Authorities on Wednesday released the name of a barge worker from Florida who drowned in November after he fell in the Mississippi River while working near Hastings.

Micah Pittman, 44, of Milton, Fla., drowned on Nov. 14 near Point Douglas Park Beach in southern Washington County, according to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office. Pittman’s death has been ruled accidental, but the case remains under investigation by the U.S. Coast Guard Upper Mississippi River and the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.

Pittman was taken to Regina Medical Center in Hastings and pronounced dead just before 3 p.m., Nov. 14.

Pittman was reported to have been wearing a life jacket when he drowned. It was sunny outside, and there were west winds at 10 mph, according to Coast Guard officials.

The vessel is owned by Arco, but was being leased by Inland Marine Service, which is based in Hebron, Ky. Inland Marine officials on Wednesday declined to comment.

In a Facebook post just a few days after Pittman’s death, they wrote: “Our flags are at half mast, laying heavy on their ropes, as do our hearts. For we at IMS have lost a family member, Micah Pittman. We are all feeling the weight of sorrow that the loss burdens us with.”

According to his obituary, Pittman worked as a social worker in Alabama before becoming a tugboat mate.

“He loved all sports and played baseball three summers for a team in Jülich, Germany,” the obituary states.

He was a graduate of Pensacola, Fla., Catholic High School and had a bachelor’s degree in criminology from Jacksonville (Ala.) State University.

He is survived by a daughter, Sierra.

Washington County’s Point Douglas Park is on the St. Croix River, just above its confluence with the Mississippi River.

WASECA, Minn. — Prosecutors in southern Minnesota charged a man with attempted murder on Wednesday, alleging he shot and gravely injured a police officer who was responding to a report of a suspicious person.

Tyler Robert Janovsky, 37, was charged in Waseca County District Court with three counts of attempted first-degree murder of a peace officer. Authorities allege Janovsky shot  Waseca Officer Arik Matson in the head Monday night as Matson and other officers responded to a call of a suspicious person with a flashlight in a backyard.

Matson, 32, remained in critical condition Wednesday at North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale. Janovsky also is accused of shooting at two other officers — Sgt. Timothy Schroeder and Officer Andrew Harren.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said Matson and Schroeder returned fire, and Janovsky was hit twice. He suffered non-life-threatening injuries and remained hospitalized Wednesday at North Memorial.

Online court records do not list a defense attorney who could speak on Janovsky’s behalf.

According to the criminal complaint, the Waseca officers were called to a residential area at about 8 p.m. Monday on a report of a suspicious person in a backyard with a flashlight. Officers made contact with Janovsky while he was on the back balcony of a house.

Harren went through the house onto the balcony to get Janovsky, but Janovsky fled — going onto the roof of an attached garage and crossing to the other side of the house, facing the front driveway. The complaint says Janovsky fired at Harren and missed. Janovsky then fired at Matson, who was in the driveway, and shot him in the head.

Janovsky was wanted on drug-related charges. Three weeks earlier, police raided his house and found methamphetamine, pseudoephedrine pills, other drugs and a handgun. A search warrant affidavit says a brother warned Janovsky, and he fled out a basement door.

Janovsky has several previous convictions, including for burglary, drug crimes and for making terrorist threats. He also was convicted of one count of being an accessory to murder in the 2001 strangulation of a 21-year-old man. The Star Tribune reported that Janovsky admitted driving another man to the victim’s home and waiting outside during the killing.

The charges filed Wednesday include a count of possessing ammunition or a firearm after a conviction of a crime of violence.

Matson has been with the Waseca Police Department since 2013 and is assigned to patrol. He is also a member of a regional drug investigative SWAT team and worked in a program designed to keep kids away from drugs, Chief Penny Vought said.

Early in his career, Matson worked at the Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office and was on night patrol with his father, Tim Matson, who was then a corporal with the Albert Lea Police Department, the Albert Lea Tribune reported  in 2010.

Waseca, population 9,400, is located 65 miles south of the Twin Cities.

Eagan police are asking the public’s help in identifying a woman they say is suspected of charging more than a $2,500 at an Eagan store with a stolen credit card.

Investigators ask anyone with information to call 651-675-5799 or email the department at eaganpd@cityofeagan.com.

Stillwater police will hold a public notification meeting next week about a Level 3 sex offender who plans to live in the city.

William Kibble Jr., 54, plans to move into a residence in the area of West Willard Street and Lake Drive sometime after Jan. 17, said Stillwater Police Chief John Gannaway.

Kibble Jr. will be the first registered Level 3 sex offender to live within the city limits, Gannaway said.

In Minnesota, sex offenders are issued a number when they leave prison, and Level 3 is considered the highest risk to reoffend.

Kibble, who was previously incarcerated at the Minnesota Correctional Facility — Stillwater, is currently under intensive supervised release with Dakota County Community Corrections, according to the Minnesota Department of Corrections.

He had been living in West St. Paul.

Kibble has a history of sexual contact and domestic assault with women. In one case, Kibble assaulted the woman by holding her against her will. She and Kibble knew each other before the offense, and he allegedly used a weapon, force and threats of violence. In another incident, which involved sexual touching, Kibble used force to accost the woman in a public place. She and Kibble did not know each other.

The meeting begins at 6 p.m. Jan. 16 at Stillwater City Hall.

A St. Paul man who forgot to pull down his mask during a robbery of a Dollar Tree in Roseville last Christmas Eve was sentenced to three years probation for the crime.

Ramsey County District Judge Sara Grewing handed down Quincy Gerrard Petty’s sentence Wednesday in Ramsey County District Court on one count of felony-level simple robbery.

A second-degree aggravated robbery charge previously facing him in the case was dismissed.

Petty, 40, forgot to pull his mask down when he first walked into the retailer on Larpenteur Avenue Dec. 24, 2018 and told an employee at the register he wasn’t “playing,” and to empty the register, according to court documents filed in the case.

