Bloomington Police Chief Booker Hodges provided an update Monday about a two-day adult prostitution sting conducted on Wednesday and Thursday last week involving multiple law enforcement agencies including Richfield, Eden Prairie, Maple Grove, and the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office.
The chief said 23 people were arrested of 211 people who interacted with the undercover online ads placed by law enforcement. The chief said the effort was conducted in an attempt to crack down on human trafficking where victims are used for sex work while a third party collects the profits.
The chief said stings of the same nature are usually conducted along the 494 strip. The chief noted that the city of Bloomington has 49 hotels and 10,000 hotel rooms, and they often work with hotel management to help eradicate human trafficking.
The chief listed many of the suspects arrested during the sting, including a homeless person and a respiratory therapist who came from cities across the Twin Cities metro. Some of the suspects were armed with weapons, including one who was prohibited from having guns as well as one who had a permit to carry a firearm.
Chief Hodges said that most of the arrested parties will be charged by the Bloomington city attorney with gross misdemeanor sex offenses related to engaging in prostitution or offering to hire a prostitute. Those who illegally possessed weapons will be submitted to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office for consideration of additional charges. A full list of the arrested parties was not immediately available.
Investigators attempt to look at the history of arrested parties to determine whether they have interacted with other potential sex trafficking victims, Chief Hodges said.
The Anoka County Sheriff’s Office announced on Thursday the arrest and charges against two people in connection to the March 9 shooting homicide of Devon Michael Adams, 27, in the parking lot of a Fridley Cub Foods.
Johnson Kenny Sirleaf, 32, of Plymouth has been charged with second-degree murder with intent but not premeditated, and Blanyon Toe Davies, 29, of Brooklyn Park has been charged with a felony count of aiding an offender.
According to dispatch audio and information contained in the charging documents, Adams was found by responding officers just after 11 a.m. that morning with a gunshot wound to the chest.
The criminal complaints offer no information about a motive for the shooting homicide. However, the complaints connected the suspects and their vehicle and decedent Adams to the Extended Stay Hotel located behind Cub Foods. Adams had been staying at the hotel for several weeks. Separately, Davies had rented a room from March 5 to 15, and Sirleaf had been observed staying at the hotel. A vehicle connected to the suspects was also observed by a witness at the hotel two days prior to the shooting. Davies and Sirleaf were also observed on surveillance at the hotel together in the days following the shooting.
Police were able to identify and track down the suspect vehicle from various surveillance images. Detectives subsequently obtained search warrants to track communications on both defendants’ cell phones which placed Sirleaf at the site of the shooting on the day and time of the murder and placed both of the suspects at a Fridley address following the murder where the suspect vehicle had been left in a parking lot.
Davies is on state parole related to an aggravated robbery conviction and was recently released from federal prison following his conviction as part of the circa 2014 indictment involving the Mustafa worldwide organized crime ring based in Minnesota. The Mustafa criminal enterprise was engaged in identity theft and cell phone thefts for nearly a decade. Davies also has other state felony convictions for possession of counterfeit checks, and aid/abet third-degree burglary.
Court records show Sirleaf has six prior felony convictions and received stays-of-imposition or stays in the first three cases involving possession of counterfeit checks, receiving stolen property, and third-degree burglary. Within 30 days of his third stayed sentence, Sirleaf was charged in two new violent crime cases with first-degree aggravated robbery. Upon convictions in those cases, he was allowed to serve the two sentences concurrently. Following his release from prison, Sirleaf was nearly immediately charged in another aggravated robbery case. Most recently, Sirleaf was wanted on warrants in at least two pending cases at the time of his arrest in the Fridley homicide. He was out of custody on zero bail in the cases, and had failed to appear in court several times,
Both suspects remain in custody on $2 million bail each
MNDOT traffic cameras captured the arrest of several people early Thursday morning in Minneapolis on I-94 near 42nd Avenue North.
The trooper aired that the vehicle had been slow to stop and requested back-up from Minneapolis police. At least three people could be seen being taken into custody.
The driver of the vehicle, Dashay Dontay Williams, 31, of north Minneapolis has been charged with felony narcotics, two gross misdemeanor counts of DWI, and misdemeanor counts of open bottle and driving after revocation. Charges say police found cocaine, ecstasy, meth, and an open can of beer near the driver’s seat. Williams has at least eleven prior convictions including DWI. He was released after making a court appearance with no bail required.
