Twin Cities weekend crime incident recap

A passing motorist was caught in crossfire and shot in Minneapolis just before 4 p.m. Thursday. Police responded to the area of Lowry Avenue North and Penn Avenue North and found a male in his vehicle shot in the left arm, according to police dispatch audio. Police indicated to the dispatcher that the injury appeared to be non-life-threatening at the time. Later audio indicated that the victim was 69 years old and the bleeding from his arm was “uncontrolled” on the way to the hospital.

Police had been notified by the dispatcher less than three minutes prior of 911 callers reporting the sound of shots as well as a Shotspotter activation that detected 10 rounds fired in the same area. The dispatcher told police that Shotspotter indicated the shots were “full automatic.”

The victim told police he’d been driving west on Lowry Avenue near Logan Avenue when he heard shots, and a bullet came through his window. The victim told police at the time that he didn’t see any vehicles or where the shots came from. Police canvassed the area and aired to the dispatcher that they found what appeared to be rifle and 9mm spent casings near 33rd and Logan Avenue North.

No public statement was released by MPD about the incident.

A clip of audio purported to be the sound of shots from the incident was later posted online in which “burst fire” can be heard indicating some type of automatic gunfire.

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Burst fire.
AUDIO: https://t.co/zOOKg029HS

— CrimeWatchMpls (@CrimeWatchMpls) June 17, 2022

Brooklyn Park police reported that they responded Thursday just before midnight to a report of shots heard on the 7200 block of Zane Avenue North. As officers canvassed the area, they located 18 bullet casings. Officers also located damage from the gunshots which struck and entered an occupied apartment on the 5800 block of 73rd Avenue North. Police said that no suspects or victims were located at the time, and the incident remains under investigation.

Two incidents played out at the same time in downtown Minneapolis at 12 a.m. Friday, according to dispatch audio. One officer on the 1300 block of Nicollet Avenue called out to the dispatcher that he heard a rifle round and went to investigate. The officer immediately reported that he was chasing a fleeing male, and shortly thereafter said he had two people at gunpoint in the courtyard of the 1350 building. Officers also subsequently aired that a gun had been recovered. No information was released by MPD to the public about the incident and whether the detained parties were arrested.

The other incident was initially reported as a shooting near The Armory at 500 South 6th Street. However, when police arrived, they were told by witnesses that a male was possibly throwing pieces of steel down from a nearby roof of a parking ramp. An officer told the dispatcher that he suspected it could be a male that police had dealt with the day prior. In the prior police interaction, the male was threatening to jump from a roof and was throwing objects, the officer said. Police quickly confirmed that there was a male on the roof of a parking ramp to the west of The Armory. About 15 minutes into the incident, officers indicated that they were negotiating with the male to get him off the roof and that he wanted to be arrested. He was taken into custody a few minutes later. Jail records show that Brian Keith Bakke, 57, was booked into custody on probable cause narcotics. As of Monday at 1 p.m., the booking record indicated that Bakke would be released without charges, 36-hour hold expired.

Brooklyn Center police reported that they responded Friday after 1 a.m. to a shooting on the 5400 block of Queen Avenue North. An initial report stated that the suspect was a Hispanic male who fled on a bike. BCPD said they located an adult female who had sustained a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to the leg. The victim was transported to the hospital, and the residence was checked for other victims. No others were found.

BCPD said in their statement that Minneapolis police located the suspect in their city. The suspect then led police to where he threw away the gun, and he was eventually transported to Hennepin County Jail.

Records show that Jovanny Vela, 26, has been charged with one felony count of reckless discharge of a firearm within a municipality. Charges say that Vela was with a female known to him when he dropped a gun in the driveway after exiting a vehicle. When the female told him to be careful, he told her the gun wasn’t loaded. Vela proceeded to point the gun at the victim and pulled the trigger shooting the victim. Vela then apologized and fled the scene on a bicycle.

The criminal complaint states that after interviewing the victim and a witness who was present, police determined that no dispute or argument had taken place. Vela was scheduled to make a first court appearance on Monday.

Charges were filed Friday in Ramsey County in last Monday’s St. Paul stabbing homicide on the 100 block of Winnipeg Avenue West. Dwight David Ford, 46, of St. Paul was charged with second-degree murder in the death of Christopher Shawndale Pryor, 41, who had just been released from prison hours before his death.

Ford has a lengthy history of convictions on violent crimes including rape, kidnapping, robbery and assault, and the criminal complaint notes that he was not in compliance with registration requirements as a predatory offender at the time of his arrest.

