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Innocent driver clings to life after a fleeing unlicensed truck thief causes pileup in Becker

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A man with a penchant for driving despite having his license revoked has been charged with fleeing a sheriff’s deputy in a stolen pickup truck while high and causing a multi-vehicle crash in Sherburne County that critically injured one of the other motorists.

Bradley Alfred Allen Johnson, 21, of Montrose, Minn., was charged Tuesday in District Court with one count of causing great bodily harm while fleeing police and various other counts in connection with the four-vehicle wreck midafternoon Saturday in Becker, Minn., on Hwy. 10 near Liberty Lane.

Johnson remains jailed in lieu of $100,000 bail. He’s due back in court on July 17. A message was left Wednesday with his attorney seeking a response to the allegations.

At the time of the crash, Johnson was driving after having his license revoked by the state, a Department of Public Safety spokesman said.

Court records show that he’s been convicted three times this year for the same offense, twice in a one-week span in May. He’s also been convicted twice this year for driving without insurance and was caught twice last year for speeding.

While still at the scene, Johnson admitted to ingesting heroin about five hours earlier, according to the criminal complaint. A law enforcement search of his clothing turned up drug paraphernalia, the complaint continued.

Saturday’s wreck put 36-year-old Christopher James Vyskocil, of Becker, in North Memorial Hospital with life-threatening injuries that include severe head trauma, according to the State Patrol. Vyskocil remained in critical condition Wednesday afternoon.

Sarah Colford, a friend of Vyskocil’s wife, posted on an online fundraising page started to help the family, that “a person running from the police caused a horrific accident, causing Chris — her husband, on their wedding anniversary — to be airlifted to the hospital.”

According to the charges:

A sheriff’s deputy spotted a pickup truck that was reported stolen as it headed out of St. Cloud on eastbound Hwy. 10. The deputy activated his squad’s emergency lights and siren and started pursuing the pickup at speeds topping 100 miles per hour.

After entering Becker, the deputy saw that the pickup had struck a gasoline pump at a Speedway at Hwy. 10 and Liberty Lane.

A state trooper arrived and spotted Vyskocil’s badly damaged car on westbound Hwy. 10. An unconscious Vyskocil was in the vehicle. An SUV was in the same lane as Vyskocil’s car. That driver survived her injuries. Johnson also suffered noncritical injuries.

A motorist outside his SUV at the gas station said he saw the pickup “flipping towards him at a speed he estimated at 50 to 60 mph,” the complaint read. He said he ran from his vehicle just before it was struck by the pickup.

Along with the one count of causing great bodily harm while fleeing a peace officer, Johnson is also charged with two felony counts and two gross-misdemeanor counts each of criminal vehicular operation, receiving stolen property and fleeing a peace officer.



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Two killed in second Minneapolis encampment shooting of weekend

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Two men are dead and one woman was injured in a shooting at a homeless encampment in south Minneapolis on Sunday afternoon, police said. It was the second shooting at a Minneapolis encampment this weekend.

At about 2:20 p.m. Sunday, police responded to a reported shooting in the 4400 block of Snelling Avenue near the railroad tracks at the small encampment between Snelling and Hiawatha avenues. At the scene, officers found two men with fatal gunshot wounds, said Sgt. Garrett Parten Minneapolis Police spokesman. Responders rendered aid, but both men died at the scene.

A woman was found at the scene with life-threatening injuries and was taken to a local hospital where she was being treated Sunday night, he said. Police have yet to say whether the three were living at the encampment.

Officers detained three people, who Parten said have since been released after police found they were not believed to be involved in the shooting. No suspects had been identified as of 6:30 p.m. Sunday.

The shooting is the second at a southside homeless encampment this weekend. One man died and two were critically injured early Saturday at an encampment shooting near E. 21st Street and 15th Avenue S. On Sunday, the man was identified as Deven Leonard Caston, 31, according to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office.

“We don’t know if there’s a connection between this homeless encampment shooting and the one that occurred yesterday,” Parten said on Sunday. “That is a consideration of the investigation. We can’t rule it out.”

Ward 12 Council Member Aurin Chowdhury, who represents the area and lives nearby, was at the site of the shooting Sunday afternoon. She said officials need information about what happened to better understand how to address situations like this long-term.

“This is an absolute tragedy, and this type of violence should never occur within our city,” she said. “It really makes me think about how we need to look at this more systemically and not just take a whack-a-mole approach and expect the problem to go away.



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Walz plays Madden video game with AOC on Twitch

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During Sunday’s Twitch stream, Walz and Ocasio-Cortez played Madden while discussing making homebuying more accessible, building affordable housing, eliminating student loan debt and raising the federal minimum wage.

After the match, Walz showed off his Sega skills in a round of “Crazy Taxi,” the Y2K-era racing game where gamers play as a taxi driver picking up passengers and taking them to their destination for cash.

Walz called himself a “first-generation gamer” and recalled playing “Crazy Taxi” when he bought a Sega Dreamcast. He also mentioned the Minnesota Star Tribune’s coverage of how his old game console was sold and ended up with a Plymouth resident, who still has it.

Afterward, Walz and Ocasio-Cortez watched a short clip of Trump denying on Rogan’s podcast that he lost the 2020 presidential election. Democrat Joe Biden won that year.

Ocasio-Cortez during the livestream also showed viewers her farm on the cozy, indie game Stardew Valley. Walz said the game reminded him of Minnesota: “You’ve got mining,” he said. “You’ve got agriculture. You’ve got snow.”

Before Walz headed out to a rally in Nevada, he pleaded with viewers to vote. More than 12,000 viewers tuned into the livestream on Ocasio-Cortez’s Twitch channel. More watched from Harris’ channel.



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Trump’s Madison Square Garden event turns into a rally with crude and racist insults

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”Hey guys, they’re now scrambling and trying to call us Nazis and fascists,” said Alina Habba, one of Trump’s attorneys, who draped a sparkly ”MAGA” jacket over the lectern as she spoke. ”And you know what they’re claiming, guys? It’s very scary. They’re claiming we’re going to go after them and try and put them in jail. Well, ain’t that rich?”

Declared Hogan in his characteristic raspy growl: ”I don’t see no stinkin’ Nazis in here.”

Trump has denounced the four criminal indictments brought against him as politically motivated. He has ramped up his denunciations in recent weeks of ”enemies from within,” naming domestic political rivals, and suggested he would use the military to go after them. Harris, in turn, has called Trump a ”fascist.”

The arena was full hours before Trump was scheduled to speak. Outside the arena, the sidewalks were overflowing with Trump supporters in red ”Make America Great Again” hats. There was a heavy security presence. Streets were blocked off and access to Penn Station was restricted.

In the crowd was Philip D’Agostino, a longtime Trump backer from Queens, the borough where Trump grew up. The 64-year-old said it was appropriate for Trump to be speaking at a place bills itself as ”the world’s most famous arena.”

”It just goes to show ya that he has a bigger following of any man that has ever lived,” D’Agostino said.



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