A store employee recognized Petty as the boyfriend of another employee, authorities say. When he saw the man look at him, Petty remembered his mask and pulled it over his face, according to the complaint.

Another man accompanied Petty during the robbery, the complaint said.

They took off with about $2,000 after store managers emptied a safe.

He was found outside his girlfriend’s residence and arrested.

A St. Paul community college student who threatened to “grab a shotgun” and shoot two women in the face when he couldn’t find the right classroom on the first day of school was placed on probation.

Ramsey County District Judge Nicole Starr also sentenced Paul James Mouton to 360 days in jail, but she stayed the execution of the jail-time so long as the 40-year-old remains law abiding during his two-year probation, court records say.

The sentence, which was imposed on one count of gross-misdemeanor level threats of violence, was handed down Wednesday. He pleaded guilty to the count in November.

Moulton made the statement in Facebook posts this past August.

“I am about to lose my (expletive) on this mother (expletive) school. The classroom on the schedule is NOT where the (expletive) class is!!!,” one post read.

When a school staff member at St. Paul College who saw the post suggested he drop by the advising center for help, Moulton said his frustration was nearing a violent breaking point.

“It’s taking just about everything I have not to grab my shotgun and go shoot two (expletive) in the face … The universe just doesn’t want me to be a gotdamn CNC machinist,” his second post read, according to the criminal complaint filed in the case.

Moulton was enrolled in St. Paul College’s CNC (Computer Numerical Control) Toolmaking diploma program at the time.

The staff member reported the statement and police arrested Moulton without incident when he returned to the advising center the following day, charges say.

No firearm was on the 40-year-old at the time, but police did reportedly find a folding knife and brass knuckles.

Moulton told police his post was “stupid, wasn’t aimed at any person, and … didn’t identify the school,” the complaint said.

He made it after arriving for his first day of class and discovering that the class wasn’t where he had been told it would be. It mounted when he followed advising center staff advice to check the room again and one of them questioned if he had the room number correct.

Moulton also told officers that he suffered from PTSD from events in his childhood and that he purchased a shotgun after he and a former roommate “waged psychological warfare against one another,” the complaint said.

Officers found the gun at Moulton’s girlfriend’s home after executing a search warrant.

Moulton has no prior criminal convictions, and is no longer welcome to attend St. Paul College campus, staff said.

A man was charged Thursday with shooting at police officers trying to search his home in Dayton northwest of Minneapolis — a shooting that left bullet holes in one officer’s clothing.

Hennepin County prosecutors charged Faris Hussien, 26, with three counts of first-degree assault, using deadly force against a peace officer.

Authorities say when three police officers went to Hussien’s home with a search warrant on Tuesday, he fired at the officers after they kicked in his door when he locked the door and would not come out.

One of the officers returned fire. No one was hurt, but one officer had five bullet holes in his clothing — four in his jacket and one in his pant leg. The officer was not wearing a bulletproof vest, according to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office.

Hussien is expected to make his first court appearance Friday. Online court records do not list a defense attorney who could comment on his behalf.

GAYLORD, Minn. — A driver is facing felony charges after she allegedly stuck and killed an elderly pedestrian and did not stop Wednesday evening in the south-central Minnesota town of Gaylord.

John Siewert, 85, of Gaylord, was hit in the intersection of Main Avenue and Fourth Street in Gaylord around 6:50 p.m, according to the Sibley County Sheriff’s Office. A passerby called 911 after finding Siewert severely injured and unconscious. CPR was unsuccessful and Siewert was pronounced dead at the scene.

Alicia Nicole Streich, 24, of Gaylord, allegedly fled the scene but returned an hour later. Streich returned after her mother called 911 and identified her daughter as the driver. The mother said Streich called her and told her she had hit someone and was scared. The mother encouraged her daughter to turn herself in, according to a court complaint.

Streich reportedly told a sheriff investigator Siewert stepped out in front of her and she could not stop in time to avoid hitting him.

The driver allegedly said she did not stay at the scene because her daughter was in the car with her and she wanted to drop the girl off with her boyfriend.

Streich was arrested and was charged Thursday in Sibley County District Court with felony counts of criminal vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of an accident.

Streich has two prior citations for speeding.

Why was Antonio España Estrada fatally shot as he left work at a St. Paul warehouse the day after Christmas?

Though a former co-worker is charged in the murder of the 37-year-old, his death is a mystery to his family.

The criminal complaint filed against the suspect doesn’t shed light on the topic, either.

España Estrada worked at J&P Trading Inc., a food distributor on St. Paul’s West Side, for 14 years and sent money back to Mexico to help his parents with medical concerns.

“They are heartbroken,” said Maria Mendoza Estrada, Antonio’s sister.

And España Estrada’s family wants to know why he’s gone.

“We don’t understand what the reason was and it’s hard because I feel like no one deserves to die like this,” said Maggie Ortiz, a niece of España Estrada’s.

SHOTS RANG OUT

Chee Kong Yang, 28, who is charged with second-degree murder in Estrada’s death, was in court on Thursday and pleaded not guilty. His attorney did not return a call seeking comment.

España Estrada, of St. Paul, was leaving work shortly before 5:30 p.m. Dec. 26 and walking across the parking lot of J&P Trading on State Street near Plato Boulevard.

A minivan was parked in the lot, and a man and woman inside were arguing. The criminal complaint said it was Yang and a woman he was dating.

The woman tried to restrain Yang from getting out, but he ran up to España Estrada and shot him in the torso, according to the complaint. He then shot España Estrada — who had fallen to the ground — multiple times, the complaint continued.

About 10 minutes after the shooting, police responded to the North End and found a minivan crashed through the fence of Oakland Cemetery at Sycamore and Jackson streets.

Police arrested Yang in the area.

