Photos of suspects and vehicles cover the walls of a large room in St. Paul for investigators to review — but you’d likely have to multiply those images by 100 to get the full scope of the evidence they’re combing through.

The St. Paul Police Department’s Civil Unrest Investigative Taskforce is “sorting through that humongous haystack” to determine who broke into buildings, who stole merchandise and who damaged property in St. Paul after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody on May 25, said Cmdr. Axel Henry, who is leading the task force.

“The police department in St. Paul, we feel awful about what happened to Mr. Floyd, but we have a great city and we don’t want to see it get treated this way,” Henry said. “A lot of the businesses we’ve spoken to said they feel very violated — these were businesses that were put together with blood, sweat and tears — and they obviously didn’t ask for this and didn’t deserve it.”

City officials estimate there was $73 million in damage to properties and nearly $9 million in damage to businesses’ inventory and assets. The Midway area was the hardest hit, particularly on May 28.

300 CASES UNDER INVESTIGATION

The Civil Unrest Investigative Taskforce couldn’t get running right away because most of the police department’s investigators were pulled from their regular work to assist patrol officers in the streets during the unrest and in the weeks that followed to ensure there wasn’t a return to rioting, Henry said.

The department moved eight investigators from various units, along with a crime analyst, to launch the task force about six weeks ago. Their first order of business was sorting through thousands of calls for police service and police reports from a 72-hour period beginning May 28 to determine which were duplicates, which needed reports and which were connected to incidents outside of St. Paul.

They identified about 300 cases — all with multiple suspects — that have elements that could lead to solving them, Henry said. Some businesses were also looted various times.

Long-time employees at the police department can’t remember another investigation with a larger scope than the one that’s underway.

The task force is focusing on felony-level crimes.

They’re looking into people who were involved in multiple instances of vandalism or theft — “we start to figure out that many of the people that were involved in an incident at 1:30 in the afternoon on Thursday were also present at four or five incidents later in the day, so sometimes the individuals push themselves to the front of the list,” Henry said.

Police attention is also focused on people who initially smashed windows to get into businesses and those who stole many valuables.

“If you went inside of a business that already had a broken window and you stole a 12-pack of pop, I don’t think anybody, including the police department’s really looking for you to get a felony burglary charge on your record, and those aren’t really the cases that we’re the most concerned about,” Henry said.

Jim Segal, who owns Ax-Man Surplus on University Avenue and says their insurance claims will exceed $200,000, thinks finding the people who damaged his store throughout and stole items would be “like finding a needle in a haystack.”

“There were so many people coming through the building,” said Segal, whose business has reopened. “It’s not like one person took a truckload of stuff, it’s like hundreds of people ended up taking a truckload of stuff. People were basically carrying out handfuls of stuff.”

Plus, Segal said he knows the unrest came from community members feeling mistreated, “so these are huge social issues. My property loss pales in comparison to that. I’m not going to run around chasing people who did that. If the police find them, I do think criminal activity deserves to be prosecuted, but I’m not sure what the appropriate punishment is.”

WHO WERE THE PEOPLE INVOLVED?

Some of the people involved appeared to have been “caught up in the moment,” while others were organized groups “that were seizing the opportunity to go around and really hit strategic spots,” Henry said. Police have found people selling stolen merchandise online.

While Minneapolis police have identified a man who smashed out windows at an Auto Zone store on East Lake Street as a white supremacist who sought to “incite violence,” according to a search warrant affidavit, St. Paul police so far haven’t identified similar instances, Henry said.

That’s not to say there weren’t agitators in the groups in St. Paul.

“Some of the people that were committing crimes here were not committing crimes for profit, they were committing crimes just to damage things,” Henry said.

Overall, more than half of the people involved in property damage and looting appear to live locally — in St. Paul or the suburbs, said Henry, though he doesn’t have hard numbers yet.

VIDEOS ARE KEY TO SOLVING CASES

Videos and photos are the key to identifying suspects, along with tips from community members, Henry said. Police continue to ask people who have photos and videos to submit them to the police department.

There are thousands of hours of footage from businesses’ surveillance cameras, video cameras posted on street corners and transit stops, officers’ body cameras, and images the public has provided. Investigators are analyzing them to identify who was involved in looting and vandalism.

Many of those in the images are wearing masks — that could have been because of the coronavirus pandemic, to conceal their identity or both, Henry said. But finding multiple images of suspects, including when they’re not wearing their masks, can help identify them.

For example, police have footage of a woman breaking the glass window of a cellphone store. She’s wearing a mask and it’s hard to tell who she is, but her clothes are identifiable.

About 45 minutes later, a passerby saw a woman sitting on a nearby sidewalk with a big bag, which had cellphones visible inside. She was wearing the same clothes as the woman in the video — and this time, she didn’t have a mask on, Henry said. The passerby took photos of her and submitted them to police.

It’s those puzzles that police say they’re putting together by asking other law enforcement agencies whether they recognize suspects, or releasing photos publicly and requesting people who have information come forward.

SOME CHARGED, MORE EXPECTED

The task force’s 300 cases don’t include arson because, while police are assisting in those investigations, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is the main investigating agency. That’s taken a weight off St. Paul police investigators, Henry said, and led to federal charges in seven arson cases, three of which were in St. Paul.

Police are also working with the Drug Enforcement Administration on investigations into pharmacies that were broken into during the unrest — Henry said there were about six in St. Paul from which drugs were stolen.

The Ramsey County attorney’s office charged 27 people, primarily for entering boarded-up buildings and for property damage, between May 28 and June 19.

More recently, the task force has arrested about 10 people, and has sent approximately 20 cases to the county attorney’s office for charging review, Henry said.

Maher Safi, who manages the family-owned Midway Tobacco Outlet Plus on University Avenue, said restitution for businesses is important.

“For the people that looted and stole products, I would say instead of jailing them and costing the state millions of dollars, what they need to do is have them financially compensate the stores or the businesses they stole from,” said Safi, who added that he thinks people should face more serious consequences if they were involved in more serious offenses.

The store, which has reopened, was remodeled earlier this year, but it was seriously damaged and people wiped out their merchandise; Safi thinks the insurance claim will top $200,000.

When cases are charged, the Ramsey County attorney’s office will make restitution recommendations after consulting with the businesses that were affected, according to a spokesman for the office. Judges have the final say in ordering restitution during the sentencing phase.

HOW TO HELP

The St. Paul Police Department is asking people who have photos or videos of arson, theft, looting or property damage during the civil unrest to submit them at stpaulpdmn.evidence.com/axon/citizen/public/CivilDisturbance.