Charges say Pryor had just been released from prison, and he, Ford and two females were smoking crack together at the Winnipeg Avenue apartment. Ford’s prostitute girlfriend offered sexual favors to Pryor in exchange for crack and money. After the sexual acts were performed, Pryor accused the woman of stealing $120. An argument ensued, and Ford grabbed a knife from the kitchen and stabbed Pryor.

Ford was apprehended late Thursday night after police were called to a disturbance at a residence on the 800 block of Rice Street. A 911 caller said Ford, her daughter’s ex-boyfriend, was pounding on the door and told the dispatcher he was wanted for murder. Police found Ford near Rice Street and West Sycamore Street and took him into custody.

In May, Ford pleaded guilty to a felony count of receiving stolen property. Under the terms of a plea agreement, Ford was allowed to remain out of custody by Dakota County Judge Timothy J. McManus to await sentencing. The death was the 20th homicide for St. Paul this year.

The Blaine Police Department posted on Friday that they are seeking the public’s help in identifying a business burglary suspect.

Details were not provided about the date or specific location of the incident. Anyone with information is urged to contact Blaine Police Detective Rolfes at yebysrf@oynvarza.tbi.

Plymouth police on Friday morning released a photo of a suspect wanted in connection to a shooting homicide that took place on June 9 at a gas station near Hwy. 169 and 36th Avenue North.

Plymouth police said in a press release that Daniel James Hart, 23, of Brooklyn Park was allegedly last seen leaving the scene of the shooting in a black BMW. A criminal complaint charging Hart with one count of felon in possession of a firearm states that police matched surveillance photos at the scene of the shooting to known photos of Hart to make the connection to him as the suspect.

Plymouth police updated Monday morning that Hart had turned himself in to police and that the vehicle he was last known to be driving had been recovered.

Hennepin County Jail records show that Hart was booked into custody after 2 p.m. Friday and that he immediately posted a bond amount and was released from custody three hours later. Court records indicate that Hart is scheduled to make his first appearance on the charge on Tuesday at 1:30 p.m.

The decedent in the shooting was previously identified as Marlon Lindly Pompey, 28, of Maple Grove.

The Isanti County Sheriff’s Office reported Friday that their K9 team collaborated with a K9 team from Chisago County to apprehend a suspect with felony warrants and recover a firearm that the suspect tossed away during a foot pursuit.

An officer on neighborhood patrol in Bradford Township observed a male walk into a residence who matched the description of a male with felony warrants out of Sherburne County.

As Deputy Vander Vegt spoke with the homeowner, he observed the suspect leave the rear of the residence and disappear walking to the west. The deputy and his K9 partner, Maverick, drove to where they last saw the suspect and began tracking into a heavily wooded area and eventually arrived at a residence. The suspect took off running and refused verbal commands and a foot chase started. The suspect ran through another yard then onto the next township road. At the time, Maverick and Deputy Vander Vegt were behind the suspect approximately 50 yards but were momentarily delayed when a resident’s unleashed pit bull charged at Maverick.

The foot pursuit resumed, and deputies observed the handle of a gun in the suspect’s waistband when he turned sideways. Maverick was immediately sent in for an apprehension to avoid a deadly force encounter and bit the suspect’s upper leg and took him to the ground. The suspect refused to comply with verbal commands and Maverick continued to anchor him to the ground allowing Deputy Vander Vegt and Sgt. Oliver to approach safely. The suspect tried to bite Sgt. Oliver so a taser was used to assist with handcuffing and the suspect was secured.

The suspect was found to be in possession of ammunition and a holster; the handgun was not immediately located. Chisago County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Stenson and K9 Stryker were called to assist in locating the firearm and Maverick was allowed to rest. On the arrival of K9 Stryker, the loaded .38 Special revolver was located only a few feet away from where Maverick had caught the suspect hidden in tall grass.

The press release said the suspect was treated for minor injuries at local medical center and was booked into the Isanti County Jail.

Sheriff Chris Caulk confirmed in an email that Christopher Lee Schimmelman, 25, was the party arrested in the incident and that he was previously known to law enforcement due to outstanding warrants. Schimmelman was booked into custody on the Sherburne County firearm warrant as well as new probable cause charges of felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, fleeing and obstructing the legal process.

