Last week, Alpha News reported on the devastating story of an 89-year-old Hastings woman whose home was torn apart after a resident of a nearby group home broke in and went on a warpath of destruction.
Now, residents in Fridley are raising the alarm after a 20-year-old woman was allegedly sexually assaulted by a man nearby homeowners say lives at a group home in their neighborhood.
The incident sparked heated exchanges at Monday night’s Fridley City Council meeting, where angry and frightened residents confronted city leaders over what they described as months of escalating problems.
They say the man has been terrorizing their neighborhood since moving in — reportedly wandering into traffic, flagging down cars, approaching women and children asking for hugs, and exposing his genitals in the group home’s front yard — culminating in an incident in which he allegedly groped a woman’s buttocks as she walked through the neighborhood.
This comes as Alpha News has learned that Joyful Home Health Care, the group home provider at the center of the controversy, was previously found responsible for neglect by state investigators after a resident at its other Fridley group home went without prescribed psychiatric medications for 76 days and then murdered a woman in 2020.
In both cases, families say there were warning signs long before the incidents, raising a troubling question: Who, exactly, is supervising the people living in these homes?
‘A slow-motion train wreck’
Heated public comments at Monday night’s Fridley City Council meeting centered on male residents of a group home at 6045 Gardena Lane NE. Anoka County property records identify Adetomi Omotayo as the homeowner, while state records list Omotayo as a principal of Joyful Home Health Care.
More than two dozen frustrated neighbors showed up to demand answers about the group home, the repeated police calls and what they described as months of escalating safety concerns.
Among those demanding answers was Christine, who lives just a short distance from the group home in the Fridley neighborhood she has called home for more than 24 years. She raised her children there and never thought twice about them walking its familiar streets — until her sense of security was shattered Oct. 4.
Christine told Alpha News that her 20-year-old daughter was sexually assaulted while walking near Moore Lake Park, just blocks from her childhood home. She said a man who lives at the Gardena Lane group home approached her daughter and asked for the time.
“She gave him the time, but kept on walking, and he grabbed and groped her,” Christine said.
Her daughter fought back, punching the man and then fleeing for help. Two bicyclists intervened as she frantically called her mother, who rushed down the hill while dialing 911.
Fridley’s public safety director confirmed to Alpha News that officers responded to a report of possible criminal sexual contact. According to police, the suspect asked the woman for the time, then requested a hug. When she declined, he grabbed her “in a sexual manner,” police said.
The man was not arrested but was transported to a hospital under a medical transport hold. Police forwarded the case to the Anoka County Attorney’s Office and Adult Protection.
At Monday’s meeting, Christine recounted the ordeal and said her daughter wanted to pursue charges but had yet to hear from a detective or the county attorney’s office. She also said the man had been returned to the neighborhood and had since been seen walking around.
“I just keep thinking [about] those cyclists that came up on my daughter because I very well could have been a Dateline story,” Christine told council members.
And Christine wasn’t the only parent demanding answers about the safety of their children.
Luke Kuper, a former Marine and father of two school-aged daughters, confronted Mayor Dave Ostwald over what he described as a lack of police action against the man neighbors say lives at the group home.
“The perception we’re seeing and feeling is that [the police] are not doing a good job,” Kuper said.
He told council members that his 14-year-old daughter enjoys walking the family dog, but now even that simple, everyday activity has become a source of worry.
“Until all of this started, I didn’t think about buying a gun. I didn’t think about getting my daughter mace or a rape whistle. All of that’s changed,” Kuper said. “I don’t want my daughter to be raped over some sort of social experiment.”
WATCH: A Fridley father unleashes his frustration on City Council members over ongoing safety concerns involving a neighborhood group home, demanding answers about why residents have been left to deal with repeated disturbances and an alleged sexual assault.
"Until all of this… pic.twitter.com/a2S30KEUuJ
— Alpha News (@AlphaNews) October 14, 2026
For Eric Evanson, the alleged assault was the culmination of nearly a year of troubling encounters with the same man.
Evanson told the council the man had aggressively approached his family, followed them toward Moore Lake Park and banged on his vehicle as he drove through the neighborhood. He said he repeatedly called police and encouraged neighbors to do the same. But eventually, some stopped calling because they believed nothing was being done.
“It seemed like a slow-motion train wreck,” Evanson said.
He then challenged city leaders: “What would you suggest I tell my neighbors, friends and family when they say we stopped calling the police because they did nothing?”
Mayor Ostwald acknowledged his frustration and promised to investigate.
“I’m just hearing this tonight,” he said. “I don’t know what to tell you right now.”