People, who can remain anonymous, can also contact police with information at 651-266-5900 or SPPD-CUITF@stpaul.mn.us.

A local nonprofit that provides bail relief to low income inmates has suspended services at the Ramsey County jail due to its concerns over the facility’s handling of COVID-19 protocols.

Citing the risk posed to its staff, the Freedom Fund recently provided notice to the Ramsey County sheriff’s office of its decision in a letter sent to Sheriff Bob Fletcher this week, according to an electronic copy of the letter shared with the Pioneer Press.

The nonprofit identified the lack of a partition in the bail paying area between visitors and inmates being released, an “easily crowded” and enclosed processing area, inconsistent mask-use, and prolonged public exposure caused by long bail processing times as chief among its safety concerns with the county jail.

It also cited a recent incident when a reportedly symptomatic Ramsey County jail inmate was reportedly transferred to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement center at Fort Snelling and then to the Freeborn County jail who later tested positive for COVID_19, according to the nonprofit.

The incident prompted lock-downs at both locations, and ultimately served as the straw that “broke the camel’s back” as far as the Minnesota Freedom Fund’s willingness to work at the Ramsey County jail, Executive Director Greg Lewin said Friday.

“So much of this feels like common sense and maybe it’s just not something they were thinking about, but I do want people to know what is going on,” Lewin said.

ICE Public Affairs Officer, Shawn Neudauer, said Freedom Fund’s account of the incident is inaccurate and that the inmate referenced was transferred from South Dakota, not Ramsey County. He was processed at ICE’s Fort Snelling office – not a detention facility — after telling staff he had not been exposed to COVID-19 and was then taken to the Freeborn Jail, Neudauer explained.

Once there, he told correction workers a different story about his exposure and subsequently tested positive for the virus, at which point jail staff released him on an order of supervision under ICE, Neudauer said, adding that no lockdown ever took place at ICE offices, though the space was thoroughly cleaned.

Fletcher also said he was not familiar with the “specific case” raised by the nonprofit and insisted the facility is the “safest and healthiest” jail — based on number of inmates per capita — in the state.

EIGHT INMATES HAVE TESTED POSITIVE

Since the pandemic started in March, eight inmates at the Ramsey County jail have tested positive for COVID-19, Fletcher reported. The jail typically books around 25,000 inmates a year, noting that this year’s numbers will be substantially lower due to the virus.

Additionally, two of its roughly 165 jail staff have tested positive, and one nurse.

The low numbers reflect the jail’s commitment to inmate and staff safety amid the pandemic, Fletcher said.

“We have gone to great lengths to ensure healthy practices of our inmates walking in the door,” Fletcher said. “We were the first in the state to use masks, to use sanitizers, to use body temperature readings.”

The facility can always improve though, Fletcher added, and said plans are already underway to add a partition to the lobby in question, and increase enforcement of mask-use and proper social distancing protocols. Until the Gov. Tim Walz’s recent order on masks, face-coverings were optional in the jail lobby, Fletcher noted.

ACCESS TO BAIL-PAYING SERVICES

Ideally, the Freedom Fund would like the jail to move bail-pay to a facility next door that has more room and could more easily accommodate social distancing. That ask will go unmet, Fletcher said.

The facility is already crowded with jail staff serving people for other services, including permits to carry, and is only staffed from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m on weekdays, whereas people need access to bail-paying services round the clock, he said.

The county also has no plans to release inmates being held on cash bail, another demand made in the Freedom Fund’s letter.

“Keeping people in jail while speaking a language of public safety is not acceptable and to have anyone in jail that a judge has set a cash bail and deemed safe to rejoin the community if they get enough money together is unacceptable,” Lewin said. “That has never made sense to me but in a pandemic it takes on another facet of moral monstrosity.”

While Fletcher said he appreciates Freedom Fund’s perspective, he said it doesn’t line up with the one he is tasked to consider.

“We expect that is their position as an organization representing persons who are incarcerated but our role is to represent what the public wants and what is in the best interest of the public … there is a big divide between the two,” he said.

PUBLIC DEFENDERS OFFICE

The Ramsey County Public Defenders office has also had concerns over the jail’s handling of COVID-19 protocols from time to time, said Chief Public Defender Jim Fleming.

“I know the (COVID-19) policies are there, it’s just a question of executing on the policies,” Fleming said. He noted that the policies he was referring to include adhering to social distancing guidelines, not transferring prisoners with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 and isolating those with it inside the jail.

“I think when we are asking people on the ground level to execute some of these policies it’s just not always getting done,” Fleming said.

He cited an incident where one of his staff was invited by jail staff to visit an incarcerated client who she found out had tested positive for COVID-19.

When he tried to bring the issue to the attention of jail staff, Fleming said they denied the conduct occurred.

REDUCED POPULATION

Fletcher shrugged off Fleming’s concerns as disingenuous.

“The public defenders have been trying to get inmates out of jail for the last four months and they have been using this as a tool to get them out,” Fletcher said.

Jail staff, working in connection with the courts and the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office, reduced its jail population by about 50 percent at the start of the pandemic to address health concerns presented by the crowded, confined facility.

The recent development comes at a time when proponents for criminal justice reform across the country, including Ramsey County John Choi, have advocated for changes to a bail system that unfairly advantages those with greater financial means.

Freedom Fund’s staff continue to work out of the Hennepin County jail, where more protocols and structures are in place to prevent the spread of the virus, Lewin said.

What happened to Nia “Brooklyn” Black was a senseless crime, her mother says.

“They took away someone so precious,” said LaTanya Black, whose 23-year-old daughter was fatally shot in St. Paul on June 13.

She and other relatives will be leading a peace walk for Nia Black on Saturday. They’re inviting everyone to join them as they seek justice for Nia — whose case is unsolved — and safety for all.

“It’s a walk for justice for Nia,” LaTanya Black said. “It’s a call to action for the community as a whole to stand up and say, ‘Enough is enough’ and support the mothers and families who have to endure laying a child to rest.”

They plan to have men walk on the outside of the group “to show that women are protected,” said Cimone Black, one of Nia’s sisters.

“With the situation with my sister, there were a lot of men there and I’m not saying they could have stopped what happened, but they could have stepped up and said, ‘Not tonight,'” she said.

