The Washington County Sheriff’s Office is searching the St. Croix River for a man who went missing when the boat he was in crashed near Bayport.

According to a press release, the boat accident occurred shortly before 3 a.m. After the crash, the boat took on water and was partially submerged. A woman on board made it to shore and was uninjured.

Officials were still searching for the man Sunday afternoon and said they are not going to release names of the man or the woman at this time. The cause of the accident is still under investigation.

A 73-year-old Sleepy Eye man has died after he was burned in an April 11 house fire, according to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Richard Emil Martinka died Thursday at the Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis due to complications from the burns.

The injuries occurred at Martinka’s residence on the 27000 block of 200th Street in Sleepy Eye, officials said.

No further details were available Sunday.

The body of a man was pulled from the Mississippi River south of the Lowry Avenue Bridge Sunday afternoon, according to the Hennepin County sheriff’s office.

Officials say they were notified of a body floating in the river about 2:20 p.m. Sunday. Members of the sheriff’s office water patrol unit recovered the body shortly after 4 p.m.

No further information was available Sunday. The Hennepin County medical examiner’s office will release the name and cause of death at a later date.

A police chase involving St. Anthony officers Sunday evening ended in St. Paul when the car being pursued crashed near Como Park, reportedly killing at least one occupant.

The crash occurred about 8:30 p.m. near the intersection of Hamline and Wynne avenues, according to a WCCO report.

A witness told KSTP that he watched the car speed past him on Hamline Avenue followed by police squad vehicles, before hearing a loud boom. The witness said he arrived at the scene of the crash a short time later and saw the car in a ditch and paramedics treating one of its occupants, the KSTP report said.

No additional information was available Sunday night.

Police are investigating after a woman reported that a stranger assaulted and raped her after he found her sleeping in a downtown St. Paul parking ramp.

The 46-year-old woman went to the InterContinental Hotel for help about 5 a.m. April 16 and an employee called 911 for her.

She reported that she had missed curfew at Higher Ground, the homeless shelter in downtown St. Paul, and was sleeping in the sixth-floor elevator lobby at Capital City Plaza Parking Ramp, 50 E. Fourth St., that morning, according to a police report.

The woman was awakened by a stranger punching her in the face, said Sgt. Mike Ernster, a St. Paul police spokesman, on Monday. He covered her face with a sweatshirt and told her not to look at him or he would kill her. The woman fought back, but the man continued to punch her in the face, Ernster said.

The man raped the woman and again threatened her harm if she looked at him, and she heard him leaving down a stairwell, Ernster said.

The woman’s face had numerous bruises and cuts on it, and her face, hands and clothing were bloody from the beating, Ernster said. She was taken to a hospital for treatment and for a sexual assault exam for evidence to be collected.

A detailed description of the suspect was not available. Investigators are looking to see whether there is surveillance footage from the area.

Washington County sheriff’s office deputies spent all day Sunday searching the St. Croix River for the body of a 36-year-old man who was reported missing after a boat crash early that morning near the Bayport Marina.

But on Monday morning, a criminal-defense attorney called authorities to report that the man — Jason Elgersma of Minneapolis — was “alive and well,” said Chief Sheriff’s Deputy Dan Starry.

Authorities then discovered that Elgersma had an outstanding arrest warrant for failing to appear for a probation violation hearing in connection with a DWI conviction.

By Monday evening, Starry said that Elgersma had surrendered on the arrest warrant. He was booked, posted bail and received a court date. He did not give a statement.

Elgersma’s traveling companion, Kristin Erickson, 35, of Minneapolis, made it to the riverbank shortly after the 2:50 a.m. crash.

“We want to determine where they were coming from and what they were doing,” Starry said.

RIVER WAS SEARCHED

Erickson reported that Elgersma was missing from the partially submerged pleasure boat, and rescue crews immediately began dragging the St. Croix River and using side-scan to search for Elgersma, Starry said.

Starry said damage to trees and other items on shore led investigators to believe that Elgersma and Erickson crashed on land at an unknown speed. They appear to have been headed back to the Bayport Marina when the boat began to take on water and sank, he said. 

Attorney Eric Thole of Stillwater, who was hired by Elgersma on Monday morning, said he could not comment on the case other than to say: “There were two people on the boat, and they’re both fine.”

A warrant for Elgersma’s arrest was issued in January out of Hennepin County after he failed to appear for a probation violation hearing. Elgersma was on probation following a 2015 third-degree driving-while-intoxicated conviction, according to court records. He was also convicted in 2009 of third-degree DWI.

In 2015, Elgersma was convicted in St. Croix County, Wis., of operating a boat without lights after sunset.

SINKING BOAT A HAZARD

The boat remained in the St. Croix River on Monday afternoon. Sheriff’s officials have marked it as a safety hazard and have asked that Elgersma remove it in a timely manner, Starry said.

Elgersma also could be forced to pay for the cost of the search effort, Starry said.

“The boating season is starting, and we certainly want people to be careful,” he said. “This is the first incident of the year, and I’m sure there will be more to come, but we hope not.”