The criminal complaint does not explain a motive for the shooting.

The woman in the van told police that she and Yang were drinking beer at his mother’s house that day. They drove to the West Side and Yang pulled into the parking lot by a warehouse. She heard a “click,” believed Yang had a gun and tried to physically keep him in the van, but he ran out, the complaint said.

A MAN WHO WAS FUNNY, ENCOURAGING

Yang last worked at J&P Trading three to four years ago, according to a company representative, who said he doesn’t know why Yang allegedly went there on Dec. 26.

España Estrada’s niece said she never heard her uncle express concern about anyone.

“From what we know, he was really friendly with everybody,” said Ortiz, who remembered España Estrada as funny and “always goofing around.”

He also provided encouragement to his nieces and nephews.

Now, España Espana’s family is left to plan his funeral — they will have one locally, and they are making arrangements to have his body sent to Mexico for a service with his family there and burial.

Rubén Rosario contributed to this report. 

Jessica Owen, mother of St. Paul rapper Alexis “Lexii Alijai” Lynch, said the cause of her daughter’s death remains under investigation by Minneapolis Police.

“I have to wait until they get their part done,” said Owen on Friday, after declining to speculate on details.

Minneapolis police said they are awaiting an official determination from the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s office, which conducted the autopsy on the 21-year-old rising star in the national hip-hop scene. Alexis Lynch died in Minneapolis on New Year’s Day, drawing international headlines and an outpouring of grief from the music community, but a cause of death has not been announced.

“We work with the medical examiner’s office and we are awaiting their ruling on the nature and cause of death,” said Minneapolis police spokesman John Elder on Friday. A Hennepin County spokeswoman said the medical examiner is awaiting toxicology reports.

Police officers were called to the Loews Hotel in downtown Minneapolis at about 2 p.m. on Jan. 1, according to police reports. Lynch had spent the night with others at the hotel. She was dead when officers arrived.

Owen said she raised her daughter in St. Paul, where she attended Como Park Senior High School and Creative Arts Secondary School, though the two women had recently been living in Burnsville.

Under the stage name Lexii Alijai, Alexis Lynch had built an online following that blossomed as a result of live performances and professional collaborations. She joined the singer Kehlani on the 2015 song “Jealous,” which was included in Kehlani’s mixtape “You Should Be Here,” nominated for best urban contemporary album at the Grammys.

“She’s performed everywhere all throughout the United States — at South by Southwest, Soundset, the Super Bowl (festivities) when it was here in Minneapolis,” Owen said.

Lexii Alijai’s music is available on SoundCloud, a music sharing website, where she has more than 40,000 followers. On YouTube, Lexii Alijai has close to 20,000 subscribers.

Her first professionally-produced album, “Come Back Soon,” is tentatively scheduled to be released on or about Feb. 19, her birthday. Owen said performers hope to organize a tribute concert at the First Avenue concert venue in Minneapolis in 2020.

Alexis Lynch, who is Lakotah through her mother’s family, was memorialized with an open-casket funeral that was held over a period of four days at the Minneapolis American Indian Center on Franklin Avenue. The ceremony, which began Jan. 3, drew dozens of mourners.

“We had a drum group everyday,” Owen said. “I just want to thank everybody for all their love and support. Her fans meant a lot to her. The love that she got from them was amazing. They truly do love her. … She was truly an amazing young women beyond music.”

At her funeral, Alexis Lynch was remembered by her Lakotah name, “Black Horse Woman,” which was derived from her grandfather Art Owen’s service with the Black Horse Infantry Division during the Vietnam War, her mother said.

Her father, Roger Troutman Jr. Lynch, died in 2003. Her grandfather, Roger Troutman, was a founder of the Dayton, Ohio, band Zapp, which featured funk music and influenced West Coast hip-hop through music sampling. She is survived by an older sister and older brother.

Alexis Lynch was represented by management in Los Angeles and Miami. Julieanna Goddard, manager with 1AM Media in LA, has opened a GoFundMe fundraising account to help the family with funeral expenses at tinyurl.com/LexiiAlijaiFund.

A Wisconsin man accused of plotting to kidnap his ex-wife pleaded guilty to burglary charges Friday.

Nathan James Homme, 40, entered the plea in Ramsey County District Court to one count of first-degree burglary after reaching a deal with prosecutors, according to his attorney, Alex Rogosheske.

The agreement calls for releasing Homme from custody when he is sentenced Feb. 24 and issuing an order for protection that will prevent the 40-year-old from contacting his ex or their children, Rogosheske said.

Homme has been in jail since his arrest last March.

He will also have to register as a predatory offender, but the attempted kidnapping charge facing him in the case will be dismissed.

It will be up to Ramsey County District Judge Kelly Olmstead to decide what, if any, additional conditions will be placed on Homme at sentencing, Rogosheske said.

Ramsey County sheriff deputies found shotguns, a syringe, maps, a “kidnapping kit,” latex gloves, duct tape and handcuffs inside Homme’s car and home when they searched his property after his ex-wife reported that a masked man whom she suspected was Homme had broken into her Shoreview home last March 13, court documents say.

Video captured on a camera near her garage showed the masked intruder approach her garage and make his way toward the structure’s keypad, according to the criminal complaint filed in the case.

The woman had her garage door rigged so it would lift only partway, so the intruder was forced to crawl underneath the slightly ajar door, the complaint said.

About three minutes later, the man was seen crawling back out and leaving the scene.

Authorities suspect Homme placed a GPS tracking device on his ex’s Honda Element during the brief intrusion, as one was found on the vehicle.

The woman and her father were home at the time, and the woman told police she was certain Homme — with whom she’s had ongoing, contentious legal battles — was the culprit.

Homme was arrested after investigators got a search warrant that placed Homme’s cellphone in the area of the burglary around the time it took place, court documents say.