Three people were shot in St. Paul Friday just after 4 p.m. in the Highland Park neighborhood. Police responded on a report of a shooting on the 1000 block of Otto Avenue, according to dispatch audio. Police arrived and found one female shot in the arm, another female shot in the leg and a male with a gunshot to the neck. Police told the dispatcher that they found four .22 caliber casings in the living room of the residence. Police said at the time that nearby surveillance video showed two males arrive in a vehicle and quickly leave after the shots were fired. A police spokesperson later said that the victims’ injuries were believed to be non-life-threatening and that no arrests had been made at the time.

Minneapolis police were dispatched Saturday about 12:45 a.m. to take a report on a shooting victim that had shown up to HCMC shot in the back, according to dispatch audio. A deputy at the hospital said the victim indicated the shooting occurred at a gas station on Lyndale Avenue South by the Sculpture Garden. Police arrived at the hospital and indicated the victim was uncooperative and “pretty high.” Police checked the area on Lyndale but didn’t immediately locate a scene. Information about the victim’s condition wasn’t immediately available, and a public statement about the incident was not issued by MPD.

An EMS rig was caught in shooting crossfire in downtown Minneapolis Saturday about 2:15 a.m. An off-duty officer aired to dispatch a report of shots fired at 5th Street and Hennepin Avenue, according to dispatch audio. The officer had aired just prior to the shots that he was out on a “disturbance” at the location. Another officer aired that more shots were fired near 6th Street and 1st Avenue North. The dispatcher then aired to officers that a Hennepin County EMS crew reported that they had been caught in the crossfire and they “have a bullet in their rig.” An audio clip later posted online captured the sound of gunfire as EMS personnel communicated to the dispatcher about the gunshots. EMS personnel later aired that two bullets had struck the back of their truck. No injuries from gunfire were reported at the time. No public statement about the incident could be found by either MPD or Hennepin County.

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In this audio clip from the EMS crew, you can hear the shots being fired in the background. pic.twitter.com/z8Dmkdchw3

— CrimeWatchMpls (@CrimeWatchMpls) June 20, 2022

The Duluth Police Department reported that they responded Saturday just after 2 a.m. to multiple people running from Aces on First, a bar located at 113 West 1st Street. Fleeing people said that multiple people had been shot in the bar. Officers who were already in the area on foot patrol requested dispatch to send more squads to the scene.

Upon arrival, officers found one male victim inside the bar with a gunshot wound to his foot. Police learned through witness interviews and surveillance video that a fight had ensued between two white males and two black females.

During the fight, a gun fell out of the waistband of one of the white males who was involved in the fight. A bystander attempted to pick up the gun when it accidentally discharged, hitting the male victim in the foot. People in the bar fled the scene and the gun was unable to be located.

Officers identified and located two of the individuals involved in the fight at another bar a few blocks away. Those individuals were detained and interviewed for their involvement in the fight but were subsequently released.

Duluth police said two others who were involved in the fight had not been immediately located. They believed the shooting to be accidental and continue to investigate the incident.

Police in Northeast Minneapolis responded Saturday about 2:38 a.m. to a report of a shot fired during a domestic incident on the 2700 block of Marshall Street Northeast. Police arrived and said no one was injured by gunfire. A female was eventually taken into custody after 3 a.m. A 40-year-old female remained in custody as of Monday on probable cause domestic assault. A public statement about the incident was not issued by MPD

The Minneapolis Fire Department responded before 8 a.m. on Saturday to a report of a vehicle on fire on the 3300 block of Logan Avenue North, according to dispatch audio. The dispatcher updated that the vehicle had been intentionally set on fire by a male, and police were also dispatched to the incident. Fire responders arrived on site and requested an arson investigator to the scene. A video submitted to Crime Watch Minneapolis purported to show activity at the address just prior to the fire. The video shows a gray vehicle parked in the middle of the street with a male outside bashing the black truck with a large hammer. No public statement was released about the incident by either MFD or MPD.

Minneapolis police responded Saturday about 9 a.m. to a report of two masked males with guns going through garages near 36th and Upton Avenue North, according to dispatch audio. Police arrived and located two males and recovered two guns. A subsequent dispatch indicated that two juvenile males were being transported to the Juvenile Investigations Division before being transported to the Juvenile Detention Center. Information about possible charges was not immediately available, and no public statement was released about the incident by MPD.

A Minneapolis resident posted video online of a burglary suspect Saturday in an incident that occurred on the 5100 block of Portland Avenue South about 5:25 p.m. Video shows a male kicking in a door in broad daylight. The resident posted in a neighborhood group that the burglar ransacked the house for about eight minutes while an accomplice waited in a vehicle. The resident indicated that police arrived and requested Crime Lab to the scene to collect evidence.