A member of the Church of Scientology in St. Paul was sitting in the building’s second-floor library when she says she saw a man pull out a jug from his backpack.

That’s the account from a criminal complaint filed Monday in Ramsey County District Court.

The court document charges Anthony Odell Johnson, 26, with first-degree arson for the April 18 incident.

Officers responded to a report of a fire at the church around 9:30 p.m. that evening.

After assessing the scene, a fire investigator determined that Johnson poured gasoline on the library’s book shelf and floor before igniting it with a match, authorities say.

He reportedly kept dumping the gasoline all the way into the building’s hallway.

The woman who witnessed his actions escaped the library through a side door and returned with a fire extinguisher to douse the flames while other church members called 911, the complaint said.

Odell’s criminal history includes convictions for selling a small amount of marijuana and fleeing police.

He declined to give a statement to police.

Neither he nor his relatives could be reached for comment.

The Ramsey County attorney’s office has dropped charges against a woman accused of helping run a sex-trafficking operation out of two St. Paul homes.

The move comes nearly two months after a jury failed to reach a verdict in the case pending against Laqueshia Danekia-Kay’D Moran.

All five charges were dropped last week, according to court records.

“She is thrilled,” said A.L. Brown, Moran’s defense attorney. “She is healthy and clean and involved in turning her life around.”

Moran’s case was a rarity in Ramsey County, where it’s more common for men than women to face charges related to sex-trafficking.

The St. Paul woman was released from custody in late February after jurors deadlocked in deliberations on her guilt after a roughly week-and-a-half-long trial.

She was in jail since her arrest on the charges in May 2016.

While the county attorney’s office could have opted to retry her case, it dismissed it instead.

“Whenever we have a “hung jury” in any case, prosecutors will re-evaluate,” said Dennis Gerhardstein, a spokesman for the county attorney’s office. “These trafficking cases are not easy to prove and are even harder on our victims who must re-count their abuse and exploitation in open court. In this case, we concluded, based upon victim considerations and the interests of justice, that this defendant should not be re-tried.”

Prosecutors got it wrong when they accused Moran of operating the sex-trafficking scheme along with Darryl Taylor, Brown said.

Instead, she was another of his victims, Brown said.

Taylor was found guilty of sex-trafficking in January for soliciting at least three women, one a minor, to work as prostitutes out of two St. Paul residences between the summer of 2015 and the winter of 2016.

He took pictures of the women and advertised their services on Backpage.com. Many of the images depicted Moran, who also worked as a prostitute out of the residences.

Investigators traced the ads back to Moran’s and Taylor’s cellphones. One of the victims also told investigators that Moran was working with Taylor.

“I am glad that the state has made the right decision,” Brown said of the dismissal. “They have made a wise decision to minimize the harm to Ms. Moran and hopefully they will make the same decision at the outset for other victims who have been sex-trafficked.”

A Scandia man is accused of trying to abduct a woman in front of a Domino’s Pizza restaurant in Willernie on Thursday evening.

Michael Grant Harker, 34, was charged Monday with two counts of kidnapping and one count of false imprisonment, according to a criminal complaint filed in Washington County District Court.

A woman identified in the complaint as N.M.W. told police she was standing outside her car smoking a cigarette in front of the Domino’s on Wildwood Road shortly before 8:30 p.m., when a man in a white van drove past slowly, staring at her.

After parking his van across the street, the man, later identified as Harker, approached N.M.W., the complaint says. Assuming he was upset that she was taking up a parking space to smoke, N.M.W. asked Harker “what his deal was,” according to the complaint.

Rather than responding, Harker allegedly grabbed N.M.W. by the back of her shirt, neck and hair, and attempted to drag her toward his van. When N.M.W. started screaming that Harker was trying to abduct her, he punched her in the side of the head, the complaint says.

N.M.W. eventually escaped Harker’s grip and ran back across the street, according to the complaint.

A witness identified in the complaint as C.S.V. told police that she drove to the scene of the incident after hearing N.M.W. screaming and saw her escape and run from her assailant. C.S.V. tried to use her vehicle to prevent Harker from driving away, but he maneuvered around her and left the scene, the complaint says.

“We are pleased that the victim was recovered on site and that no further harm came to her,” said Chief Deputy Dan Starry, of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, in a news release. “Stranger abductions are among the most difficult cases to investigate, as we all know.”

N.M.W. and C.S.V. both told police the van had a word that looked like “Harper” written on its side, and that its Minnesota license plate began with the numbers 624.

Investigators identified the van as a Ford Econoline with license plate number 624-DAK, which Harker had recently bought, the complaint says. When officers found the van outside Harker’s residence, they noted the word “Harker” printed on a magnet stuck to the driver’s side door, according to the complaint.

N.M.W. later identified a photograph of Harker as her assailant, the complaint says. He was arrested Saturday.

Harker is on parole for felony strangulation and felony domestic assault conviction in Idaho, the complaint said.