The shotguns, along with a stun gun and a “kidnapping kit” that contained rope, binoculars, latex gloves, duct tape, handcuffs, a face mask, blindfold and garbage bags, were found at his house in Altoona, Wis., charges say.

Also inside, law enforcement found what they characterized as “the outline of plan.”

“1. First stop-box, hockey bag, duct tape, hand cuff, blow torch, nails, garbage bags, my fresh clothes,” it started, according to the complaint.

“2. House code, shoes off, bedroom blitz, dt gag, handcuff, legs, hood) plus pillow …

“3. Box her in trunk. Drive Element to Wilson P. Put box in trunk,” it continued.

Homme’s ex-wife told deputies that she lives in fear of Homme and has been worried that he may attempt a “murder-suicide” involving her and her children, the complaint said.

A couple of months before the burglary, a child-support magistrate issued an order suspending her child-support obligations to Homme, as he had moved nearly 100 miles away and was no longer co-parenting.

MADISON, Wis. — A Wisconsin political activist accused of trying to buy a lethal dose of a radioactive substance online pleaded guilty Friday to one count of receiving a nuclear material.

Jeremy Ryan, 31, entered his plea before U.S. District Judge James Peterson, about 10 days before he was scheduled to stand trial on that count and another terrorism-related charge, the Wisconsin State Journal reported.

Ryan is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 12. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, but a plea agreement signed last year indicated Ryan would be sentenced to time served.

Ryan, known to many as “Segway Jeremy” because he rode a Segway scooter at state Capitol rallies, has been in jail since October 2018, when he was arrested after picking up a package containing an inert substitute for a radioactive material.

Prosecutors alleged Ryan was looking for the radioactive material so he could kill someone, but his attorneys said he had cancer and intended to use the material to kill himself.

According to a court affidavit, an undercover FBI agent posing as a merchant on the dark web was first contacted by Ryan about the possible purchase of a radioactive substance in March of 2018. The FBI said Ryan indicated his target was a 6-foot-2 male weighing 220 pounds. An individual was not named. Ryan’s defense attorneys have said that he fits that description.

Ryan twice unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for House Speaker Paul Ryan’s seat.

A search warrant affidavit filed in Ramsey County District Court this week notes that police found blood on the vehicle of a woman named as a person of interest in a hit-and-run crash that killed a pedestrian in Maplewood last month.

Police arrested Gabriela Ramirez, 21, of St. Paul, following the Dec. 23 incident but released her days later, saying that more evidence needed to be analyzed in the case before pursuing charges in the death.

Officers and first responders found Alejandra Cervantes, 28, of St. Paul, lying in the street at Londin Lane and Crestview Drive around 1 a.m. that night after receiving a report that a woman had been struck by a vehicle, authorities say.

Also at the scene was Ramirez, who was reportedly standing just north of Cervantes outside her Subaru Impreza, according to the recently filed court documents, which indicate the two women were sisters.

A pool of blood was by Cervantes’ head, and in her hand Cervantes gripped a “clump” of long dark hair, the affidavit said.

She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Ramirez reportedly told officers that Cervantes was her sister, and that the two had argued that night, prompting Ramirez to tell Cervantes to get out of her vehicle.

She said Cervantes did, and Ramirez drove off, wanting her sister to think she was going to leave her behind. When she turned around shortly thereafter to pick her up, she said she saw Cervantes lying in the street as if she’d been struck by a vehicle, the affidavit said.

Following her explanation, Ramirez became agitated and “aggravated” and kicked the officer she was talking to in the chest as the officer tried to shut the squad door, the court document says.

Ramirez was subsequently taken to Regions Hospital, where she was sedated. When she was questioned again later, Ramirez reportedly asked about her sister’s condition.

When she learned she was dead, Ramirez said: “I didn’t kill my sister,” according to the affidavit.

Investigators who processed the crash scene found snow packed in the front bumper/grill area of Ramirez’s vehicle, and noted a tire track that spanned from a snowbank to where Cervantes’ head lay in the street.

Two other tire tracks were also noted, including one that led to where Ramirez’s vehicle was parked on the side of the road, the court document said.

At the time the affidavit was filed in court, it wasn’t yet known if the tracks matched Ramirez’s tires.

A couple of droplets of blood were also found on the street under her rear driver’s side door, while smudges of blood were found on the driver’s side rear panel, according to the affidavit.

Both Ramirez’s and Cervantes’ cellphones were also inside the vehicle, and the search warrant sought court permission to analyze the devices for information about what happened.

Maplewood police said Friday that the investigation into the crash continues. While Ramirez remains a person of interest in the case, she has not been charged.

Prosecutors have filed an additional criminal charge against Lawson T. Waples Ward, the Forest Lake man accused of raping a 21-year-old woman in a townhouse basement as three other women helped restrain her.

Waples Ward, 40, had previously been charged with two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct in connection with the Nov. 16 case. On Wednesday, prosecutors in Washington County charged him with an additional felony charge for failing to register as a predatory offender.

According to the criminal complaint, Waples Ward was adjudicated delinquent in 1994 the Atlantic County, New Jersey Superior Court of the offense of aggravated criminal sexual contact after it was alleged that he had sexually molested a 5-year-old girl. As a result, Waples Ward was obligated to register as a predatory offender for the remainder of his life.

“Though he remained compliant with this obligation for several years, Waples Ward last registered in New Jersey on or about November 16, 2017, and he has been noncompliant in his registration ever since,” the complaint states. Waple Ward signed a form stating he understood that if he moved he had to notify local police at least 10 days before his move. He “did not register as a predatory offender upon his arrival in Minnesota, or at any time thereafter,” the complaint states.

“Minnesota law requires predatory offenders to register when they come to our state, and our office takes the failure to do so very seriously,” said assistant Washington County Attorney Marc Berris. “That it appears Mr. Waples Ward committed a violent sexual assault at the same time as he was a non-compliant predatory offender makes both violations especially egregious.”

