana Wilson-Snyder, 22, poses with her then 5-year-old daughter, Ka’Niyah Marie Lynn Wilson-Snyder. (Courtesy photo)
The 48-month prison sentence will be stayed so long as Yang abides by the terms of his probation.
His driver’s license also is revoked until his 21st birthday.
The teen sat quietly next to his attorney, father and mother during the emotional hearing.
Although Wilson accused him of showing no remorse, Yang said regret for his actions keeps him up at night.
“I just want to apologize for everything that has happened,” Yang said. “I never had any intention of hurting her … I think about (this) everyday.”
The teen started crying as he spoke.
“There are times when I do cry about it,” he continued. “If I could (go back), I would have stopped and checked and called for help. … It’s hard for me to go outside because of what I did.”
His mother wiped away tears as her son spoke.
Listening from a row in the courtroom gallery nearby, Wilson sobbed into the arms of a loved one.
Officers who responded to the crash scene at Maryland Avenue and Desoto Street around 2:30 a.m. March 16 found Wilson-Snyder unconscious and lying on her back in the street with several people gathered around her.
She was taken to Regions Hospital in critical condition but died there.
No one at the scene knew her or saw what happened, but officers found tire marks nearby and noted several pieces of what appeared to be “burnt orange” plastic pieces from a vehicle.
They used the fragments to put together a vehicle description and asked the public via media to contact investigators with any information about the crash.
Investigators were led to Yang after the owner of an auto shop in Maplewood called police to say that he saw news of the hit-and-run and was concerned that a vehicle he was asked to repair hours after the collision might have been involved.
Officers eventually determined that the vehicle belonged to Yang’s father.
Days later, Yang and his father agreed to speak with officers at police headquarters, where Yang admitted his involvement in the fatal crash after initially trying to deny it.
He said it was dark when he was returning from a friend’s house that night and didn’t see Wilson-Snyder, who he said was wearing black at the time.
He fled because he panicked, according to his statements to police.
An employee with the state’s probation department explained during the hearing Monday that staff opted against recommending Yang be placed out of the home during his probation due to his low likelihood of reoffending and the community’s ability to meet his needs through other programming.
Judge Warner told Wilson that while she would never claim to be able to understand what it was like to lose a child, she is bound by state law governing offenders granted extended juvenile status to sentence him to probation rather than send him to prison.
“I took an oath to follow the law,” Warner told Wilson.
“I’m sorry but the law stinks,” Wilson responded.
“I am certainly not going to argue with you,” Warner said. “I just wish the best for you and your granddaughter.”
Wilson-Snyder left behind a young daughter, who turned 6 in May.
Wilson said the little girl spent her birthday party crying because her mom wasn’t there.
The chaotic scene at the small house along Bircher Avenue was something not seen before by South St. Paul police and first responders.
As they pulled up around 10:30 p.m. Saturday, officers spotted three men lying on the ground outside. The men — between 25 and 28 years of age — were unresponsive and not breathing from overdosing after ingesting suspected opioids. Two other men were inside, also overdosing.
Emergency personnel began life-saving measures, including the use of Narcan, a drug that reverses the effects of an overdose.
“It was overwhelming,” South St. Paul Police Chief Bill Messerich said Monday. “You had five people that are near cardiac arrest. Typically, you see one.”
Then, a sixth man collapsed.
And an officer with Inver Grove Heights police, who were called in to assist at the scene, soon reported having exposure-related symptoms. He, too, was rushed to an area hospital.
Inver Grove Heights Police Chief Melissa Chiodo said Monday the officer was not exposed to the drug.
“We were lucky,” she said.
On Monday, South St. Paul residents near the home said a woman recently bought it and moved in with her son earlier this month. When contacted Monday, the woman said she did not want to comment about what happened.
ALL EXPECTED TO SURVIVE
Messerich said the six men are recovering and expected to survive. He said it was yet unclear what drug they had taken. “Tests are being done,” he said.
Chiodo said the early belief is the drug the men apparently consumed could have been cut with fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that people have been adding to heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana.
As a drug, fentanyl “suppresses your respiratory system and can cause respiratory arrest,” said Dakota County sheriff’s Capt. Chris Melton, commander of the county’s drug task force.
It’s common to see fentanyl in the drugs they’re seizing, Melton said. He didn’t have information Monday about whether that was the drug at work in the South St. Paul overdoses; he said they won’t know until testing is completed.