On the night she was killed, Nia Black was planning to stay home in Coon Rapids — she had been in her robe and doing laundry — but she ended up going out with three friends. Her friends decided to go to The Lamplighter Lounge at Larpenteur Avenue and Rice Street in St. Paul, her sister said.

When they arrived, the lounge was apparently closed and a large group of people were in the parking lot. There was a fight and a woman hit Nia Black in the back of the head, Cimone Black said she’s been told.

She said her sister — a licensed cosmetologist who graduated from the Aveda Institute and had her own business as a professional makeup artist — was not an aggressor and wasn’t aware of the danger in the parking lot that night.

As they drove away, gunshots rang out and Nia Black, who was in the front passenger seat, was shot in the head.

Sgt. Jeff Schwab, the lead homicide investigator on the case, will join in Saturday’s walk to support the family. He’s frustrated about the lack of cooperation from people who were present when Nia Black was shot, said police spokesman Sgt. Mike Ernster; Schwab wasn’t available for an interview Friday.

“He knows from … video (posted on social media) from that night that there was upwards of 50 people in that parking lot when this occurred and possibly up to 50 witnesses and to my knowledge they have not heard from these people and they want to hear from them,” Ernster said.

Police are asking anyone with information to contact them at 651-266-5650.

IF YOU GO

What: Peace Walk for Nia “Brooklyn” Black
When: Saturday, Aug. 1. People are asked to gather beginning at 11:30 a.m. for the noon walk.
Where: Fritz Klark Recreation Field, 1021 Marion St., St. Paul. People will walk to the Lamplighter Lounge, and then back to the field, which is 3 miles round trip.
How to help: Black’s mother established the Nia Black Legacy Fund for education on community gun violence prevention and to carry on the work of her daughter’s Project Brooklyn, which highlighted the talent of Twin Cities entrepreneurs. Donations can be made at gofundme.com/f/agtu5-nia-black.

A man water skiing was injured early Saturday morning during an accident involving a Hennepin County Sheriff’s Water Patrol boat on Lake Minnetonka, authorities said.

The 6:40 a.m. accident occurred in the Lower Lake of Lake Minnetonka, south of Gale Island, according to a press release by the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office.

That agency has requested that the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office investigate the circumstances leading up to the accident.

The water skier, an adult male, was injured and taken to Hennepin County Medical Center. The deputy was not injured.

No further details about the accident or the man’s condition were available Saturday night.

A man was shot and killed Saturday night in the Ventura Village area of Minneapolis, police said.

About 5:24 p.m., officers responded to a 911 call about a shooting on the 1500 block of 19th Street East, according to police spokesman John Elder.

When officers arrived, they found a man on the ground with a gunshot wound. Officers provided medical aid until paramedics arrived. The man died shortly after he arrived at the hospital.

After St. Paul police spotted a vehicle believed to have been stolen in an armed carjacking this weekend, the driver sped away and led officers on a chase, police say.

In the end, police arrested three boys — two are 13 and one is 12.

The Mercedes sedan was stolen in Minneapolis, in the 1300 block of West 28th Street, on Saturday shortly before 12:40 a.m.

St. Paul police officers saw the car about 3:10 p.m. Saturday in St. Paul’s Frogtown. They tried to pull it over in the area of Chatsworth Street and Sherburne Avenue, but the vehicle fled.

Police followed the Mercedes — the driver took Snelling Avenue into Roseville and beyond, where it went on Interstate 694 to Highway 100. St. Paul ended the pursuit at that point, but other law enforcement agencies, including the Minnesota State Patrol helicopter, continued.

In the 3600 block of Bryant Avenue North in Minneapolis, three people from the vehicle got out and ran into an address. Police surrounded the residence and tried to reach the suspects by phone, though they didn’t respond, said John Elder, Minneapolis spokesman.

Police talked with relatives who weren’t at the home, but who called the boys and got them to come outside, according to Elder. Officers arrested the boys on suspicion of armed robbery, receiving stolen property and fleeing police.

The burgundy Oldsmobile sped through an intersection in a tree-lined residential neighborhood on Minneapolis’ North Side, and Lisa Williams shook her head in disgust.

“Look at this,” she said, surrounded by four of her young grandchildren on the short stoop of her home. “They ride as fast as they can right down through here with no regard for the children.”

It is in such moments — when she is reminded of the many dangers in her community, from speeding cars to gunshots — that Williams, 50, would welcome the presence of police.

But then she recalls the time several years ago when she and her husband arrived home to find several police vehicles parked on their front lawn. Officers told them to mind their own business when they asked what was going on, leading to an argument that ended with her husband getting handcuffed and taken to jail.

Minneapolis’ North Side, with a majority Black population, has decidedly mixed opinions on the City Council’s effort, following the police killing of George Floyd, to significantly reduce the size and scope of Minneapolis’ police force.

Residents complain of rampant police mistreatment, but also of out-of-control crime and violence. That reality has left many Black residents here unenthusiastic about what has become known as the defund movement. Adding complexity to the debate, they say that they despise the police but need someone to call when things go awry.

“It does seem like a no-win situation,” Williams said.

Proponents of defunding argue that having considerably fewer — or no — police officers could actually reduce crime because those resources could instead be invested into communities struggling with poverty.

But that argument does not win over everybody.

In a survey last month of likely voters in 10 battleground states, just under half of Black respondents said they would be more likely to support a candidate who made defunding the police a priority, according to the poll commissioned by Run for Something, which supports young, progressive candidates, and Collective PAC, which backs Black candidates.

Reducing police department budgets drew support from 70% of Black Americans, according to a Gallup poll released in July. Yet only 22% of Black respondents supported the more drastic measure pushed by some activists of zeroing out police department budgets altogether.

“What are they suggesting would be the answer if we didn’t have police?” asked Bunny Beeks, whose mother was fatally shot in North Minneapolis four years ago. “I just don’t understand what that would look like.”

The Minneapolis City Council’s proposal would not totally eliminate the Police Department. But some council members have said they would like to replace the existing department, which has been widely criticized for its aggressive attitudes toward Black residents.

Most North Side residents say they hope for major reforms, including requiring officers to live in their community and better training them to interact with residents.

Tiffany Roberson, whose brother, Jamar Clark, was fatally shot by police five years ago, suggested creating a community council that could work with and oversee the police in North Minneapolis.

Though skeptics say that decades of reforms have failed to create fundamental change, some residents said they had faith that Floyd’s death, and the outrage it has prompted, could make this time different.

Many residents say they have confidence in Chief Medaria Arradondo, the first African American to hold the position, saying he has shown an appetite for change that past police leaders have not. But a reform-minded chief cannot overhaul a department alone.