But while the mayor said he was just learning of the neighbors’ concerns, police records obtained by Alpha News show officers have been responding to incidents associated with the group home for months.
Police records reveal months of disturbances at Fridley group home
Records provided to Alpha News by the Fridley Police Department document a series of incidents associated with 6045 Gardena Lane NE between June 7, 2025, and Oct. 3, 2026 — just one day before the alleged sexual assault.
The incidents included hallucinations, threats of violence, suicidal statements and hospital transports.
Among the more alarming incidents was a Jan. 20 call involving a man who was reportedly hallucinating and claiming that people were speaking through him and ordering him to punch objects inside the residence.
The situation escalated to the point that officers had to physically restrain him before an ambulance transported him to a hospital for mental health care.
On July 30, police were called after a man reportedly announced he was going to fight someone. Officers determined he was experiencing a mental health crisis and transported him to a hospital for evaluation.
Then came a particularly unsettling incident on Sept. 20.
According to the police summary, officers responded to a report of a man “who claimed he had assaulted someone and wanted to go to jail.”
But the report does not document an arrest. Instead, officers contacted a group home staff member “who advised they would handle the situation.”
The summary does not indicate whether an assault had actually occurred or what steps the facility subsequently took. The September reports also reveal a string of incidents involving suicidal statements.
On Sept. 19, officers responded to a report of a suicidal man and spoke with staff “who declined transport.”
Five days later, officers were back for another report involving a possibly suicidal man. This time, the summary states, the man was “allowed per staff to be seen at a hospital.”
On Sept. 28, officers responded to yet another report involving a suicidal man. The responding officer documented that staff “advised they will watch the male.”
And on Oct. 3, just one day before the alleged sexual assault, police received another report involving suicidal statements. The officer’s summary was brief: “Staff was made aware of the issue.”
The spreadsheet does not establish whether the same individual was involved in any of the earlier incidents.
But the records show that police had been responding to incidents associated with the property for months, sometimes communicating directly with group home staff — raising questions about what facility management knew and how residents were being supervised.
Former Joyful group home resident murdered his girlfriend
The connection between Joyful Home Health Care’s troubled past and the group home now under scrutiny in Fridley goes beyond 6045 Gardena Lane.
Adetomi Omotayo, who owns the Gardena Lane property, was also named as a defendant in a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by the family of Abigail Simpson, a 21-year-old woman murdered in 2020.
On Feb. 26, 2020, Simpson was stabbed to death inside her St. Paul apartment by her boyfriend, Terrion Lamar Sherman, who had been living at another Joyful Home Health Care Fridley group home located at 6568 Central Ave. NE.
Sherman had been provisionally discharged from psychiatric care under a civil commitment order. But a subsequent Minnesota Department of Health investigation revealed he had missed 76 days of prescribed antipsychotic and antidepressant medications in the months leading up to Simpson’s murder.
State investigators found that Joyful Home Health Care failed to adequately oversee Sherman’s medication management, while an employee failed to reassess his care when existing interventions proved ineffective or inform his psychiatric provider of the full extent of the missed doses.
“Neglect was substantiated,” investigators concluded, finding both the facility and the employee responsible.
“The facility did not have an assurance process to provide oversight for the AP’s responsibilities,” the report stated, referring to the employee responsible for Sherman’s medication management.
MDH found Joyful Home Health Care out of compliance and issued correction orders. Sherman was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 40 years in prison.
Simpson’s family subsequently sued Joyful Home Health Care, Omotayo and other defendants, alleging failures in Sherman’s supervision and monitoring. In 2024, Ramsey County agreed to pay $75,000 to settle the claims against it.
‘The control has been taken away from us’
The controversy has also raised questions about how much authority cities have over group homes operating in residential neighborhoods.
City officials acknowledged that Minnesota law limits their authority over state-licensed group homes, despite repeated police calls and neighborhood complaints.
But residents wanted immediate answers.
“What can we do right now to protect our own safety, our neighborhood?” one resident asked. “We want immediate safety right now.”
City leaders promised to investigate the complaints, consult police and follow up with residents.
Alpha News sought comment from Joyful Home Health Care and the Minnesota Department of Health about the facility’s operations, regulatory history and the Oct. 4 incident. Neither responded by publication time.
Jenna Gloeb
Jenna Gloeb is an Edward R. Murrow Award-winning journalist, media producer, public speaker, and screenwriter. Most recently, she worked as a reporter and on-air host for CCX Media. Jenna is a Minnesota native and resides in the Twin Cities with her husband, son, daughter, and two dogs.