RAPID CITY, S.D. — Federal officials in South Dakota said Monday that 15 people have been indicted for illegally trafficking eagles and other migratory birds after a two-year undercover operation potentially involving hundreds of birds.

U.S. Attorney Randy Seiler said that officials expect “significant” additional federal charges in the case, which focused on trafficking of eagles and eagle parts and feathers for profit. Authorities said the case involves more than 100 eagles, a number that could climb as high as 250.

Seiler described one operation as basically a “chop-shop for eagles” in which eagle feathers were stuffed into garbage bags. He said it was clear that it was a moneymaking operation and that the feathers and eagle parts such as talons and beaks were treated as merchandise.

“There was no cultural sensitivity. There was no spirituality,” Seiler said. “There was no tradition in the manner in which these defendants handled these birds.”

He said the investigation involved confidential informants, a multi-state area and the purchase of regalia items such as ceremonial fans. A spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office said in an email that there are a variety of reasons why people buy eagle parts, and a collectors market plays a role.

Dan Rolince, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service assistant special agent in charge of law enforcement for the region, said that some of those accused used code words to avoid detection by describing the eagle and other bird parts for sale using the names of animals or even car parts. He said the eagles were primarily shot.

“At the end of this process, I have full confidence that it will be one of the largest cases of this nature we’ve ever worked,” he said.

Three Rapid City men charged in the case are involved with Buffalo Dreamers, which performs Native American dance programs. Owner Troy Fairbanks has been charged with conspiracy to commit wildlife trafficking and violations of the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, Migratory Bird Treaty Act and Lacey Act.

Fairbanks, 54, allegedly sold or traded eagle parts to an informant including a golden eagle head for $250, a trade involving about $5,400 of legal merchandise for eagle parts and selling two sets of eagle wings for $900. Rolince said that a whole eagle carcass would generally sell for between $1,000 and $1,200.

The indictment says Fairbanks in 2015 claimed he could acquire between 30 and 40 eagles by February 2016. Fairbanks also said in 2015 that he had 19 people in the Los Angeles area who wanted to buy “eagle feathers/parts” from him, according to the document.

It wasn’t immediately clear if Fairbanks has an attorney, and he didn’t immediately return an email from the Associated Press. A telephone number for Buffalo Dreamers went directly to voicemail.

According to another indictment, Juan Mesteth sold fans and eagle feathers to an informant. The document says Mesteth in 2015 discussed having connections in Wyoming who could get whole carcass eagles and would take the informant hunting for eagles. It wasn’t immediately clear if the 39-year-old Mesteth, of Pine Ridge, had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.

Those accused in the case include people from Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming.

Authorities didn’t immediately disclose how much the defendants are thought to have profited in the case, and Seiler said some of the 15 defendants are unconnected to each other.

A southeastern Minnesota couple have been charged after an underage girl went to police, saying she had been exploited by the pair in their “sex room.”

Michael Lowell Germain, 43, and Heather Laverne Germain, 49, appeared in Goodhue County District Court on Monday on multiple charges of criminal sexual conduct.

The girl contacted Goodhue police in January and said she was being sexually assaulted and exploited by the couple, who she said were “swingers” and have a “sex room” in the attic of their garage, according to the criminal complaint.

The girl told police in an interview that she was brought to the attic of a garage at 504 Fourth Ave., across the street from the Goodhue Public School.

According to the complaint: Law enforcement executed a search warrant at the residence in January and seized multiple electronic devices in the home and garage. Several items tested positive for methamphetamine and cocaine residue.

Investigators found the detached garage had upper and lower levels. The complaint stated that the upper level could be accessed only through a door secured with an electronic lock. Authorities discovered three distinct rooms in the upper level, all separated by secured doors. Officers found a doctor’s examination table and “an open storage unit that contained multiple bottles of lubrication, large containers of disinfectant wipes, along with multiple sex toys.”

Also present in the “sex room” was a large, free-standing wooden structure, estimated to be at least 8 feet tall. Investigators observed that holes drilled in the structure could “easily be used to anchor or tie a person or objects to the structure,” the complaint stated.

When investigators interviewed Michael Germain in January, he acknowledged his “swinger” lifestyle but denied engaging in any type of sexual acts with the girl, the complaint stated.

The Goodhue County sheriff’s office found video and photos of the girl on multiple devices, the report said. Cameras and recording devices were found throughout the garage and residence. Investigators also found numerous photos and videos of Heather and Michael Germain having sex with each other, and separately with different men and women.

Arrest warrants for Heather and Michael Germain were executed April 20. Heather Germain is facing three first-degree criminal sexual conduct charges, three third-degree criminal sexual conduct charges, neglect or endangerment of a child, interference of privacy against a minor under the age of 18 and fifth-degree drug possession.

Michael Germain is facing three counts each of first, second, third and fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct and two interfering with privacy charges. The maximum sentence for criminal sexual conduct in the first-degree is 30 years imprisonment, a $40,000 fine or both per charge. Heather and Michael Germain are scheduled to appear in district court June 2, 2017.