Speaking from a North Side street corner where young men sitting on lawn chairs chat on sunny summer days, Royal Jones, 32, said he had had many brushes with law enforcement. He compared his feelings about police to his relationship with his mother growing up. He said she might “whoop” him for doing something wrong, and he might get mad at her for it, but at the end of the day, he still relied on her.

Similarly, he said, if someone broke into his house, he would have to rely on law enforcement to handle it rather than “go the street way,” which would just prompt more violence.

“Even a person like me might need the police,” he said.

Still, Jones said he believed that a better approach might be to employ community outreach workers to avert violence before it happens and interact with police officers once it occurs. Such efforts already exist, but Jones said they could be more robust.

Standing nearby, his friend Kentrell Grimes, a fellow North Sider, was not necessarily buying that approach.

“At the end of the day, that is still policing,” said Grimes, 25, a cook. “This is what I’m saying, though: How can you defund the police and then bring another group to police? That’s stupid. I’m sitting here trying to wrap my brain around this.”

Minneapolis proponents of defunding the police have said that these are the types of discussions that community members needed to have to decide what works best for public safety in their neighborhoods.

Some may see the need for armed officers. Others may come up with a different model. Kandace Montgomery, the director of Black Visions Collective, a leading advocate of defunding in Minneapolis, acknowledged the difficulty of getting people to envision a system of public safety different from the only one they have always known.

“We do have to imagine,” she said. “I recognize that is deeply scary.”

City Council members have worked closely with Black Visions Collective and other Black-led organizations in an effort to defund the Police Department. That has stirred tensions.

Many North Side civic leaders and legacy organizations, like the Urban League and several Black churches, have accused elected officials of ignoring the voices of their communities as they create a path forward for policing. They point out that some of the defund movement’s leaders are based on the South Side — where Floyd was killed by the police — which has a much smaller Black population.

“They’ve made this choice for us as Black people, when they don’t necessarily live or engage with Black people,” said Raeisha Williams, a North Side activist whose brother was fatally shot two years ago. “When my house is broken into, I want to be able to call the police. When my security alarm goes off, I want to know they’re going to arrive and protect my family.”

The council has proposed amending the City Charter to eliminate the Police Department as a core agency and replace it with a new public safety department. That move alone would not eliminate the police, but it would provide a blank canvas on which city leaders could create a new mechanism for public safety that could include social services and crime-prevention initiatives.

The two council members representing the North Side, Phillipe Cunningham and Jeremiah Ellison, have supported the effort to change the charter and defund the police.

“To say that Black North Siders have not had a voice erases the existence of two Black North Side council members,” Cunningham said.

He said his constituents have told him they want to see “transformative change in the way that the city keeps our community safe.”

He acknowledged that the police could not be eliminated in one fell swoop.

“We will likely need some form of law enforcement for the foreseeable future,” Cunningham said. Yet he envisioned a system in which greater investment in things like community workers, health, housing and education would stabilize the community and drive down crime. But that is difficult for many to envision right now as Minneapolis, like many other urban areas across the country, is in the midst of a spike in gun violence. The Police Department’s 4th Precinct, which covers North Minneapolis, has seen more murders and violent crimes this year than any other precinct in the city.

One of those victims of violence was Taona Mays, 24, who was sitting in the back of a friend’s sport utility vehicle on a Saturday in late July when a man walked up alongside the car and began shooting. A bullet struck her left hip, leaving her with a severe limp.

“The presence of the police is definitely needed because without it, people definitely will just do anything,” said Mays, who does medical transport at a hospital.

Yet she also embraces elements of what defund activists have been preaching. If there were fewer officers, she said, they would only be able to focus on major crimes rather than harassing people for petty things. She actually wants something to replace the police, she said, but she cannot think of what that would be.

“It’s good to have good police,” she said. “It’s bad to have bad police.”

A New Brighton police officer suffered a broken wrist after becoming stuck in the doorway of a stolen car driven by a wanted felon who tried to evade arrest by driving into a business and speeding off, authorities said.

The frenzied chain of events began about 2 p.m. Monday in the parking lot of a business at County Road E and Silver Lake Road and ended with a car chase and the 26-year-old suspect crashing nearly two miles away, where he was taken into custody after a foot pursuit with officers.

New Brighton Police Chief Tony Paetznick said Tuesday that charges are expected to be filed Wednesday against Jeffrey Alan Paulson Jr., who was booked into Ramsey County jail on suspicion of fleeing police in a motor vehicle, possession of a stolen vehicle, possession of a firearm by an ineligible person, criminal damage to property and violating parole. Paulson’s last known residence was Lino Lakes, Paetznick said.

Police have not released the name of the injured officer. A second officer underwent a medical evaluation for a minor knee injury and has returned to duty.

According to police:

An officer on traffic safety enforcement stopped Paulson in the parking lot for not displaying a license plate on a motorcycle, but he got off the bike and began to physically fight with the officer.

Paulson broke free and entered the driver’s seat of a car in the parking lot. The officer continued to try and take Paulson into custody, but he drove the car into the side of Midwest Tobacco and backed out with the officer still stuck in the car’s doorway.

The officer was able to break free from the car and Paulson fled in the car as additional officers arrived on scene.

Officers pursued the Paulson at speeds of approximately 35 miles an hour to 37th Avenue and Hayes Street Northeast in Minneapolis. That’s where the car was stopped when an officer performed a pursuit intervention tactic maneuver.

Paulson fled on foot, but was arrested after a short pursuit.

Paulson told police that he had ingested narcotics; he was taken to a local hospital for an evaluation.

Officers found a 9 mm handgun on the grass by the car and also recovered suspected narcotics that Paulson allegedly threw from the car, which had been reported stolen out of Coon Rapids.

Officers learned Tuesday the motorcycle had been stolen out of Burnsville, Paetznick said.

Paulson had two active felony warrants out of Hennepin County. His criminal history dates back to 2012 and includes two previous felony convictions for burglary and a firearms violation.

MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said the city is working to pair new police officers with “the right individuals” for field training following George Floyd’s death, in which a senior officer rejected a younger colleague’s question about how Floyd was being restrained.

In an interview with The Associated Press as part of its AP Newsmakers series, Frey said the city wants to make sure that the training new officers get isn’t undermined once they go into the field.

“We need to make sure that those who are in a supervisory role, those that are riding with new officers with new cadets, are the right individuals to be role models,” Frey said. “You learn from who your role models are, and that can be a good thing and that can also be a bad thing.”