Waples Ward was arrested on Dec. 20 and taken to the Washington County Jail in Stillwater. A 21-year-old woman told investigators she was held down while Waples Ward sexually assaulted her for nearly two hours on Nov. 16 in a townhouse in the 21000 block of Bridle Pass Drive, according to court records.

He was released three days after the arrest having posted $20,000 bail. Another warrant for his arrest was issued Friday, Berris said.

Three women also have been charged in connection with the case. Two counts of aiding and abetting first-degree criminal sexual conduct were filed in Washington County District Court against Ta’Yonna M. Mays, 29, of Brooklyn Park; Tina R. Peet, 51, of Forest Lake; and Alena J. Turner, 27, of Brooklyn Center.

The women allegedly held the 21-year-old woman down during the encounter, according to the criminal complaint filed Dec. 23 in Washington County District Court.

ROCHESTER, Minn. — A man died Friday following a shooting in a parking lot at an apartment complex primarily used by college students.

Rochester Police Chief Jim Franklin said a person of interest was in custody after the shooting in southeast Rochester.

Police Lt. Craig Anderson said officers were called just after 2 p.m. Friday.

One caller reported hearing a single shot fired, while another caller reported hearing multiple shots, Anderson said. Witnesses reported the shots came from or near a vehicle in The Quarters at Rochester parking lot.

A person was taken into custody at another apartment complex about an hour after the initial call. The witnesses provided good suspect information, Anderson said.

The victim wasn’t immediately identified.

The Quarters at Rochester is primarily housing for students at Rochester Community and Technical College.

MONTEVIDEO, Minn. — An inmate at the Chippewa County Jail in Montevideo died Jan. 4, just two days after pleading guilty to a theft-related charge.

Chippewa County Sheriff Derek Olson said Wesley Duane Torke Jr., 37, of Maynard, died while in custody at the west-central Minnesota jail.

Olson would not comment on how Torke died said but said the death is being investigated by the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

Torke, who had pleaded guilty Jan. 2 to a charge of receiving stolen property, faced additional charges from other jurisdictions.

Sentencing had been scheduled for Feb. 18 on the Chippewa County case. According to court documents, he was being held in jail while a presentence investigation was completed.

If you ask about a Mueller who’s investigating or prosecuting a criminal case in Washington County, chances are the response will be: “Which one?”

That’s because there are three of them.

Brian Mueller, 46, the eldest, is the chief deputy of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office; Scott Mueller, 44, is special agent in charge for the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension’s Metro Regional Office; and Kevin Mueller, 40, is an assistant Washington County attorney.

The brothers — who grew up in Cottage Grove, played hockey together and graduated from Woodbury High School —are unusually close. Brian and Kevin live just a few blocks apart in Stillwater; Scott lives in Woodbury. They all attend the same church: Eagle Brook Church in Woodbury. They regularly get together for lunch during the week. Their families vacation together. They pick up trash along a stretch of Minnesota 96 that they have “adopted”; the sign reads “The Muellers of Washington County.”

“My greatest influence has been my brothers,” said Kevin Mueller, who started working for Washington County in 2013. “One thing that they instilled in me was you’ve got to find a job that you love, where you can make a difference, because life is short.”

STRONG BOND FORGED IN CHILDHOOD

The brothers’ father traveled a lot for his job at the 3M Co., and the family moved quite a bit when the boys were young.

“We lived in three or four houses in Minnesota and lived in South Bend, Indiana, for a year. This was kind of a constant for us,” Scott Mueller said, gesturing to his two brothers as they gathered around a table in the cafeteria of the Washington County Government Center. “Even now, when I have an issue, when I have something I need to run by somebody, these are my sounding boards right here. It’s always been that way.”

The men credit their parents, Rich and Linda Mueller of Cottage Grove, with instilling in them “a strong work ethic, duty to serve and, most importantly, prioritization of family,” Brian Mueller said.

The Muellers also stressed to their three sons that “money is not everything in this world,” Scott Mueller said. “I think they instilled in us a servant’s heart. I would say, from a young age, just doing stuff for other people. They taught us that is what makes the world go around.”

Linda Mueller, in particular, showed them how to be compassionate, Kevin Mueller said.

“She taught us how to treat people,” Kevin Mueller said. “You open doors, you treat people with respect, you treat people how you want to be treated. She taught us empathy. That has transcended into what we do now where victims are the focus of what we do now — for all three of us.”

‘IT WAS LIKE A LIGHT SWITCH’

Brian Mueller was the first to go into police work. He was studying business, marketing and operations at the University of Minnesota when he got an internship at Pillsbury in downtown Minneapolis. “I was sitting in a cube, working, driving to Minneapolis every morning, leaving every evening, and I didn’t feel that was my calling,” he said.

His next internship — in the Minneapolis police crime prevention unit — proved much more interesting. “I was out in the community, and I realized, ‘Oh my gosh, I don’t have to be sitting in a cube all day. I can be out working.’ I saw what the law enforcement officers were doing, and that kind of became the calling.”

Brian Mueller, who is married and has five children, transferred to the University of St. Thomas and ended up working as a community service officer and dispatcher at the White Bear Lake Police Department before getting hired as an officer in April 1998. He took a job at the Washington County Sheriff’s Office six months later.

Scott Mueller, who had served for two years in the U.S. Marine Corps, ended up doing a “ride-along” with Brian one winter midweek night in Hugo.

Scott Mueller, who is married and has two sons, graduated from Metropolitan State University in St. Paul with a degree in criminal justice and police science. Like his brother, he worked as a community service officer and dispatcher with White Bear Lake police. He was hired by the BCA in 2008.