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Chris Soules, an Iowa farmer who starred on “The Bachelor” two years ago, was arrested Tuesday on a charge of causing a deadly accident and leaving the scene.

Soules, who was portrayed as a wholesome country boy looking for love on season 19 of the ABC reality show, was behind the wheel of a pickup truck that rear-ended a tractor in northern Iowa on Monday night, the Iowa State Patrol said.

The crash sent the tractor into a ditch on one side of the road and Soules’ truck into a ditch on the other side, the patrol said. The tractor driver was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The patrol identified him as 66-year-old Kenneth Mosher, a farmer from Aurora, which is about 15 miles (24 kilometers) south of Soules’ farm in Arlington and about 65 miles (105 kilometers) north of Iowa City.

Authorities said someone called 911 to report the crash, but they didn’t release the identity of the caller or audio of the call. Investigators spoke to multiple witnesses and determined that Soules caused the crash and left the scene, according to a complaint, which doesn’t name the witnesses.

Alcohol was found at the scene, and investigators are trying to determine whose it was, said Sheriff Bill Wolgram. Court records show that Soules has had some driving infractions in the past, including a 2006 conviction for operating while intoxicated.

Soules, 35, was arrested in Aurora early Tuesday, about five hours after the crash, and was booked into the Buchanan County Jail on a charge of leaving the scene of a fatal accident, which carries a penalty of up to five years in prison. He was released around midday on $10,000 bond, and will be required to surrender his passport and wear an electronic monitoring ankle bracelet until his trial, jail officials said.

It wasn’t immediately clear if Soules has a defense attorney. Chicago attorney David Lechner, who is representing Soules in a civil matter, said he knew nothing about the crash. In that case, Soules is suing Gree USA, the manufacturer of a dehumidifier that he blames for causing a fire that damaged his home last year.

Soules first drew national attention as a participant in “The Bachelorette” in 2014, when he tried to win the affections of star Andi Dorfman but was passed over. A fan favorite, ABC had him back as “The Bachelor” the following year. His appearance drew attention to farming life and some of the struggles facing rural Iowa. He proposed to Chicago fertility nurse Whitney Bischoff at the end of his season, but their relationship ended shortly after the show.

Soules has since served as a spokesman for various agricultural interests and worked in farm real estate and investing.

The crash comes as Gov. Terry Branstad and lawmakers have expressed alarm about a rising number of deaths on Iowa roadways caused by intoxicated and distracted drivers. Branstad last week signed laws allowing officers to pull over drivers for texting while driving, increasing the penalties for texting-related vehicular homicides, and creating a statewide sobriety and drug monitoring program for intoxicated drivers.

The Anoka County sheriff’s office has issued an arrest warrant on second-degree murder charges for a Brooklyn Park man suspected in the shooting death of St. Louis Park resident Philip Charles Borer Nelson.

Authorities on Tuesday said they are looking for Phillip Leron Miller, 42, who is considered armed and dangerous.

Borer Nelson, 31, died from multiple gunshot wounds in Columbia Heights on April 20, according to the Anoka County attorney’s office. Police said they found the victim covered in blood in an apartment at 1000 41st Ave. NE after they responded to a 911 call about shots fired and a burglary in progress.

Miller is suspected of shooting Borer Nelson early April 20.

An apartment tenant said Borer Nelson had been in the residence earlier, but had left, the sheriff’s office said. Borer Nelson is identified as the tenant’s former boyfriend.

The tenant said she summoned a male friend, “Ox,” whom authorities later identified as Miller. While the man was in the apartment, the tenant “noticed a dark, unknown figure” hiding behind a couch in the living room and asked Miller to investigate.

The tenant did not identify Miller, but authorities said they were later able to do so via mobile-phone records, security footage at the tenant’s residential complex and Miller’s own Brooklyn Park residential complex, eyewitness reports of a car being used by the suspect and fingerprints lifted from a soda bottle the suspect allegedly handled.

Six spent .40 caliber cartridges were recovered at the crime scene; at least one bullet was confirmed to have struck Borer Nelson. Authorities recovered a black Glock .40 caliber handgun in a garbage can outside a Brooklyn Park convenience store less than half a mile from the defendant’s apartment.

“Multiple phone numbers, subsequent GPS tracks and locations have been searched in an attempt to locate the defendant,” the criminal complaint stated.

April Tennin “epitomized the American dream,” a prosecutor said Tuesday in Ramsey County District Court.

Though she went through “tough times” in her childhood, she pulled herself up out of them, Assistant Ramsey County Attorney Kelly Olmstead said.

The mother of four moved her family to a good neighborhood in Maplewood, set high expectations for her kids, and had a good job as an employee of Ramsey County’s Financial Assistance Services department, Olmstead said.

“She even bleached the walls of her home,” Olmstead said of the lengths April Tennin took to keep a clean house.

She was also “funny,” “smiley,” and caring, Olmstead added. “By all counts she brought so much joy to (everyone who knew her).”