Also arrested was Tyberis Daquan Lamont Day, 25, of Minneapolis who was booked into custody on a bench warrant out of Bloomington on charges of gross misdemeanor giving false information to police and misdemeanor theft, as well as a Department of Corrections (DOC) hold. Day is currently under intensive supervised release by the DOC after having just been released from prison in October. Day remained in custody Monday on the DOC hold without bail. Read the full report on Alpha News.
Paul Dwayne Harris, 24, was charged Friday in connection to St. Paul’s seventh homicide this year that resulted in the death of pregnant 21-year-old Gabriella Dehoyos last week following a drive-by shooting.
Just before 5 p.m. on March 13, officers were called to Regions Hospital on a report of a female victim with a gunshot injury to her head who was brought to the emergency room in a private vehicle. Police later determined that shooting had occurred while Dehoyos was inside a vehicle near the intersection of St. Anthony Avenue and Marion Street just before being rushed to Regions Hospital. Dehoyos later died as result of her injuries.
Charges say Dehoyos’ three children ages 3 and under were in the vehicle with her along with her boyfriend who was the driver of the vehicle. No motivation for the shooting was detailed in the complaint. However, the complaint noted that the driver of the vehicle Dehoyos was riding in recognized Harris as he pulled up next to their vehicle prior to the shooting. After arrest, Harris denied knowing about the shooting.
Harris has two prior convictions for being a felon in possession of a firearm; one of them is a juvenile conviction. In 2018 Harris was ordered to serve the two 5-year sentences concurrently. Under Minnesota’s two-thirds sentencing rule, Harris was released from prison in Nov. 2021 after serving just 40 months in prison in the two convictions and was still under supervised release (parole) at the time of last week’s shooting.
Harris, of St. Paul, has been charged with second-degree murder, second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon, and felon in possession of a firearm and is being held on $2 million bail.
Emir Deamontae Minafee, 21, of Minnetonka and Leeverette Cushawn, 23, of Brooklyn Park were arrested in Minneapolis Friday following a fight involving a gun at the Metro Transit Lake Street LRT station at 2310 East Lake Street. They were both charged Monday in Hennepin County District Court with one count each of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Charges say that two males were involved in an altercation at the station. One, later identified as Cushawn, was sprayed with mace by an unidentified party and dropped a gun while he was rolling around on the ground. The gun was picked up by Minafee, who also had a dog with him. The altercation and the gun incident were captured on surveillance video.
Minafee attempted to flee from officers when they arrived and was observed crouching behind an electrical box. Minafee was eventually taken into custody, and a .22 caliber handgun was recovered from behind the electrical box.
Both suspects have prior convictions on felony crimes of violence and are prohibited from possessing firearms.
Both remained in custody Monday on $100,000 bail each.
Brooklyn Park police reported Saturday that they responded to a weapons complaint just after midnight at Tacos El Paraiso in the 8500 block of Edinburgh Center Drive. While police were en route, dispatch was also receiving calls of shots being fired in the same area.
Based on a witness description, the suspect was found in a neighboring business and fled from officers on foot into the neighborhood of Logan and 85th Avenue.
Officers deployed a police canine from the Crystal Police Department, and the suspect was located hiding in a shed and was taken into custody without incident.
Officers recovered a handgun with an extended magazine and recovered over 40 spent shell casings at the original scene. Hennepin County Sheriff’s Crime Scene Investigators processed the scene, and the investigation is ongoing.
Woodbury police reported on Saturday that they arrested four people in connection to armed carjackings across the metro as well as theft of ammunition in Woodbury. The incident began about 5 p.m. when police located a stolen vehicle near the 9100 block of Hudson Road. Officers were able to quickly take three suspects into custody at the vehicle and recovered a pistol and a rifle from inside that vehicle. A fourth suspect was not in the vehicle but was spotted by officers and subsequently fled on foot. Officers set up a perimeter and searched the area with the assistance of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, Oakdale police and State Patrol. Officers were able to locate the fourth suspect after a prolonged search and a tip from a citizen on the 100 block of Jade Trail North in Lake Elmo.
Woodbury police said three adults and one juvenile were taken into custody and booked into Washington County Jail, and police are continuing to investigate.