Floyd, a 47-year-old Black man who was in handcuffs, died May 25 after Officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee against Floyd’s neck for nearly eight minutes as Floyd pleaded for air. Chauvin, who is white, is charged with second-degree murder. Three other officers who were at the scene — Thomas Lane, Tou Thao and J. Kueng — are charged with aiding and abetting.

Attorneys for Lane and Kueng have portrayed the two officers as rookies who deferred to the far more senior Chauvin. Body camera video shows as Floyd repeatedly said he couldn’t breathe, Lane asked Chauvin whether the officers should turn Floyd from his stomach to his side. Chauvin responded that they would keep Floyd as he was.

The police department has been under significant pressure to change its practices since Floyd’s death, with a majority of City Council members in favor of eliminating the department entirely and replacing it with a new public safety unit. The city’s charter commission is expected to vote Wednesday on whether to advance a proposal that could ultimately send the idea to voters in November.

Frey told the AP that he remains opposed to the idea.

“We should not go down the route of simply abolishing the police department,” Frey said. “What we need to see within this department, and within many departments throughout the country, is a full-on culture shift.”

The mayor and Chief Medaria Arradondo have moved ahead with their own changes since Floyd’s death, including requiring officers to document attempts to de-escalate situations whether or not force is used. They also have expanded requirements for reporting use-of-force incidents, ordering officers to provide more detail.

Arradondo also pulled the department out of negotiations for a union contract, saying he wanted a review aimed at making major changes to things such as the grievance and arbitration process that makes it hard to get rid of problem officers.

Some local residents have voiced concerns about the prospect of dismantling the police department. There were 224% more incidents involving gunfire in June than in June 2019 and 166% more in July than in the previous one, according to a Minneapolis Star Tribune analysis of police data. The police department has also lost scores of officers to firings, resignations and medical leave in the two months that followed Floyd’s death and the ensuing protests, some of which turned violent.

Asked about the perception that officers might be deliberately slowing their response, Frey said he’s seen no evidence of that but acknowledged that the “significant attrition” of officers had slowed response times.

“We have officers in our department who wear the badge that they do, wear the uniform that they do, because they want to make the city a better place,” Frey said.

Asked whether he supports reparations to Black Americans, Frey, who is white, said he does, noting that for generations, Black people have struggled to build wealth for various reasons, including that they’ve had unequal access to higher education and home mortgages.

“There are clear monetary financial impacts to the society that we are living in,” Frey said. “I feel that that should be recognized at some point. … It’s something that I am very open to and I feel it’s the right thing to do.”

A St. Paul man and woman physically and sexually assaulted a woman they kept trapped in an apartment for several days, authorities say.

Police discovered a woman bloodied and bruised when they responded to a criminal sexual conduct report at a complex on the 800 block of Seal Street in St. Paul at 12:30 a.m. last Sunday, according to criminal charges filed Tuesday in Ramsey County District Court.

The 31-year-old woman told officers that Raymond Timothy Brooks, 35, and Dakotah Jade Shabaiash, 21, caused the injuries by repeatedly beating and sexually assaulting her, the complaint said.

The two reportedly picked her up in Bruce, Wis., about two weeks prior at the woman’s request and brought her to the residence in St. Paul, she said. The woman had known Brooks for years, but had never met Shabaiash, she said

After staying with them for a couple days, the woman temporarily left to visit a cousin. Things took a turn for the worse when she returned, she said, according to the criminal complaint.

Brooks reportedly told her she couldn’t leave again or he would sell her to a sex-trafficking ring, and began beating her with his hands and other objects, including a computer cords, hangers and sticks that Shabaiash handed him, charges say.

They also sexually assaulted her, once with a butane can, and hid her cell phone so she couldn’t call for help, the complaint said.

Officers found a butane can in a bedroom in the apartment, as well as a large kitchen knife in the living room, a black computer cord shoved between two mattresses and hangers stuffed in the kitchen trash can, charges say.

The woman’s cell phone was found under a mattress.

A sexual assault examination revealed the woman had “extensive bruising and pain from head to toe,” including bruising and other injuries to her interior and exterior genitalia, the complaint said.

Brooks and Shabaiash told police they were the victims, with Shabaiash insisting that the woman’s boyfriend had caused her injuries before she and Brooks picked her up, charges say.

The woman’s cousin refuted that claim when she told officers that the woman didn’t appear to have any injuries when she visited her days earlier.

Shabaiash also reportedly said she didn’t have a weapon on her when she was taken to police headquarters to be interviewed, though police found a “large knife in a sheath” in her purse.

Police also found suspected methamphetamine and marijuana in Shabaiash’s purse, charges say.

Both Shabaiash and Brooks said the sexual conduct that had taken place was consensual.

Brooks also denied physically assaulting the woman.

Both were charged Tuesday with first-degree criminal sexual conduct, false imprisonment and third-degree assault resulting in substantial bodily harm.

Brooks’ criminal record includes past convictions for fifth-degree assault, domestic assault and possession of a firearm by an ineligible person.

Shabaiash’s criminal history only includes one incident of driving without a valid license.

They are scheduled to make their first appearance on the allegations Wednesday. No attorney was listed for them in court records.

The Minnesota State Patrol has canceled its annual police academy to train future officers “due to lack of funding.”

The decision, which will effectively thin the ranks of the state law enforcement agency by several dozen, is the second noteworthy cut in state services resulting from looming state budget shortfalls, courtesy of the coronavirus pandemic and its resulting hammer on the economy and state tax revenues.

On Monday, the Department of Corrections announced that it would close two minimum-security prisons for the same reason, and other state agencies are facing similar pressures.

The State Patrol’s decision to scrap the academy class was revealed Friday in communications sent to prospective attendees. On Tuesday, the Department of Public Safety, which oversees the State Patrol, confirmed the details and reasoning to the Pioneer Press.

Here are the broad strokes:

• The State Patrol tries to maintain a force of about 600 troopers.
• About 35 are expected to leave this fiscal year, when ends next summer, and another 35 are expected to leave the following year. Regular attrition like this is why the agency has generally for decades held a yearly academy at Camp Ripley, the Minnesota National Guard’s training center near Little Falls.
• Each 15- to 17-week academy costs between $4.5 million and $5.5 million. (Last year’s academy trained 32 future troopers for $4.9 million.) The State Patrol can’t afford that, given current financial projections that foresee a $2.4 billion hole in the current two-year statewide budget and a $4.7 billion hole for the following two years.

