Star Tribune
Duluth NAACP asks county prosecutor to drop charges against felon who turned in gun
DULUTH — Rummaging through his recently deceased brother’s vehicle last July in Duluth’s East Hillside neighborhood, Steven Cooper found a pistol.
Cooper, a 31-year-old felon who had been convicted of a violent crime as a teenager, knew he wasn’t supposed to possess a gun. So, he called his parole officer to turn it in, he said Thursday at a news conference on the steps of the St. Louis County Courthouse.
“I was honest from the start,” he said. “By doing the right thing, I am being punished.”
Cooper was arrested and then charged with felony possession of a firearm by the St. Louis County Attorney’s Office. He faces a return to prison for a minimum of five years.
The Duluth NAACP is calling on St. Louis County Attorney Kim Maki to drop the charges, alleging he’s being treated “unreasonably harshly” because he is Black.
Duluth NAACP President Classie Dudley said the charge sends a message to the community and to law enforcement working to keep guns off of streets.
“What this tells me is if you have an unregistered gun or if you are someone who has a gun that shouldn’t be in your possession, don’t turn it in,” she said.
In an unusual move, the St. Louis County Attorney’s Office released a lengthy statement about the case shortly after the news conference concluded.
The office stands by its charging decision based on initial evidence, the statement said, and with the investigation incomplete, it would be “premature to take action regarding the outcome of this case.”
“We remain open to whatever options are warranted when the investigation is completed. We will not, however, make legal decisions based upon community pressure or false and unfounded allegations of racism in charging decisions,” it said.
In 2006, when Cooper had just turned 15, he shot two convenience store clerks in their backs as he robbed a Duluth store. According to the Duluth News Tribune, both victims survived, but suffered collapsed lungs. Cooper was convicted of attempted murder and sentenced to 20 years in prison. He was released after serving 13.5 years.
The criminal complaint from the July incident says Cooper told his parole officer about finding the pistol and some ammunition among things left behind by his brother, who died the previous April. He had wrapped the gun in a sweatshirt and put it in a secure place inside his apartment building before calling the parole officer, who notified police.
An excerpt of police body camera footage released by the NAACP shows the responding officer telling Cooper, handcuffed in the back of a squad car, that he did “the right thing,” but he shouldn’t have touched the gun. The officer also told Cooper that his honesty about the situation “is probably going to go a long way.”
Dudley questioned why the County Attorney’s Office went forward with charges when the Minnesota Department of Corrections opted against sending Cooper back to prison.
“It would have been safer for him personally to throw [the gun] in the ditch or give it to someone else,” she said.
Cooper, who now lives in St. Louis Park, said he was placed on an on-call status for his job building tanks for the federal government following the new charge. He had to pawn his possessions to post bail in July. The prospect of returning to prison triggers fear and PTSD from his years spent there, and the trust in the justice system he emerged with upon release has “completely disappeared,” he said.
“I have no faith in the system,” Cooper said.
The case was charged by Tony Rubin, son of former St. Louis County Attorney Mark Rubin. Tony Rubin was hired by his father controversially in 2019 over more experienced prosecutors, the Duluth News Tribune reported then.
Cooper’s next hearing is May 12. The County Attorney’s Office said it expects the investigation to be complete by the end of April.
Looking for ways to stay warm and active this winter? U.S. Bank has announced the return of a popular program that allows runners and inline skaters access to stadium facilities on some cold winter nights.
The Winter Warm-Up begins Tuesday, Dec. 3. It will be offered on most Tuesday and Thursday evenings in December and January from 5-9 p.m., according to a news release from U.S. Bank Stadium.
Inline skating takes place on the stadium’s main concourse and indoor running on the stadium’s upper concourse. The program is all ages, with a required waiver.
Skaters must provide their own skates, helmet and other safety gear, with no equipment rental available. Runners must wear proper footwear.
Winter Warm-Up tickets are $15 and must be purchased on ticketmaster.com. Participants should enter via the skyway entrance at 740 S 4th Street.
The boom of yet another car crash was as jarring as it was familiar, reverberating in Albert Padilla’s townhouse one afternoon this year as he watched T.V.
“Instantly,” he recalled, “I knew something had happened.”
He rushed outside, running without shoes toward the heavily trafficked intersection of Biscayne Avenue and County Road 42 in southwestern Rosemount, where a car appeared to have spun out, he said. Inside, a woman lay pinned between airbags and the driver-side door.
Padilla and his wife live in a townhome development on a corner of this busy intersection. Residents and local officials agree something needs to be done to boost safety in the area. The node, not far from a gym, numerous single-family homes and a soon-to-be-constructed middle school, is a hotspot for collisions: 56 incidents have occurred since January 2019 where Biscayne Avenue crosses County Road 42, also known in that area as 150th St. W., according to Rosemount Police Department data.
That’s about 11 crashes a year over a roughly five-year span. And although none have been fatal, data shows 30% of all incidents resulted in injuries.
“As we continue to grow, it’s going to get more and more busy,” said Padilla, who works in Shakopee and navigates the corner on his morning and evening commutes. “More and more accidents are going to happen.”
A traffic light is slated for the area in coordination with a new middle school coming to the southeastern corner of the intersection. Officials will also realign part of Biscayne Avenue to reduce its skewed orientation, which impedes visibility. But that light installation and realignment won’t be complete until 2027, frustrating residents who say the node needs a makeover — now.
A man shot to death last weekend in Rochester has been identified.
Rochester Police said they responded about 1 a.m. Saturday to a home in the 4100 block of Manor Woods Drive NW. where they found a man shot to death. Family has since identified the victim as Demetrious Tankhamvang, 28, of Rochester.
One person was taken into custody Saturday, but there has been no further word on that individual’s role in the death or how the shooting came about.
“Demetrious’ parents, Christina, Sam, and Shane, are now grappling with the unimaginable pain of losing their firstborn son,” Samantha Prak wrote in an online fundraising campaign she started on behalf of the family. “Demetrious also leaves behind two beautiful daughters, who will forever carry his love in their hearts.”
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