AN EXCUSE TO GET TOGETHER

Brian and Scott got their master’s degrees in criminal justice from the University of St. Thomas at the same time. “It was a great excuse one night a week to get together, to go hang out and maybe go grab dinner after,” Brian Mueller said.

Kevin Mueller, who is married and has two young daughters, graduated from the University of Miami-Ohio and Northwestern School of Law. He clerked for a judge in Alaska, but the brothers always “stayed tight,” he said. “This was before text messaging, but we always stayed in contact.”

Kevin Mueller worked for a private law firm in Chicago before taking a job at the Cook County District Attorney’s Office. “Many people might say to trade in a potential partnership at a boutique law firm for a government salary is crazy,” he said as he sat with his brothers. “But there are two people here who would not say I was crazy.”

“When he made the change, when we heard what he was doing there, we were like, ‘All right, you’re on God’s side of the law now finally, so nice job,’ ” Brian Mueller said. “He was then allowed back in the family.”

“We decided he could come back to Minnesota when he was a prosecutor,” Scott Mueller said.

Washington County Attorney Pete Orput hired Kevin in 2013. “I already knew his brothers, and I thought, ‘If he’s anything like those two, I’m in luck,’ ” Orput said. “I interviewed him, and I offered him a job right there at the table. I just think those three guys are unbelievable in the way they protect the public — at least in Washington County — and I am just thrilled with their service.”

The Muellers “have a heart,” said Washington County Sheriff Dan Starry. “They have good moral compasses, and they are passionate about serving. They’re community-driven. You go into Stillwater or Cottage Grove or Woodbury, everyone knows the Muellers.”

‘ARE YOU GUYS ALL NAMED THE SAME?’

Sharing a last name and responding to some of the same calls caused some confusion early in their careers.

Once, Scott Mueller provided backup to Brian Mueller on a traffic stop involving “a severely intoxicated individual,” Scott said. “I was the closest car. I can remember being at the end of him running this person through field sobriety, and I mean this person was in really rough shape to be on the road, and as we were making the arrest and this person was looking at us, he just couldn’t comprehend it because he’s looking at my nametag that said ‘Mueller’ and his nametag that said ‘Mueller,’ and I think he said something to the effect of, ‘Are you guys all named the same?’ ”

Former Chief Deputy Mike Johnson gave the two a hard time when they both responded to a homicide call in Oakdale a few years ago and happened to be wearing the “same tie, same shirt, same suit, same shoes,” said Brian Mueller, who was then commander of investigations.

“Johnson comes over and says, ‘Oh, Jesus. Did the Mueller mom dress her boys today?’ ”

THE FAMILY BUSINESS OF SERVING

A few weeks ago, Brian Mueller and Kevin Mueller appeared before the Washington County Board together to discuss the county’s response to the opioid epidemic.

Brian Mueller said he has been “unbelievably lucky” to work “in the same field and in the same area” with his younger brothers.

“There have been times when we have all ended up on the same case, the same point of business, all of us together representing different agencies,” he said. “That’s pretty awesome.”

MILACA, Minn. — Findings of vindictive prosecution by Mille Lacs County Attorney Joe Walsh and willful destruction of evidence by the Mille Lacs County Sheriff’s Office led to the dismissal of a felony perjury charge against a Wahkon, Minn., woman.

Mille Lacs County Judge Matthew M. Quinn issued an order Dec. 23 sanctioning the state of Minnesota for the destruction of evidence through the shredding of documents relevant to the criminal prosecution of Lucinda Lou Miller. The order also dismissed the perjury charge against Miller due to “a realistic likelihood of vindictiveness on the part of the County Attorney’s Office’s decision to charge Defendant with perjury.”

Quinn argued the perjury prosecution came as part of a pressure campaign by Miller’s former boyfriend and business partner Brockton Holbert, who together with his attorneys appeared to lobby for criminal charges as a means to force Miller to settle a lengthy civil lawsuit Holbert believed threatened one of his businesses.

The county attorney penned a letter Dec. 30 denying any wrongdoing in his office’s decision to charge Miller and requesting reconsideration on the basis Quinn should be removed from the criminal proceedings. Quinn is also the judge presiding over the civil dispute between Miller and Holbert, from which the perjury case stemmed. In an order Monday, Jan. 6, Quinn granted permission to Walsh to file a motion seeking reconsideration, after which a briefing schedule may be created.

Walsh said despite the judge’s potential conflict of interest, his office didn’t request a new judge for the criminal case in deference to the bench.

“We’re a small county and obviously there are only three judges in Mille Lacs County. As a sign of courtesy to the bench, we typically assume that they are able to set aside biases and knowledge they may gain through other outside cases,” Walsh said. “In this case, it appears that the judge wasn’t able to do so. That actually is what we’ve requested reconsideration about, is the code of judicial conduct stating that a judge shall disqualify himself if he has bias concerning personal knowledge of facts that are in dispute or he previously presided as a judge over the matter in another court.”

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE CASES

Miller’s civil lawsuit — filed November 2015 — seeks equitable relief and the dissolution and liquidation of assets of Noble Wear, an Onamia-based business providing custom apparel through screen printing and embroidery. Among a number of other claims, Miller alleges due in part to loans she made to the business totaling $90,000, she was a co-owner/shareholder of Noble Wear with Holbert. Holbert, meanwhile, alleges Miller wrongfully took personal property belonging to him in addition to denying Miller’s ownership claims.

The perjury allegedly occurred when Miller stated in a November 2016 deposition she did not know the whereabouts of a door, reportedly worth $20,000, and a mantle Holbert claimed she took. In a second deposition in February 2017, Miller indicated she did know where the property was.

A few weeks later, the door and mantle were discovered in storage on the property of a third party known to Miller. Holbert took the items after he apparently enlisted the help of a Mille Lacs County sheriff’s deputy, according to an email from Miller’s attorney, Joseph Kantor, to Holbert’s attorney, Richard Curott.