Gov. Tim Walz and the split-party Legislature could not agree this year on a revised taxing-and-spending plan that could have potentially patched the hole. (Walz is a Democrat; the House is controlled by Democrats, the Senate by Republicans.)

“Without a 2021 academy, the State Patrol will need additional funds to offer a larger than normal academy in 2022 in order to fill all vacant positions,” DPS spokesman Bruce Gordon said in a statement Monday. “It is our hope that the Legislature will provide this funding to ensure we have the necessary troopers on Minnesota roads.”

But much remained unclear. In the communication to would-be academy attendees Friday, Capt. Eric Barthel of the State Patrol’s Training and Development Section expressed his “deepest apologies” that this year’s academy would be canceled “due to a lack of funding.” Barthel said he didn’t yet know how the hiring-and-training process would be resumed.

The Humane Society is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to the identification, arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for abandoning a dog in a wooded area near Fourth and Clarence Street in St. Paul.

The dog was found in a wooded area and reported to the St. Paul City Department of Safety and Inspections by a concerned person on Thursday. The dog was covered in maggots with wire around his throat and his mouth zip-tied shut. St. Paul Animal Control believes he may have survived for up to two weeks at this location.

“The level of cruelty this dog endured is difficult to put into words,” said Christine Coughlin, the Minnesota state director for the Humane Society of the U.S. “We hope our reward helps find the person or persons who committed this heinous act.”

The Humane Society of the U.S. states many cases of animal cruelty correlate between other crimes, such as narcotics and firearm violations, battery and sexual assault.

City of St. Paul Animal Control Officers are investigating this case. Anyone with relevant information is asked to call the St. Paul Animal Control Facility at 651- 266-1100 or email molly.lunaris@ci.stpaul.mn.us.

A police officer was injured Monday when a Lino Lakes man took off in a vehicle that the officer was trying to pull him out from, authorities say.

The interaction started shortly after New Brighton officer Joseph Pyka saw Jeffrey Paulson, 26, riding with a female passenger on a motorcycle without a license plate in the parking lot of Midwest Tobacco, according to a criminal complaint filed Wednesday.

Pyka pulled him over to investigate and Paulson reportedly told him he was test-driving the bike.

Pyka asked to see his driver’s license, and Paulson walked to a Toyota Camry seemingly to retrieve his license, according to the charges.

After fumbling around in the vehicle, Paulson reportedly said he couldn’t find his ID and then refused to get out of the vehicle.

As Pyka reached in and grabbed hold of him to pull him out, Paulson drove forward, pulling the officer with him and striking and damaging Midwest Tobacco’s concrete pillar before taking off, according to the charges.

Other officers began pursuing the vehicle and watched as Paulson threw a plastic bag out the window, and later what looked to be white powder from another baggie, according to the charges.

Police managed to incapacitate the vehicle at 37th Avenue and Hayes Street, at which point Paulson took off on foot, according to the charges.

He was eventually taken into custody and transported to Regions Hospital after Paulson told arresting officers he’d ingested heroin, the complaint said.

Officers found a 9mm handgun in the grass by the vehicle, and later determined that both the vehicle and the motorcycle had been stolen.

The officer who tried to get Paulson out of the vehicle sustained a broken wrist.

The Ramsey County Attorney’s Office charged Paulson Wednesday with first-degree criminal damage to property, fleeing a peace officer and third-degree assault.

He has a prior felony conviction for being an ineligible person in possession of a firearm as well as gross misdemeanor convictions for domestic assault.

Paulson made his first appearance in court Monday. No attorney was listed for him in court records.

The Brooklyn Center police officers involved in the fatal shooting of a man last summer will not be charged, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announced Wednesday.

Two police officers fired six shots at 21-year-old Kobe Dimock-Heisler on Aug. 31, 2019 after responding to an incident involving a hammer and a knife on the 5900 block of Halifax Ave. N. County prosecutors concluded that the officers has reasonable fear that two other officers and Dimock-Heisler’s family member were in danger of death or harm as the man attacked with a knife.

“… The four Brooklyn Center police officers who initially responded to the scene used de-escalation tactics and seemed to have calmed down Mr. Dimock-Heisler. Even when he sprang from his chair, grabbed a knife and attempted to stab one of the officers, three officers fired their Tasers, with no effect. Then, and only then, did they fire their guns,” Freeman said in a statement.

Amity Dimock, Dimock-Heisler’s mother, said the officers should be charged, all unedited videos of the incident should be released and that Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison should investigate the case.

“My son was a beautiful, nonviolent boy, he was simply having a bad day that day. And I will say that the incident was already de- escalated before the police came,” Dimock said. “Them showing up resulted in the outcome of my son being murdered, they just quite simply should not have come.”

Dimock-Heisler was raised by his grandparents since he was six years old, according to a prosecutor’s report.

The incident began when Dimock-Heisler and his grandfather went to a Wendy’s restaurant earlier that day. Dimock-Heisler, who was on the autism spectrum and suffered from mental illness, became angry and yelled when an employee got their order wrong. His grandfather told him to stop yelling.

Dimock-Heisler and his grandfather continued to argue when they got home, and Dimock-Heisler got a serrated knife and a hammer and told his grandfather to apologize for what he said in the restaurant. The grandfather escaped to another room and called 911.

Two officers — Cody Turner and Brandon Akers– responded at 4:20 p.m. and were joined by another two officers — Stephen Holt and Joseph Vu. Dimock-Heisler’s grandfather said the situation had calmed down, but the officers said they needed to enter the residence to assess the situation. An officer patted down Dimock-Heisler for weapons but did not find any.

Officers had Dimock-Heisler sit on a couch with his grandmother, who gave the officers the knife and the hammer. Dimock-Heisler had cut himself on his stomach, and said he had been placed on a 30-day mental health commitment previously and that he did not want to go back.

Dimock-Heisler put his face in his hands and cried and then suddenly got up and ran toward his grandmother. Three of the officers fired their tasers on Dimock-Heisler, but they had no effect. Dimock-Heisler then retrieved another knife that was hidden in the couch and tried to stab Vu. Turner and Akers then fired their semi-automatic handguns three times each, hitting Dimock-Heisler in the chest and neck.

Freeman and two veteran prosecutors reviewed the investigative file and concluded that the two officers that fired their handguns met the conditions in Minnesota law because it was necessary for them to protect themselves and their partners from death or bodily harm.