Coon Rapids police had a vehicle flee from a traffic stop just after midnight Sunday in a neighborhood near 119th and Ibis Street Northwest. The vehicle was originally pulled over for traveling 83 mph in a 45 mph zone, according to a police spokesperson.

An officer aired that he was trying to catch up to the vehicle as it sped away, according to dispatch audio at the time. Within a minute, the officer aired that the vehicle had crashed and rolled over on the 1600 block of 118th Lane Northwest. Officers aired that one suspect had fled while they had another suspect at gunpoint and another still in the vehicle. Several EMS rigs were requested to the site for reports of injuries. Several more squads, a K9 team and a drone operator responded to the scene to set up a perimeter and search for suspect who had fled. Police aired at the time that a gun had been found in the crashed vehicle. Nearly 40 minutes later, the suspect who had fled was found hiding under a walking bridge in nearby Lions Coon Creek Park.

A spokesperson for the Coon Rapids Police Department responded to an email inquiry about the incident and stated that five people were in the vehicle. Four passengers were seen at Mercy Hospital and released to jail. The spokesperson did not have details on their injuries but stated they sounded mostly minor. The driver, Jesse Narad, who was being treated at Mercy Hospital fled on foot against doctors’ orders. No parties outside of the vehicle were injured in the crash.

Arterria Lynnelle Lipsey, 27, Broderic Jermane Davis, 29, Charkisha Anthonyke Jones, 22, and Charles Anthony Dawson, 21, remained in custody in Anoka County Jail as of Monday on probable cause charges ranging from receiving stolen property to felon in possession of a firearm. Davis and Dawson listed addresses in Tennessee on the booking record. Lipsey and Jones listed addresses in Coon Rapids and Minneapolis, respectively. The driver, Narad, did not appear to be in custody as of Monday.

A video of the aftermath of the crash was submitted to Crime Watch Minneapolis.

Minneapolis police reported hearing 4 to 5 shots fired in Dinkytown Sunday about 1:25 a.m., according to dispatch audio. University of Minnesota police were flagged down by security who found spent shell casings mid-block at 13th Avenue Southeast and 4th Street Southeast. There were no immediate reports of injuries and no public statement was released by MPD or UMPD.

Minneapolis officers responded to two shootings early Sunday morning at bar close. The first occurred downtown about 2:11 a.m. following a report of a fight at the Gold Room at 528 Hennepin Avenue, according to dispatch audio. Just prior to the shooting report, an off-duty officer aired to the dispatcher that there was fighting inside and outside the bar. The officer also stated that bar employees had maced a large number of people that were clearing out of the bar.

A chaotic scene was indicated in the audio as police aired information initially stating that two people had been shot, but later clarified that only one male had been shot in the leg. Police eventually found two spent shell casings just outside the door of the Gold Room. Police asked the dispatcher to advise HCMC that a “large chunk of the crowd” was planning to head to the hospital. Further dispatch audio indicated that a 27-year-old male had been shot in the right upper thigh and that a tourniquet had been applied as he was transported to the hospital.

Several minutes later about 2:18 a.m., police near Conga Latin Bistro in Northeast Minneapolis encountered a male who said he’d been shot. Additional police and EMS resources were dispatched to the 500 block of East Hennepin Avenue. Further dispatch audio indicated that the approximately 20-year-old male victim had been shot in the back with an exit wound through his shoulder.

A scene was eventually located by police across the street near the Wells Fargo drive-thru. A brief video clip later posted online purported to show several groups fighting in the area at the time of the shooting, although the shooting did not appear to be captured in the video. The same area was the site of a bar-close stabbing at the end of May. Further information about the two shooting victims, in downtown and Northeast, was not immediately available and no public statement was released by police in either shooting.

pic.twitter.com/1t3INIVgrb

— Dylan Hauer (@dylanhauer) June 19, 2022

Just after 9:30 a.m. Sunday, a gunshot victim showed up at Abbott Hospital in Minneapolis. The female victim reported she was shot in the foot when someone’s gun fell out of their pocket at a community center, according to police dispatch audio. Further information wasn’t immediately available about the victim’s condition or the specific location of the incident, and police did not release a statement to the public.

Brooklyn Park police reported that they were dispatched to a shooting Sunday night at 11:21 p.m. at 83rd and Kentucky Avenue North. Officers located an adult male who had been shot while sitting in a vehicle. The victim was transported by ambulance to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The Brooklyn Park Police canine unit and the Minnesota State Patrol’s helicopter assisted in the search for the suspects who were not located at the time. The shooting continues to be investigated.