In an affidavit filed a day later, Miller stated she hadn’t shared the location of the door and mantle earlier because “(she) was scared that (Holbert) would show up and steal more of (her) property.”

In July 2018, the county attorney’s office filed two felony perjury charges against Miller — one concerning the property matter, and another concerning alleged perjury about a prior arrest in Kentucky. The state later dismissed the second charge but continued to pursue the first.

In seeking dismissal of the remaining perjury charge, Miller and her lawyers argued Holbert and his attorneys sought criminal prosecution as a way to pressure Miller into settling the civil dispute and coordinated those efforts with the county attorney’s office. Quinn found merit in Miller’s argument, based on a number of factors.

Among them was the timing of the criminal charges, which came shortly after the court sanctioned Holbert for intentional destruction of evidence due to the deletion of years of his and Miller’s emails. The sanction leveled against Holbert meant a future jury would be instructed Miller was a 50 percent owner of Noble Wear, and the matter would no longer be an issue for trial. The judge also cited documented correspondence between Holbert and his attorneys with sheriff’s office and county attorney’s office.

“… Both Holbert and Curott attempted to use the threat of a criminal prosecution to gain leverage in the civil case in an attempt to compel Defendant to settle her claims,” Quinn’s order stated. “It is also apparent that Holbert and Curott sought to have criminal charges brought so that they may force a settlement and avoid the continuing cost of litigation in the civil matter and to avoid losing control over the business Noble Wear.”

Quinn also pointed to County Attorney Walsh’s previous six-year employment with Curott and Associates, Curott’s law firm, as a possible explanation for why Walsh “would make such a potentially unethical decision.”

“The Court notes that this previous business connection, in isolation, would not give credence to Defendant’s vindictive prosecution claim, however, given the facts of this case viewed in aggregate, such a theory is not unreasonable,” Quinn wrote. “Based upon said theory, this court finds that a rational explanation exists as to why Joseph Walsh would coordinate with Holbert/Curott’s office to bring the charges at that time in a collaborative effort to force Defendant into a settlement agreement, and as such further supports this Court applying the presumption of vindictiveness in this case.”

“If they win, Noble Wear closes and 20 families and myself are out of work and Onamia has another big empty building,” Holbert wrote to Lindgren. “… Lu’s lies have cost me hundreds of thousands of dollars. They will cost me Noble Wear if they are not exposed.”

The letter also indicated the case had been dropped at one time, which Quinn provided as another reason indicating outside pressure encouraged the county attorney’s office to proceed with charges.

The state prosecution’s failure to provide all evidence available to the defense because documents were shredded amounted to a criminal procedure rules violation, Quinn ruled. As a sanction for that offense, the judge denied Walsh the opportunity to rebut the court’s finding of vindictive prosecution.

COUNTY ATTORNEY RESPONDS

Walsh hit back at a number of Quinn’s arguments, starting with his limited involvement in the case.

“As the elected County Attorney, this is my first act of any consequence regarding this case,” Walsh wrote.

Walsh accused Quinn of being unable to separate himself from the related civil matter, arguing the judge should have recused himself on his own without needing a request from either party. He pointed to the unusual inclusion of a large number of documents and facts derived from the civil lawsuit in the order, which is a departure from typical practice in a criminal matter.

The county attorney found fault in Quinn’s factual and legal bases for his decision, stating the cases cited in the judge’s order lacked relevance or similarities to the matter at hand.

“Even with a nationwide search, the only case the Court found with any similar claim by a defendant concluded that such a presumption was improper,” Walsh wrote. “… To accomplish its intended objective, this Court … invented a new evidentiary presumption when it could not find supportive case law, and did not give the State due process to rebut it. Results-based judicial decisionmaking is a scourge on the legal profession. If it becomes the norm, it is a harbinger of the end of thinking lawyers and thoughtful practice of law.”

Walsh rejected Quinn’s argument that his previous employment with Curott’s law office had any impact on his office’s decision to pursue criminal charges against Miller. He wrote he is neither under the control or Curott, nor does he condone his actions.

“I knocked on 4,000 doors for the privilege of quitting my job with Mr. Curott, and I would do it again. Mr. Curott wields no influence on me or my office,” Walsh wrote.

The assumption the perjury case was at one time closed — derived from Holbert’s letter to former Sheriff Lindgren — was toxic and incorrect, according to Walsh.

“This Court accuses my office of vindictively reopening consideration of the perjury charge against Lucinda Miller. This is false. There were numerous other allegations by Mr. Holbert against Lucinda Miller which were declined and closed,” the letter stated. “The State took its time in reviewing the perjury case in the hope that the civil case would resolve prior to the State’s charging decision. … Waiting for this civil litigation to resolve would have required the criminal statute of limitations to run.”

Walsh also went to bat for Lindgren and his investigator concerning the destroyed evidence.

Striking back at Quinn’s assertion of the effect on civil litigation, Walsh said Quinn’s order would have a similar impact on criminal cases in the county.

“This order will deter the State from bringing a criminal action where there is an actual or potential related civil dispute,” the letter stated. “… Despite the obvious attack on my character in this Court’s Order, I take solace in knowing that my office fairly and independently reviewed this criminal case based only on the evidence that a crime was committed without taking into account any pending civil action in any way. This Court cannot say the same.”

A second man has been implicated in the fatal shooting of a 31-year-old outside a St. Paul bar during the early morning hours of New Year’s Day.

Zollie Shamual Brown, 42, of Minneapolis, was charged Monday with aiding and abetting second-degree murder, as well as aiding an offender to avoid arrest, according to the criminal complaint filed against him in Ramsey County District Court.

The charges come 10 days after Trayvon Titus Anderson, 30, was charged with murder in the death of Carl Anthony Dobbs Jr. outside Johnny Baby’s on University Avenue shortly before 1 a.m. Jan. 1.