By AMY FORLITI

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minneapolis commission decided Wednesday to take more time to review a City Council amendment to dismantle the Police Department in the wake of George Floyd’s death, ending the possibility of voters deciding the issue in November.

Members of the Charter Commission expressed concern that the process to change the city’s charter was being rushed after Floyd died following an encounter with police. While several commissioners said changing the Police Department was necessary, they said the amendment before them was flawed. Several said it faced legal barriers, was created without input from key community members who oppose it, and that it gave too much power to the City Council.

“It’s appropriate to explore transformational changes in the department, but it needs to be done thoughtfully,” said Commissioner Peter Ginder, who voted in favor of taking more time. “That hasn’t been done here.”

The five City Council members who authored the proposed charter amendment released a statement criticizing the decision, but said they will continue to work toward transforming the way the city provides public safety. They said they plan to put an amendment before voters in November 2021.

“It is not our legacy to use bureaucratic processes to circumvent the people in an attempt to ‘protect’ voters from themselves,” said Council Member Jeremiah Ellison. “That is not democracy. In a democracy, the people decide. But I guess today the Charter Commission decided otherwise.”

The proposed amendment followed widespread criticism of law enforcement over Floyd’s death. It would have replaced the Police Department with a “Department of Community Safety and Violence Prevention” that backers said would take a more “holistic” approach, which wasn’t fully defined. The proposal did allow for armed officers — creating a division of licensed peace officers, who would have answered to the new department’s director.

“The council says ‘Trust us. We’ll figure it out after this is approved. Trust us.’ Well I don’t, and we shouldn’t,” said Barry Clegg, chairman of the Charter Commission. “Charter change is too important.”

The 15-member commission, made up of volunteers appointed by a judge, voted 10-5 to take another 90 days to review the proposed amendment. Most of those who voted against taking the extra time said they would recommend rejecting the amendment.

But the issue would likely have gone to voters even if it was rejected because the City Council was required only to consult the commission and is not bound by their action. The lack of a final decision means the proposal won’t clear deadlines to make the ballot this November, but it could be on the ballot in 2021.

“There is no democracy denied here. There is no denial of democratic rights. It’s a question of when, not if,” Commissioner Gregory Abbott said. “We can fix this. We can get police reform. We just need to find a different avenue to do it in.”

A similar move by the commission effectively ended a proposed charter change in 2018 that would have given the City Council more control over the department.

Mel Reeves, a longtime community activist, said he was not surprised by the commission’s decision. He saw it as a delay tactic.

“We talk about living in a democracy, but if you really want to be democratic, sometimes it’s damn near impossible. If people really want to do something, there are all kinds of mechanisms to keep them from doing it,” he said.

The process has unfolded during a violent summer in Minneapolis after Floyd’s death, with shootings dramatically higher than last year. Many residents are worried about a proposal to “abolish” police officers.

Some City Council members promised a robust process to get public input on how a new department would look and work. Council member Steve Fletcher, one of the proposal’s authors, said before the commission’s vote that the city would continue to move ahead with the community engagement process.

Floyd, a Black man who was handcuffed, died May 25 after Derek Chauvin, who is white, pressed his knee against Floyd’s neck for nearly eight minutes, as Floyd said he couldn’t breathe. Chauvin was charged with second-degree murder and other counts, and three other officers at the scene were charged with aiding and abetting. All four officers were fired, and Floyd’s death sparked protests in Minneapolis and around the world.

Mayor Jacob Frey, who was opposed to abolishing the department, and Chief Medaria Arradondo have moved ahead with their own changes since Floyd’s death, including requiring officers to document attempts to de-escalate situations whether or not force is used. They also have expanded requirements for reporting use-of-force incidents, ordering officers to provide more detail.

Arradondo also pulled the department out of negotiations for a union contract, saying he wanted a review designed to change the grievance and arbitration process.

According to draft language of the amendment, the new department would have had “responsibility for public safety services prioritizing a holistic, public health-oriented approach.” The director of the new agency would have “non-law-enforcement experience in community safety services, including but not limited to public health and/or restorative justice approaches.”

But the amendment included other provisions that some commissioners feared wouldn’t be understood by voters.

Commissioner Toni Newborn, voted against additional review, expressing concern it would be seen as a delay tactic. But she said she did not support the amendment because it put the Police Department under City Council control.

Commissioner Andrew Kozak said many people who have fought for years for equality and racial justice have come forward to say the amendment wasn’t ready, and that they were never consulted.

“They are the people most affected by police misconduct … and I think I’m going to listen to them,” he said.

An attorney for one of the four former Minneapolis police officers charged in the death of George Floyd argues his client only handled crowd control.

Defense attorney Robert Paule filed a memo Wednesday supporting his earlier motion to dismiss charges against Tou Thao for lack of probable cause. The memo said Thao had his back to what was going on as Officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, pressed his knee to the neck of Floyd, a handcuffed Black man. Chauvin pressed his knee to Floyd’s neck for nearly eight minutes on May 25 even after Floyd pleaded for air.

According to the memo, Thao offered a hobble restraint to the other three officers, but they refused it. The memo also argues Chauvin was using a non-deadly, Minneapolis Police Department-approved neck restraint, and that Thao and the other three officers “had been repeatedly trained to use neck restraints.”

After the other officers refused his offer of a hobble restraint, Thao “immediately turned his attention to crowd control” and kept his back to Floyd and the other officers for the majority of the remainder of the arrest, the memo said.

“When Officer Thao turned his back to Mr. Floyd and the three other officers for the last time, Mr. Floyd was still alive and breathing,” the memo said. “Officer Thao did nothing to aid in the commission of a crime.”

Thao never placed his hands on Floyd, according to the memo, and asked about the status of an ambulance, radioing police dispatch to hurry up the response.

An attorney for another former officer, Thomas Lane, also plans to argue that charges against his client should be dismissed.

Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter. Thao, Lane and another officer, J. Kueng, are charged with aiding and abetting both second-degree murder and manslaughter. All four officers were fired.

Their next court hearing is scheduled for Sept. 11.

One month after a pregnant woman was shot and killed, her child has died, the Minneapolis Police Department announced Wednesday.

On July 5, Minneapolis police officers responded to the area of 37th Street East and Elliot Avenue on a report of a possible shooting, where they found an adult pregnant woman suffering from a gunshot wound. She was transported to the hospital where she delivered the infant. She was later pronounced dead. The infant was placed in the neonatal intensive care unit.

In mid-July, Zachary Victor Robinson Jr. was arrested in Illinois and charged with the murder of the mother.