Jail records show the arrested parties as Marshall Dwayne Carlvin, 19, Lania May Rogers Tietz, 18, and Javon Thomas Wilson-Branch, 19. The name of the juvenile party is not available. The three adults are being held on varying charges including illegal weapons possession, first-degree burglary, fleeing police, and receiving stolen property.
Court records show Wilson-Branch was wanted on a felony warrant out of Hennepin County at the time of his arrest in relation to a pending first-degree aggravated robbery case originally charged when he was age 17. Wilson-Branch’s conditional release was revoked by order of a judge last June for failure to comply with electronic monitoring and maintaining contact with probation, and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
The three adults remained in custody awaiting formal charges as of Monday. The status of the juvenile isn’t known.
A man was found with a gunshot wound to the chest Sunday about 9:20 p.m. in downtown Minneapolis after police aired that they heard a volley of gunfire near 1st Avenue and 4th Street North, according to dispatch audio.
The shooting took place in the space between the Breakfast Bar and the Fine Line entertainment venue where police aired that the shooter had fired from the fenced area at Breakfast bar west toward the Fine Line. The shooter was described as a heavyset black male wearing a black jacket and blue jeans who fled from the scene on foot. The shooter was not located at the time.
Audio indicated at the time that several parents were staged in the area waiting to pick up their kids from the Fine Line venue. Actress/singer Maya Hawke was performing at a sold-out all-ages show at the time of the shooting. Police aired that parents were being corralled to an area away from the crime scene to wait for their children.
My daughter is there. There was a concert at the Fine Line tonight. She’s just been told she can leave.
— Lisa Horner (@LisaHorner5) March 20, 2023
Police indicated there was a large crowd present in the area of the shooting and that mace had been deployed at one point during the aftermath. Extra squads were requested to respond to downtown from other Minneapolis precincts.
Police later told media that the gunshot victim had sustained a potentially life-threatening injury.
Downtown Minneapolis police were dispatched just before 1 a.m. Monday on a report of a person slumped in a stolen vehicle near East Grant Street and Portland Avenue, according to dispatch audio. Police arrived and aired that the vehicle was facing the wrong direction on Grant and quickly updated that the vehicle began ramming two squads. There were no immediate reports of officers injured. An officer requested permission to pursue the vehicle as it took off. A sergeant denied the request to pursue the vehicle which was reportedly seen entering onto 35W. No public information was released by MPD about the incident.
Minneapolis police responded to a shooting Monday after 3 a.m. on the 2700 block of Portland Avenue, according to dispatch audio. One officer aired that the location had been the site of several prior domestic incidents, but it wasn’t made clear at the time whether the shooting was domestic in nature. Further audio indicated that an approximately 25-year-old male was transported to the hospital with a gunshot wound to the abdomen that exited out his back. Information on the victim’s condition wasn’t immediately available, and no public statement was issued by MPD about the shooting.
Around Minnesota
The Duluth Police Department reported Friday that a student was discovered to have brought a firearm to school at Edison North Star Academy located at 3301 Technology Drive. Police responded to the school about 9 a.m. and the weapon was confiscated and later determined to be unloaded. No further details were offered and the incident continues to be investigated.
Lifelong offender Justin Lyle Cutbank, 36, of Onamia, Minn., was convicted in federal court Friday on one count of possessing a firearm as a felon. The four-day trial was held before Senior Judge Michael J. Davis.
According to evidence presented at trial and court documents, on November 19, 2020, Leech Lake Tribal Police were dispatched to a residence following a report that Cutbank had physically assaulted a woman, held her at gunpoint, threatened to kill her, and then fled the residence into the woods. Shortly after officers arrived at the residence and took the victim’s statement, a neighbor reported that Cutbank was in their garage and refused to leave. Officers from multiple agencies responded to the location and found Cutbank barricaded in the garage. Several hours of negotiations followed with Cutbank retreating into the attic of the garage and refusing to surrender. Ultimately, officers were able to apprehend Cutbank, who continued to actively resist arrest. The following day, officers searched the wooded area where Cutbank had fled and found a Marlin Model 100 .22 caliber rifle with no serial number, a knife, and the victim’s cell phone.
Minnesota court records show Martin has 19 prior adult convictions including at least ten felonies stretching back to the age of 18. Martin’s prior convictions include several violent crimes which preclude him from possessing firearms. Sentencing will be held at a later date.
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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.
Crime Watch MN
Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