Fentanyl is being made overseas in clandestine labs, though people have no idea about “the potency of it and whether it’s made correctly,” Melton added.
ON THE WATCH FOR MORE CASES
The South St. Paul overdoses appear isolated “so far, but certainly that drug dealer didn’t bring in enough for just six people,” Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans said Monday.
“We will keep watching out to see if there are additional spikes,” he said.
In St. Paul, EMS personnel administered Narcan to nine people this weekend — more than in recent weekends (they used it four times the weekend before, one the weekend before that and two a weekend earlier), but there was no indication the cases were connected, said Ken Adams, deputy chief of emergency medical services for the St. Paul Fire Department. They happened at various times and in different parts of the city.
“Just because Narcan was given doesn’t necessarily mean it was an opioid overdose,” Adams said.
Narcan is an anti-overdose drug for opioids, but first responders can also use it if they encounter a person who is unconscious for unknown reasons. If the problem turns out not to be an opioid overdose, Narcan has no effect and doesn’t hurt the person.
In Dakota County, Melton said he knew offhand of 12 to 14 drug overdoses in the last couple of months, of which five or six were fatal.
In 2017, the latest year figures are available, there were 422 overdose deaths in Minnesota involving opioids. The biggest increase involved synthetic opioids other than methadone (predominantly fentanyl), which jumped from 31 overdose deaths in 2011 to 184 in 2017.
‘BAD BATCH’ A MISNOMER, OFFICIAL SAYS
Local officials have alerted the public in the past about overdose concerns.
In 2017, as soon as the Hennepin County medical examiner’s office realized there were a cluster of deaths connected to a drug that was new to the area, they quickly met with law enforcement and held a news conference, said Carolyn Marinan, Hennepin County spokeswoman.
Officials announced a powerful opioid, carfentanil, had caused at least five overdose-related deaths in the state at that time, though the number continued to grow.
The head of the Drug Enforcement Agency in Minnesota isn’t aware of a connection between the six people overdosing in South St. Paul and other cases, said Emily Murray, public information officer for the DEA’s Omaha division, which includes Minnesota.
When a group of people overdose at the same time, it doesn’t necessarily mean a drug is laced with a dangerous substance. Calling it a “bad batch” is a misnomer because “any illicit drugs you’re putting in your body are a bad batch,” Murray said.
People may overdose because they’re new drug users and they get too high of a dose, or they could be switching from one street drug they usually use to a different one, according to Murray.
PROGRAM COULD HELP SPOT OVERDOSE SPIKES
There’s been a push to roll out the Overdose Detection Mapping Application Program (ODMAP), which identifies spikes in drug overdoses, to law enforcement agencies in Minnesota this year, Evans, the BCA superintendent, said.
So far, 83 of about 430 departments in the state have agreed to participate. Departments in Dakota, Ramsey, Washington, Anoka and Hennepin counties have signed up, but the counties don’t have complete participation yet.
ODMAP provides real-time information about non-fatal and fatal overdoses, which allows communities to respond if there is a spike, Evans said. Officials could alert first responders and staff at emergency rooms, and have law enforcement working to identify where the drugs are coming from to get them off the streets, Evans said.
“We’re not going to arrest our way out of the problem,” Evans said. “We’re looking at programs through education, prevention and treatment, so we can help keep Minnesotans safe.”
Cha Vang, the son of the late Hmong leader Gen. Vang Pao, has been charged with felony theft for an alleged international gold-selling scheme.
According to a criminal complaint filed in January in Dakota County District Court, the 53-year-old Vang has been accused of swindling $160,000 from individuals in the county from February to September 2016.
Vang was previously booked into the county jail and released on bail.
According to the Dakota County complaint:
In February 2016, Vang told victims of the fraud that he had connections in the Thai government, and that his wife was a close relative of the Thai king. He said he could purchase gold through a company called Globlex in Thailand and make a 10 percent profit and provided spreadsheets showing the potential profits.
Vang said he would make several purchases a week and resell the gold to jewelers at a profit. The victims gave Vang $160,000 to open an account to buy gold.
One victim went to Thailand in May 2016 to check up on his investment, meeting with Vang and a few others, including an alleged jeweler who was going to help them resell the gold. Vang told the victim at that time that there were some “roadblocks” to setting up the accounts.
In August 2016, after multiple attempts to get Vang to send profits, Vang sent a check, which was returned for insufficient funds.