Surveillance footage shows Brown entering the bar with Anderson that night and driving the vehicle Anderson fled in after the shooting, charges say.

Anderson was charged after a police officer reviewing the footage reportedly recognized Anderson as the shooter.

The footage shows Dobbs arrive at Johnny Baby’s shortly before 1 a.m. that morning. Anderson and Brown reportedly walked into the bar around the same time. Eventually, Anderson sat down next to Dobbs, court documents say.

About five minutes later, the two reportedly apparently exchanged words, and both men stood up before getting lost in the crowd, according to the footage.

Anderson and Brown left shortly thereafter and authorities say they waited in the Chevrolet Impala they arrived in until Dobbs exited the bar about 25 minutes later.

Then, just after 2 a.m., surveillance footage showed Anderson pulling out a gun and firing it repeatedly at Dobbs’ car, according to the complaint.

Dobbs then made a sharp U-turn in his vehicle as Anderson followed and continued to fire at the vehicle.

People in the lot ducked and ran for cover. Anderson, meanwhile, returned to the Impala, climbed into the rear driver’s door, and Brown drove them both away, charges say.

An officer on patrol heard popping noises coming from the parking lot. He pulled into the lot and saw a vehicle had struck a fence.

Dobbs, who was shot four times, died in the driver’s seat. Investigators say 11 shell casings were found at the scene.

Police arrested Anderson days later. He said he was not at Johnny’s Baby the night of the shooting and that he didn’t let anybody else drive his car that evening, according to the complaint.

Brown was arrested this past Friday. He reportedly acknowledged to officers that he had gone to the bar with Anderson that evening, saying the two left after Anderson got into an altercation with another man, legal documents say.

Once they got into Anderson’s vehicle, Anderson told Brown he wanted to wait for the man and his friends to leave the bar, according to Brown’s statement to police, charges say.

Brown said he subsequently fell asleep, and woke up to Anderson telling him he’d be right back. That’s when Brown said he moved into the driver’s seat.

Then he heard three gun-shots, and saw Anderson walking back to the vehicle, the complaint said.

Brown is expected to make his first court appearance on the charges Tuesday. No attorney was listed for him in court records.

Anderson’s next court hearing is scheduled Jan. 29.

The St. Paul Police Department needs 103 more employees, mostly officers, a staffing study released Monday concludes.

The City Council requested the study and St. Paul Police Cmdr. Jack Serier, who was previously the Ramsey County sheriff, spent last year analyzing the way the department operates.

The study finds challenges in:

• Responding to 911 calls quickly. There were 17,000 more 911 calls (nearly 32 percent) between 2013 and 2018, while the number of patrol officers increased by 16 (less than 3 percent) during that time.
• Keeping up with increasingly complex investigations due to changes in technology, specifically the availability of video footage. The technology can aid investigations, but also makes them more complex because of the amount of time needed to comb through hours of videos.
• An organizational structure that hasn’t evolved fast enough to meet increasing caseloads, especially in the homicide, sex crimes and family violence units.

The idea of adding new officers to the police department is not a new one, but it hasn’t received support at City Hall.

Overall, Serier recommends adding 33 investigative sergeants “to meet the challenging workloads” and 33 officers to patrol to reduce response time about in-progress crimes. The other staffing increases would be for supervisors and civilians, who would take on some administrative work being done by officers.

Police Chief Todd Axtell said the department will use the staff study as a guide.

“I look forward to further analyzing the findings and working with Mayor Carter, the City Council and our community to make an already great police department even better, and this study is a great tool,” Axtell said in a statement Monday.

The police department sent the study to council members and Mayor Melvin Carter in December. Council President Amy Brendmoen said Monday she’s anticipating “the presentation of its contents and the subsequent council analysis and discussion as we kick off this new year.”

In 2018, Axtell told the City Council the department needed 50 more officers over the course of two years. That year, the council approved adding nine officers for 2019. Last month, the council reduced the department’s authorized strength by five for 2020 without laying off officers.

In the midst of a wave of gun violence in St. Paul, Carter proposed a $3 million supplemental public safety budget for this year, unveiled in November and approved by the city council in December.

It focuses on youth, including starting a public health project for violence prevention and intervention, adding community ambassadors to connect with young people and expanding a youth employment program.

ADDING INVESTIGATORS

The study outlines suggestions for reorganizing investigative units.

For example, the department’s Homicide and Robbery unit not only investigates those crimes, but also serious assaults, shootings, kidnapping and other major crimes.

“Some egregious crimes assigned to the Homicide Unit cannot be properly addressed due to the frequency of homicide investigations,” Serier wrote.

There were 30 homicides in St. Paul last year, the most in more than 25 years, though violent crime is down overall. The city previously averaged 17 homicides annually.

There were 164 people injured or killed by gunfire in St. Paul last year, 20 more than 2018, according to preliminary police department figures released last week. Aggravated assaults, which include shootings, were down nearly 13 percent year-over-year.

In most years, St. Paul police make arrests in more than 90 percent of homicides with the average time to close a homicide being one year, Serier found. Investigators have more than 200 cases per year, on average, which “greatly exceeds recommended levels,” the report continues.

Investigators work long hours and usually exceed the unit’s overtime budget by at least 50 percent — an amount that could fund two or more additional investigative sergeants, Serier wrote.

Serier recommends refocusing homicide investigations, so investigators only handle death investigations. He suggests a separate unit to investigate robberies and other kinds of crimes, and also a Violent Crimes Against Persons Unit to investigate assaults and shootings, which would alleviate about half of the types of cases assigned to homicide investigators.

Property crime in the categories of burglary, theft, motor vehicle theft and arson was up 12 percent last year vs. 2018.

Auto theft reports rose 48 percent last year — there were 2,590 — compared to 2013. Serier recommends adding three auto theft investigators to reduce each of their caseloads.