Weekend mayhem in Dinkytown near U of M campus, few arrests

There were reports of rowdy crowds throwing rocks at police and business patrons, juveniles causing disturbances, random assaults, robberies, and fights.

By
Crime Watch MN
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Dinkytown
It was a weekend of mayhem in the Dinkytown area near the University of Minnesota campus. (Crime Watch Minneapolis/Twitter)

It was a weekend of mayhem in the Dinkytown area near the University of Minnesota campus that began Thursday night and continued through the weekend.

There were reports of rowdy crowds throwing rocks at police and business patrons, juveniles causing disturbances, random assaults, robberies, and fights. At times, the crowds causing problems were reported to be numbering up to 200 people.

Crime Watch tracked the incidents with a series of tweets tagging Dinkytown as incidents developed throughout the weekend.

Other parties provided graphic video clips to Crime Watch that were reported to be assaults that occurred late Friday night or early Saturday morning and had been posted on Snapchat either by the perpetrators or bystanders.

One video showed several black males kicking and stomping a white male on the ground in front of Dinkytown Tattoo on 14th Avenue Southeast.

At least two assault victims and a theft victim privately contacted Crime Watch with photos of their injuries and/or descriptions of their experiences, including a man who claimed to be the victim in the above video. The man said he’d been “seriously injured” and provided a photo of injuries to his face. He did not want to be identified or have the photo shared, but he said a police report had been made after he sought medical treatment.

The man said the incident occurred about 10 p.m. Friday when he was crossing the street to catch a Lyft. He said he saw the large group and his “gut” told him to run so he turned around to leave the area when he was attacked from behind and assaulted.

A second assault victim privately contacted Crime Watch, again with a photo of injuries, and said he was assaulted around 1 a.m. Saturday. The victim said that the group was “going around and picking off anyone who was alone or separate from their friends” in Dinkytown.

Another video clip was provided to Crime Watch that appeared to show some of the same parties involved in the stomping video again engaging in random assaults. The clip shows a man punch a woman in the head as another man in a pink sweatshirt landed a flying dropkick on her, knocking her to the ground. Another victim also appeared to be curled in a ball on the ground at the same time. He was pursued by one of the suspects when he tried to get up and flee.

After the second night of mayhem, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara told media on Saturday that up to nine people had been arrested or cited, mostly juveniles, for curfew violations, disorderly conduct, fleeing police, and assault. The chief indicated that several of the juveniles were from cities outside of Minneapolis and named Edina, Eden Prairie, Brooklyn Center and Brooklyn Park.

One of the arrested parties Friday night was 18-year-old Abdikadir Daud Hashi of Edina. Jail records show he was booked on misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and possession of fireworks. He was released from custody just before 2 p.m. on Saturday after posting $78 cash bail, according to the jail record.

Abdikadir Daud Hashi (Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office)

A check of jail records showed Hashi was arrested again Saturday night, less than 12 hours after being released from jail the first time. He was booked the second time on a probable cause charge of riot. Hashi was being held without bail according to the new booking record and had not been formally charged in the second case as of this report.

Dispatch audio from just before 4 a.m. Sunday, along with a safety alert later released by the University of Minnesota, indicated that a female employee of Frank from Philly and Andrea Pizza was assaulted and robbed behind the business by 10 or more suspects. Police aired that it was the same Somali males “that we were dealing with the last few days.”

The suspects reportedly fled in two vehicles the wrong way on 4th Street Southeast, and dispatch audio at the time indicated that at least one of the vehicles may have been involved in a crash at 4th Street Southeast and 7th Avenue Southeast. Information wasn’t immediately able to be obtained from the Minneapolis Police Department confirming whether the crash involved the robbery suspects.

Crowds again gathered on Sunday night in the same area of 13th Avenue Southeast and 4th Street Southeast, and police aired that some fights and skirmishes had broken out at separate times with the group getting “hostile” and “agitated.”

At least one arrest was made Sunday night after police chased a suspect who fled behind the Chateau Student Housing Co-op. Video provided to Crime Watch showed several police officers walking the suspect to a squad. Booking information wasn’t yet available at the time of this report.

Alpha News will continue to follow further developments or arrests resulting from the weekend assaults and robberies.

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Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.

 

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Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.

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