Olmstead’s remarks came during a sentencing hearing for April Tennin’s husband, Todd Tennin.

The 32-year-old received 40 years in prison for shooting and killing his 41-year-old wife inside the couple’s Maplewood home on Aug. 23, 2015.

He put the barrel of a gun inside her mouth and pulled the trigger after the two had an argument.

It was the final act in an increasingly abusive relationship for April Tennin, authorities said.

Two of her children were home when she was shot. They found her body after Todd Tennin fled. He remained on the run for 11 days before authorities found him at a relative’s house in Illinois.

“She lived for her children,” Olmstead continued, “and her 12-year-old son and 16-year-old daughter had to go into that bathroom and find their mother lifeless.”

“Part of them also died (that day),” Olmstead said.

She added, though, that the two children are moving forward. Their eldest sibling, who is 23, has put his own life plans on hold to raise his younger siblings, Olmstead said.

Several of April Tennin’s family members, friends and former colleagues wept throughout the hearing.

Her mother’s husband spoke briefly about the impact of her death on himself and her mother, telling presiding Ramsey County District Court Judge George Stephenson that his wife has had heart and sleeping problems ever since.

“I just wish we could know why,” Dennis Schlueter said. 

Wearing a white T-shirt and jeans, Todd Tennin said he was “extremely intoxicated” on the day he killed his wife but offered no other explanation. He denied abusing her in the past.

“They want to know why it happened. That’s a good question,” Todd Tennin said. “I’ll never be the same. … I think about the kids every day. … Why would I want to do that? There is no reason.”

He also addressed his relatives in the courtroom.

“To my family, I love you all. … I am losing my life, too, to the system,” he said.

Todd Tennin was not the father of April Tennin’s children, though a few months before her murder, April Tennin legally changed her three youngest children’s last names to his.

In a search warrant filed shortly after her death, investigators said they spoke with one of her friends, who said April Tennin had been preparing to leave Todd Tennin before he shot her.

Domestic-violence experts warn that victims of abuse should seek help when planning to end relationships with abusive partners, because it can be an exceptionally dangerous time.

Todd Tennin pleaded guilty in his wife’s death in March.

Larry Tennin was sentenced to 40 years for the 2015 murder of his wife April. Report domestic abuse. We CAN Help! pic.twitter.com/KTsQMV1zlO

— Maplewood Police MN (@MaplewoodPolice) April 25, 2017

Judge Stephenson told him Tuesday that he was disappointed that Tennin didn’t show more remorse or accept responsibility.

“Maybe that’s what you need to work on while you’re sitting (in prison),” he said. “Because you pulled the trigger. You put the gun in her mouth. That was you.”

TO GET HELP

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic abuse, call Day One, a 24-hour hotline, at 866-223-1111 or go to the Minnesota Coalition for Battered Women’s website at mcbw.org.

When a former paramedic saw a man bleeding in a St. Paul road, it never occurred to her to not stop to help.

But Christie Jones said her actions as a good Samaritan in 2013 ran up against a St. Paul police officer who struck her in the chest when she tried to warn him about being exposed to the man’s blood. Jones, who was 48 at the time and is disabled, said the officer soon twisted her hands behind her back, handcuffed her and cited her for obstructing legal process, a charge that was later dismissed.

“All she was there to do was help and she ended up in the back of the squad in handcuffs,” said Zorislav Leyderman, Jones’ attorney.

Jones filed a federal lawsuit against the city of St. Paul and the officers involved. The St. Paul City Council is due to vote Wednesday on a $23,500 settlement to Jones.

The city denies Jones’ allegations and says it is not liable, according to the settlement agreement. But St. Paul officials agreed to settle because it “determined that the cost and risks of continuing to litigate the case outweighed the cost of settling it,” said St. Paul City Attorney Samuel Clark.

St. Paul is already over its budget for legal settlements for the year, after agreeing to a record $2 million earlier this month for a man who sued over being bit by a St. Paul police dog and kicked by an officer. The city’s finance director said there is enough in the general fund to cover the difference.

Jones, of St. Paul, said her lawsuit was never about the money. She said she would not have filed it if she received an apology from the police department and assurance that the officer would be disciplined.

“What I’ve known my whole life is that police work with EMTs and firefighters, and we have each other’s back and treat each other with respect,” Jones said. “This was a betrayal.”

A MAN BLEEDING IN THE ROAD

Jones was driving home from a physical therapy appointment on the afternoon of Oct. 9, 2013, when she saw a man dripping blood on Thomas Avenue, a few blocks from Marion Street.

The man told Jones his girlfriend had stabbed him in the neck. Jones, who said she spent 20 years as a paramedic in Kentucky, Georgia and California, told the man she was a former paramedic and asked if she could help, according to her lawsuit. Jones noticed he had a severe cut on his elbow, but no stab wounds on his neck.

When St. Paul officer Armando Abla-Reyes arrived, Jones said she told him what she knew of the man’s injuries. Jones, who wasn’t wearing protective gloves, said she had accidentally touched a blood-soaked area of the man’s shirt and she saw Abla-Reyes was about to do the same. The officer also wasn’t wearing gloves and Jones said she didn’t want him potentially exposed to an infectious disease.