The victims returned to Thailand in an attempt to recover their money, and Vang told them their money was in a vault with a jeweler.
A Thai Foreign National Service investigator found that Vang’s wife had opened an account with Globlex, but only in the amount of $6,000. An order for 2 kilograms of gold was placed, but no funds were deposited and no other transactions were made. The vice president of Globlex told investigators that Vang gave false information to the victims, and that neither Vang or his wife were offered discounts on gold purchases.
The Thai agent also confirmed that Vang’s wife is not related to the royal family.
Vang lived in the Twin Cities for years, serving at one point as an aide to St. Paul Mayor Norm Coleman, and later as leader of a nonprofit organization started by his father, former Hmong military leader Vang Pao, who aided the United States during the Vietnam-era “Secret War” in Laos. A general in the Royal Lao Army, Vang Pao died in 2011.
Cha Vang ran into trouble several times in the Twin Cities, including for alleged influence peddling in the mayor’s office and for siphoning funds from the nonprofit, which was disbanded after the incident. Cha Vang was ordered to repay funds from that 2005 incident and was also barred from handling nonprofit funds in the future.
DULUTH, Minn. — Duluth police say a 41-year-old woman has died in an apparent case of domestic violence.
Officers responded Sunday night to a report that a child said their parents were fighting. Police arrived and were met by a 40-year-old man with apparent blood on his clothing. Inside the home police found a woman suffering from multiple stab wounds.
The woman was pronounced dead at a hospital. The man was taken into custody and is in a hospital on an arrest hold.
An autopsy is planned. The name of the victim was not released. Police continue to investigate.
DULUTH, Minn. — Two men were arrested Thursday following the largest drug bust ever made in Duluth.
Investigators seized about 4.3 pounds of heroin with an estimated street value of $350,000, as well as a half-pound of cocaine, a loaded gun and more than $94,600 in cash.
The heroin amounts to more than 22,000 doses.
Lake Superior Drug and Violent Crimes Task Force officers arrested Otis Jason Weaver, 39, and Eric Antione Black, 36, on Thursday after executing search warrants at an apartment and a hotel room.
At the time of his arrest, Black was out on bail, awaiting trial on a first-degree murder charge in Chicago.
FOSSTON, Minn. — A Fergus Falls man is being charged with two counts of second-degree murder in the death of his younger brother Sunday in the northwestern Minnesota town of Fosston, police said Monday.
Investigators said 19-year-old Timothy Hauge, of Fosston, died of blunt-force trauma to the head. His brother, 28-year-old Nicholas Patrick Hauge, was taken into custody and will face the murder charges.
Nicholas Patrick Hauge, 28, of Fergus Falls, Minn., is accused of murdering his 19-year-old brother, Timothy Hauge, on June 2, 2019, in Fosston, Minn. (Forum News Service)
Officers were called about 3:44 a.m. Sunday on a reported assault.
When police arrived, Timothy Hauge was found lying on a curb, not breathing.
Deputies performed CPR until medics arrived. Timothy Hauge was later pronounced dead.
Nicholas Hauge was standing nearby when police arrived. He was booked into the Northwest Regions Correctional Center in Crookston.
A man is in custody after a 41-year-old woman was fatally stabbed in Duluth’s Chester Park neighborhood on Sunday, police confirmed Monday.
The victim was discovered with multiple stab wounds in a residence on the 800 block of Chester Park Drive just before 8:30 p.m., according to the Duluth Police Department. Officers had been dispatched to the home after a report that two people were fighting.
Police spokeswoman Ingrid Hornibrook said officers were continuing to investigate the circumstances of “what is believed to be a domestic violence homicide.” Neither the victim nor the suspect were immediately identified by police.
The incident was reported at 8:23 p.m., according to police, who said they responded to “information that a child was reporting that their parents were fighting.” Officers arriving on scene were met by the 40-year-old suspect, who appeared to have blood on his clothing, Hornibrook said.
Officers then entered the residence and discovered the woman, who appeared to have been stabbed several times, according to police. She was taken to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
The suspect also was taken to a local facility to receive medical treatment. He remained there on an arrest hold late Monday. Once cleared for release, he is expected to be transported to the St. Louis County Jail pending formal charges.
The victim’s body was transported to the Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy.
Sunday’s incident is the second confirmed homicide in Duluth this year. The first occurred in January, when 70-year-old Larry Watczak was fatally assaulted inside his Park Point residence. The suspect in that case, Darrel Darryl Mayhew, pleaded guilty last week.