Minneapolis police were informed early Wednesday morning that the hospitalized infant died.

On Aug. 6, the Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announced that Robinson would also be charged with second degree murder of an unborn child.

Three statues were vandalized during a protest in Eagan’s Central Park Commons on Tuesday night. Authorities are still trying to identify the individuals responsible, officials say.

The vandalism occurred the same night protesters gathered in the Central Park Commons in response to an event organized by the police department. The police department canceled the “Building Bridges and Trust Between Citizens and Law Enforcement” event after learning protesters were planning to disrupt it.

During the protest, someone began spray-painting the bandshell, and a memorial for firefighters, U.S. service members and police officers, said Aaron Machtemes, Eagan police spokesperson.

A photo released by Eagan police shows a statue of an officer with the words “BLM” spray-painted across its chest. Another photo of a woman tagging a wall shows the graffiti includes the first name of Isak Aden, who was shot and killed by police in an Eagan standoff in 2019.

The “No Trust Without Accountability!” protest was organized by 13 social justice organizations, including the Justice for Isak Aden Committee. The Aden family has since criticized the vandalism.

“While the family strongly believes that protest is a legitimate and necessary medium to advance social change, the conduct of the vandals last night neither preserves the memory of Isak nor promotes substantive change,” read the statement released on behalf the Aden family.

The majority of the graffiti has been cleared, and Eagan police hope to reschedule their event.

A commission of St. Paul residents that reviews misconduct complaints about police officers is an ongoing example of the national conversation about police-community relations, a St. Paul city council member said Wednesday.

Yet, many people in St. Paul don’t know what they can do if they have a problem with a police officer, said Julian Roby, coordinator of the Police Civilian Internal Affairs Review Commission.

Roby told city council members he believes the commission needs additional funding for operations and outreach.

“We want people to be aware that we exist,” he said. “We need to be marketed to the people of this city, so they can know where to file complaints and that there is a process available to them.”

City Council Member Jane Prince said Wednesday she wonders if there might also be funding opportunities through philanthropic organizations or possibly the U.S. Department of Justice.

The commission “is so much at the epicenter of what we are going through as a country in terms of police-community relations since George Floyd” died in Minneapolis police custody, Prince said.

The PCIARC’s budget is $16,775, not including personnel costs. Valerie Jensen, director of the St. Paul Department of Human Rights and Equal Economic Opportunity, said she has a proposal in her budget for next year to increase commissioner stipends.

The $50 monthly stipend has been the same since the PCIARC was formed in 1993, but Prince said the hours that commissioners spend on their work is akin to a part-time job. There is 40 to 50 hours in training, and 15 to 20 hours a month reviewing case materials before deliberating about allegations against officers, according to Roby.

24% OF ALLEGATIONS AGAINST OFFICERS UPHELD

The PCIARC planned to release its 2019 annual report at an April community summit, but the event was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic; it will be held virtually in late summer or early fall. Roby gave the first glimpse of data from the report to council members Wednesday.

The Police Civilian Internal Affairs Review Commission received allegations about 72 officers last year, compared with 70 officers in 2018.

A complaint can have multiple allegations — such as improper procedure and poor public relations — and the commission sustained 24 percent of 88 total allegations.

There were 77 total allegations in 2018 and the commission upheld nearly 25 percent of the allegations. The commission sustained 14 percent of allegations in 2017 and 20 percent in 2016.

2017 marked the first year the PCIARC began operating in a reorganized form.

The city council voted in 2016 to remove two officer seats from the commission, leaving it all civilian-run. The council also made the commission more independent by moving it out of the police department to the city’s Human Rights department.

COMMISSION MOST OFTEN RECOMMENDED TERMINATION

Sixty percent of the complaints reviewed last year were about improper procedure and 3 percent about excessive force.

In nearly 70 percent of all the allegations, commissioners did not find facts to back up the claims or they said there was insufficient evidence.

In the 24 percent of sustained cases last year, the discipline they recommended most often (38 percent of the time) was termination, followed by a recommendation for an oral reprimand (29 percent of the time).

A final decision about discipline falls to the police chief. Information about how often the chief went along with the PCIARC’S recommendations or modified discipline is in the 2019 annual report, which was not available Thursday.

YOUTH OUTREACH PLANNED

The St. Paul & Minnesota Foundation awarded the PCIARC a grant last fall for community connectedness — they plan to use the funds for a youth roundtable and a separate summit for people whose primary language is not English. Roby said they’re finding people in those communities don’t know how they can file complaints about police officers.

Roby said he doesn’t want to see an increase in complaints “because we don’t want people to have negative encounters with police officers, but we would like to see an accurate account of what’s actually going on.”

In 2018 and 2019, there were no complaints filed by youth and Roby said, based on national trends and community outreach, “we know that’s just not possible.”

2 OPEN SEATS ON COMMISSION

The nine-member commission has two openings. This time a year ago, there were four openings — the chair and vice chair stepped down in June 2019 because they said they had “repeatedly seen evidence” that Mayor Melvin Carter and his staff were not serious about supporting their work. At the time, Carter said their service would “undoubtedly help inform our work moving forward.”

The open spots were filled and now there are vacancies because one commissioner moved out of St. Paul, and the other’s term just came to an end and the person didn’t reapply, Roby said.

Prince said she’s heard concern that geographic representation on the board could be better — four of the seven members live in Ward 4.

People can find out more about the PCIARC, including how to apply to be a commissioner, at bit.ly/PCIARCinfo.

Three suspects have been arrested in connection with the reported kidnapping of a 19-year-old woman in Inver Grove Heights.

Inver Grove Heights police were notified at 10:43 p.m. Wednesday that someone was being held against their will. The officers were sent to the 5400 block of Blackberry Trail.

Shortly after, several people began to come out of the location and three of them were taken into custody. The woman was able to leave the location and tell officers what happened.

The three suspects were booked into the Dakota County Jail after officers searched the scene and conducted interviews, according to a statement by Inver Grove Heights police.

According to county jail records:

• Ilmi Yusuf, 36 of Minneapolis, was being held on suspicion of a felony drug charge.
• Abdifatah Abdi, 24 of Inver Grove Heights, was arrested on suspicion of making terroristic threats, false imprisonment and interfering with a 911 call.
• Hassan Hussein, 36 of Inver Grove Heights, was arrested on suspicion of false imprisonment and aiding and abetting an offender.

All three were being held in the Dakota County jail Thursday evening.