“I told him, ‘Watch it,’ and put my hand out,” said Jones, adding that she didn’t touch the officer. Jones said in her lawsuit that Abla-Reyes responded by swinging his arm and hitting her in the chest, causing her to stumble backward. Jones, who had a ruptured ankle tendon, was wearing an ortho-boot at the time.

Abla-Reyes declined to comment to the Pioneer Press.

The officers named in Jones’ lawsuit, including Abla-Reyes, asked U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank to dismiss the suit. Frank ruled in November that some aspects of the lawsuit could move forward, while parts should be thrown out, including the suit’s assertion that Abla-Reyes used excessive force when he struck Jones in the chest.

“When Officer Abla-Reyes first reached the scene … (he) did not know what had transpired, who Jones was, the extent of (the man’s) injuries, or whether the scene was secure,” Frank wrote.

HANDCUFFED IN A SQUAD CAR

After Jones’ initial encounter with Abla-Reyes, she said she told him she wanted to file a complaint with a supervisor and walked away. She said she used her cellphone to start filming from about 20 to 30 feet away, so she could later identify the officer for a complaint.

About a minute later, Jones said Abla-Reyes approached and asked for her name and birthdate, which she provided him. He then twisted her hands behind her back and handcuffed her, telling her to get in a squad car, according to the lawsuit.

Jones said she told Abla-Reyes that she had an insulin pump and ortho-boot, and couldn’t fully get into the squad. After he detained her for about 15 minutes, Abla-Reyes released Jones with a citation, which was later dismissed.

In Frank’s November ruling, the judge said he would allow to proceed both Jones’ claims about her arrest and Abla-Reyes’ force during it.

The city argued that the officer had probable cause to arrest Jones because, when Abla-Reyes directed questions to the injured man, she “interjected to answer,” according to a summary in Frank’s order. She also “physically interfered with Officer Abla-Reyes by placing her arm in front of him when he was trying to reach” the man, the summary continued.

Frank wrote that if a jury believed Jones’ version, it “could find that Officer Abla-Reyes lacked arguable probable cause to arrest. On the other hand, should the jury believe (the officers’) version of the facts, then Officer Abla-Reyes will likely prevail on this claim.”

The judge urged both sides to reach a settlement.

Jones said she decided not to file an internal affairs complaint against Abla-Reyes because she didn’t think anything would come of it.

Jones’ attorney, Leyderman, wrote in a court filing last year that Abla-Reyes’ conduct with Jones was similar to another case. Andrew Henderson, who frequently films police, was videotaping officers behind St. Paul police headquarters in 2015 when Abla-Reyes detained Henderson and told him the sidewalk was private property, Leyderman pointed out.

Abla-Reyes, who has been a St. Paul officer since 1995, is not currently a patrol officer. He works in the police department’s community engagement unit handling permit and event planning.

After a 52-foot yacht crashed on the St. Croix River in Bayport early Sunday morning, the law enforcement response was swift and sweeping.

Among the agencies that responded to the call of a man missing in the river at 2:50 a.m. Sunday: Washington County, Minnesota State Patrol, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and Lakeview Emergency Medical Services. Divers from fire departments in Bayport, Stillwater, Mahtomedi, Scandia, Lower St. Croix Valley and Woodbury were called in to search the river after the man’s girlfriend told police that she last saw the man “kind of swimming, kind of standing” in the water.

After a full day of searching, authorities heard from the man’s attorney on Monday morning. Jason Elgersma, 36, of Minneapolis, was “alive and well,” the attorney said.

The search had been for naught.

On Tuesday, law enforcement officials and city officials were expressing outrage at the situation and tabulating the cost of the rescue-and-recovery effort.

Bayport Fire Chief Al Eisinger said he was rousted out of bed at 2:58 a.m. Sunday to respond to the call.

“The (guys) are just very upset,” he said. “You have the emotional trauma because you don’t really know what you’re going to find out there. … Shame on them, especially given what we found out later. If they had been truthful with us, we wouldn’t have had to activate everybody out.”

Said Stillwater Mayor Ted Kozlowski: “Diving at 3 a.m. in cold water with a strong current around an unstable platform, which is a half-sunken boat, is really, really dangerous. The whole effort put everybody who responded at risk and took resources away from anything else that might have been happening.”

Eisinger and Kozlowski said both communities would try to recoup their costs for the search. Both said the total could be in the “thousands of dollars.”

“We know what we pay our people, and we absolutely know what our time is worth to do these kinds of things,” Kozlowski said. “We’ll be working in conjunction with the sheriff’s office and county attorney’s office and sending them a bill.”

Elgersma declined to be interviewed by the Pioneer Press, but his attorney, Eric Thole, provided a statement on his behalf.