The Better Business Bureau of Minnesota and North Dakota is warning about a recent rise in scams targeting people looking to buy puppies.
People in search of a dog have been scammed out of thousands of dollars by sending money to illegitimate websites, the consumer protection organization warns. The dogs are never sent.
Pamela Fisher, who lives in Arkansas, said her 14-year-old daughter had saved money babysitting and giving swimming lessons to buy a puppy from one such scam. She lost more than $1,000 after being told to wire money to a company purporting to be from Minnesota. The puppy never arrived.
“It was heartbreaking for my daughter … she learned a lesson; we all have,” Fisher said.
The scammers will also try to trick customers further. They told the Fishers their dog had been sent to the wrong airport, and more money was needed to get it to them. Others will charge for insurance costs or special crates for dogs that do not arrive.
Other victims have been reported in Minnesota and New Jersey.
The BBB’s warning mentioned the company Best Golden Doodle Family Pubs, which says it is based in Edina and advertises goldendoodle puppies at the website goldendoodlepuppies.us. That is the company the Fishers sent money to. Another woman reported losing $900 to the same website.
A New Jersey man lost about $1,800 after sending money to Frenchie Farm Bulldogs, which said it was based in St. Paul, said Better Business Bureau spokeswoman Bess Ellenson. Again, no dog arrived. That is the largest amount lost that’s been reported to the BBB so far.
Best Golden Doodle Family Pubs and Frenchie Farm Bulldogs could not be immediately reached for comment.
The BBB advises customers to meet breeders or sellers and their animals in person, and to not wire money to sellers. Customers should also be wary of website claims and look out for websites with spelling errors, often a sign that they were created by scammers overseas. Additionally, the BBB recommends obtaining a written contract from the seller, and getting references from them.
If a seller is claiming to be American Kennel Club-certified, contact the group at 919-233-9767 to verify a litter or search the club’s site at akc.org.
Ramsey County will pay $525,000 to a man who was beaten by a correctional officer while handcuffed and restrained in the Ramsey County Jail.
The Ramsey County Board of Commissioners agreed to the settlement during a closed-door meeting held Tuesday to discuss Terrell Wilson’s case, Board Chair Jim McDonough announced.
“This has been tough on our community. That video is very graphic and shows (our employees) in not such a good light when we are interacting with people in our community,” McDonough said. “It opens our eyes that enforcement of policy, respect of humans, respect of individuals when they come into our system, no matter how they come in, is paramount.”
Terrell Wilson after his April 13, 2016 arrest. (Courtesy of Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office)
Correctional officer Travis VanDeWiele punched Wilson in the chest and kneed him in the crotch April 13, 2016, while other officers held Wilson down in a transport chair.
Wilson, previously referred to as Terrell Johnson, complained of excessive force during the beating. VanDeWiele responded, “You ain’t seen excessive force yet,” then punched the restrained man four times in the abdomen or chest.
VanDeWiele also pressed Wilson’s head down into his legs while Wilson was bent forward at the waist in the chair.
An acting correctional sergeant captured the incident on video. Staff have been recording for years to ensure only the necessary amount of force is used when responding to an uncooperative detainee, Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher said.
Travis VanDeWiele, a former correctional officer, pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in 2016 beating of Ramsey County jail inmate. (Courtesy of Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office)
Fletcher, who was not working at the sheriff’s office at the time of the incident, called the events “extremely disturbing.” He also called out the police and correctional officers for failing to intervene.
Besides VanDeWiele, the sergeant on duty at the time of the beating left the sheriff’s office in March 2017, a month after VanDeWiele was charged.
Wilson’s attorney, Mike Padden, commended the county for taking steps to address what happened and resolve the claim.
“This case represents a good template for how law enforcement and its elected officials should handle a situation like this when mistakes are made, and a citizen is injured,” Padden said in a statement released Tuesday afternoon. “Ramsey County and its sheriff’s office, especially Sheriff Fletcher, should be commended for handling this matter in an honest, professional and fair fashion.”
The payout, reached after what McDonough said was six hours of mediation, is expected to get formal approval at a board meeting next week.
Padden said Wilson wouldn’t be speaking with reporters but plans to relocate out of the Midwest. He’d previously moved to Wisconsin following the incident.
“My client is pleased with this resolution and is looking forward to moving on with his life,” he said.