“Jason appreciates all the concern people have had for his well-being, and he wants to thank the outstanding efforts of the local rescue operation,” Thole said. “Jason understands that those rescue efforts came at a cost to the taxpayers, so he is looking into how he can reimburse them.”

According to police, someone called 911 about 2:50 a.m. Sunday to report that they could hear yelling south of the Bayport Marina, but could not see anybody. The caller said a boat left the marina and was driving erratically.

A deputy from the Washington County sheriff’s office reported observing the yacht — later identified as a 52-foot Cruisers Ltd. yacht called Bromance — sinking about 75 yards south of the first slip at the Bayport Marina.

Deputies, who arrived by boat and squad car, did not hear anybody yelling and did not see any other boats in the water. They checked the boat and river for possible victims and found a flotation device and a duffel bag on the shoreline directly west of the boat.

According to Cmdr. Andy Ellickson of the Washington County sheriff’s office, the duffel bag contained: a pair of wet jeans, a belt, Elgersma’s U.S. passport, his iPhone and his wallet, which contained Elgersma’s expired driver’s license from Wisconsin. The wallet also contained $2,007 in cash — 17 $100 bills, $280 in 20s, a couple of $5 bills and some $1 bills, he said.

Police believe the yacht struck land “with great force,” Ellickson said. Deputies observed “multiple trees with extremely high level of damage; some of the trees were even uprooted,” and the yacht’s dinghy was beached on shore, according to police reports.

Deputies found Elgersma’s girlfriend, Kristin Erickson, 35, of Minneapolis, at the entrance of the Bayport Marina “wet … and with mud all over her pants,” according to police reports. “She appeared heavily intoxicated.”

Erickson initially told authorities that Elgersma made it to shore, but she said she did not know where he was. She later changed her story and said that she and Elgersma waited on the boat 15 minutes after it crashed “until they decided that they needed to get off the boat,” according to police reports. “She stated she put on a life jacket and swam to shore with her dog. She then stated that she last saw Elgersma in the water. She stated he was ‘kind of swimming, kind of standing’ in the water.”

Erickson then changed her story again, stating that she last saw Elgersma on the boat, according to police reports. The dive team was then activated.

Authorities discovered that Elgersma had an outstanding arrest warrant for failing to appear for a probation violation hearing in connection with a DWI conviction in 2015.

By Monday evening, Elgersma had surrendered on the arrest warrant. He was booked into the Washington County Jail in Stillwater, posted bail and received a court date. He did not give a statement to police, Ellickson said.

Elgersma is not the owner of the yacht but appeared to have permission to use it, Ellickson said. Crews on Tuesday evening were working to remove the yacht from the river, he said.

Ellickson said the sheriff’s office would not seek to recoup the cost of the search.

“It’s frustrating for law enforcement to put all these resources in and to have all these people out there and to put ourselves in danger, but that’s what the public expects of us in this situation,” he said. “It’s unfortunate when people take advantage of that. We have to assume that they are in the water, and we have to assume that we are going to try to recover the body for the family. We just do that. It’s part of what we do, but it puts our divers at risk, and it puts our teams in the water at risk and, yes, it is very frustrating … when somebody doesn’t appear to be on the up and up with us and appears to have avoided us.”

Elgersma will not face criminal charges because he left the scene of the crash before he could be tested for possible boating-while-intoxicated charges, Ellickson said.

But Elgersma will have to live with the “court of public opinion,” he said.

“This guy is going to have to deal with insurance, he’s going to have a very expensive tow out of the water, and then there’s the public perception,” he said. “People know his name, they know his history, and his mugshot is out there.”

A white Twin Cities man who was sentenced to more than 15 years in prison Wednesday for shooting and wounding five black protesters said he’ll live with the consequences of his actions for the rest of his life, but stopped short of apologizing.

Allen Scarsella’s sentence of 15 years and two months was short of prosecutors’ request for the maximum 20 years but within state guidelines. The 25-year-old Bloomington man was convicted in February on assault and riot charges for shooting the five men at a Black Lives Matter protest encampment outside a North Minneapolis police station following the fatal police shooting of a black man, Jamar Clark, in November 2015.

“I recognize the severity of the events of November 23rd, 2015,” Scarsella said as he stood before Hennepin County District Judge Hilary Caligiuri. He said the shootings were not what he wanted to happen that night when he and three friends went to the protest, where demonstrators chased them away because they were wearing masks.

“I’ll live with the consequences the rest of my life.”

Prosecutor Chris Freeman dismissed self-defense claims that Scarsella made during his trial. He called the crime, “five unarmed black men gunned down in what can only be described as a mass shooting” by a man whose numerous racist texts to friends made his motivations clear to the jury.

Defense attorney Laura Heinrich argued for the minimum sentence under the guidelines of just more than six years in prison, telling the judge that if Scarsella could change what happened, he would. She said he feels “deeply sorry” about the harm to the victims and has come to understand how hurtful the language he once used might be to others. She declined to comment after the hearing but said they plan to appeal.

Caligiuri said she didn’t claim to understand why Scarsella did what he did or where he got his “repugnant, racist ideas.” She said the only saving grace in the events of that night was that none of the victims died.

The hearing and the aftermath highlighted how emotions remain raw over Clark’s death. The only victim who testified at the sentencing was Clark’s cousin, Cameron Clark, who was shot in the foot and leg. He suggested that Scarsella got a break that a black man would not have gotten.

“If that had been me I would have been looking at 25 to 30 (years) for shooting five white people,” Cameron Clark said.

Clark and his grandfather James Clark — Jamar Clark’s father — kept up their criticism afterward of Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman. Freeman last year decided not to charge the white officers involved in the killing of Jamar Clark.

Cameron Clark said Scarsella should have been charged with attempted murder. Instead, the most serious charge he faced was first-degree assault resulting in great bodily harm, which Freeman had said earlier was the most serious charge the evidence allowed.

By ED WHITE

DETROIT (AP) — A grand jury indicted two doctors and a third person on Wednesday in an alleged scheme to perform genital mutilation on two girls from Minnesota at a Detroit-area clinic.

Dr. Jumana Nagarwala, Dr. Fakhruddin Attar and Attar’s wife, Farida, are charged with female genital mutilation, conspiracy and other crimes.

The federal indictment alleges the trio tried to obstruct the investigation by telling other people to make false statement to authorities. The doctors are also accused of lying to investigators.

Genital mutilation, also known as female circumcision or cutting, has been condemned by the United Nations and outlawed in the United States. But the practice is common for girls in parts of Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

“This brutal practice is conducted on girls for one reason: to control them as women. FGM will not be tolerated in the United States,” said Dan Lemisch, the acting U.S. attorney in Detroit.

Nagarwala is charged with performing genital mutilation on the two 7-year-old girls in February at a suburban Detroit clinic owned by Dr. Attar.

Nagarwala’s attorney, Shannon Smith, denied the allegation last week, saying the doctor was performing a religious custom that didn’t involve cutting. Smith declined to comment on the indictment, which replaces criminal complaints that led to the arrest of the three suspects earlier this month.

The Attars have been in custody since last week. They were due in court Wednesday for a bond hearing, but the hearing was rescheduled for May 3.

Outside the courthouse, defense attorney Mary Chartier said Dr. Attar was not in the examination room with Nagarwala and the girls.

“What happened at the clinic was not FGM. … I believe they are being persecuted for their religious beliefs, and I do not make that allegation lightly,” Chartier said.

Farida Attar’s attorney, Matt Newburg, declined to comment.

The Attars, Nagarwala and the Minnesota girls’ families belong to a Muslim sect called Dawoodi Bohra, which is concentrated in India.

___

Follow Ed White at http://twitter.com/edwhiteap

Attorneys for the defense and prosecution traded legal arguments in the Minnesota Court of Appeals this week over whether to move the manslaughter trial of a St. Anthony police officer out of Ramsey County.

Earlier this month, attorneys for officer Jeronimo Yanez asked the state Court of Appeals to intervene in the case and allow the trial to be moved out of the Twin Cities.

They turned to the higher court after Ramsey County District Judge William H. Leary III denied their change-of-venue request on April 6.

Defense attorneys argue the publicity in the aftermath of the fatal shooting of Philando Castile by Yanez during a July 6 traffic stop in Falcon Heights makes it difficult for their client to get a fair trial in the Twin Cities. They have determined that residents of Duluth, St. Cloud or Brainerd know far less about the case and would be more likely to reach a fair verdict.

Prosecutors, in their reply to the defense team’s bid, called it “frivolous” and said it amounted to an “attack on the district court’s venue ruling.” 

In a reply Monday, defense attorneys said “we take deep offense” to the notion their bid for an outstate trial was “frivolous.” They disagreed with prosecuting attorneys that vetting prospective jurors would allow for an unbiased jury.

Assistant Ramsey County Attorney Thomas Ragatz responded with another memo Tuesday essentially arguing the claims defense attorneys are making amount to “a speculative attack on Judge O’Leary’s exercise of discretion.”

The trial is set to begin May 30.

A man admitted in court this week to retaliating against a Maplewood Menards by slashing tires in the store’s parking lot after a store clerk wouldn’t let him return an item without a receipt.

Shawn Russell Museus, 32, of St. Paul pleaded guilty Monday in Ramsey County District Court to one count of first-degree criminal damage to property stemming from the Feb. 27 outburst, according to court records.

Museus was set off after a store employee refused to let him return a $400 level without a receipt.

When his return was denied, he got into his vehicle and drove with another man to spot in the store’s parking lot where several Menards rental trucks were stored, according to the criminal complaint.

Then he climbed out holding a large knife and proceeded to slash six tires on two trucks. He also damaged two windows.

Damages were estimated at $2,400. 

Museus was later arrested.

Neither he nor his attorney could be immediately reached for comment Wednesday.

Museus is scheduled to be sentenced in June.

His criminal history includes convictions for first-, second- and third-degree-burglary, as well as fourth-degree criminal damage to property and domestic assault.