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Hennepin County Attorney presents teen car theft plan
According to Mary Moriarty 7,856 vehicle theft cases were reported in Minneapolis last year. Her office received 2.3% of those cases for charging.
MINNEAPOLIS — It’s a growing and very dangerous problem in the Twin Cities.
So far this year, Minneapolis Police are reporting 54 carjackings across the city, and often teenagers are the ones being arrested for the crimes.
On Wednesday, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty shared some new data on prosecuting these cases. This data was presented to members of the Minneapolis City Council’s Public Health and Safety Committee.
According to Moriarty, 7,856 cases of motor vehicle theft were reported in the city of Minneapolis. She says her office received 2.3% of those cases for charging consideration.
She says the numbers in Hennepin County as a whole are very similar, with 9,763 cases reported in 2023 and 3.4% of those cases were referred to her office for charges.
“We cannot charge cases unless they are brought to us by law enforcement,” Moriarty said.
Her presentation explained why car theft cases are so difficult for police to investigate and attorneys to prosecute.
“You can have five or six people running away from a car, they’re all wearing masks,” Moriarty explained. “These cases require an intense investigation and time.”
Moriarty says, of the cases her office does receive, often times her attorneys decide they don’t have enough evidence to charge the case.
“There are times that cases have been submitted to us where we can certainly prove a young person was in the car, we can’t prove that they stole it,” Moriarty said.
That’s why attorneys and law enforcement started a new program last summer.
Police provide the names of the teens they couldn’t charge and the Hennepin County Attorney’s office assigns social workers to track down the teens’ families to hopefully intervene before the teens can commit additional crimes in the community.
“When we made contact with families, 100% of the parents or guardians said, ‘We’re not surprised that our young person is on your radar screen and thank you, help us,'” Moriarty said.
Moriarty says some of the families could not be located and a few of the teens they did track down did go on to reoffend after they received this help, but Moriarty says 72 teenagers, about 88% of the teens they reached, have not been charged with a crime since that initial contact.
“Hopefully those are 72 young people that are never going to get involved in the juvenile justice system,” Moriarty said.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara was in the room during the presentation Wednesday afternoon.
He released this video statement in response to the meeting:
“I just want people to know the Minneapolis police department is literally working around the clock to address a very violent problem we have been having with juveniles particularly around these robbery sprees. Some of these cases have been putting guns into people’s mouths and putting a gun to somebody’s head, pulling the trigger so they hear it click, really, really violent behavior. That’s not stuff you can divert. I am confident, our investigators are working around the clock to build these cases as best they can. Hundreds of pieces of evidence are taken. When you think about this, this is difficult. Groups of juveniles with masks on, attacking people, robbing them in instances that are over in seconds. It’s very difficult to build those cases. Any implication that the Minneapolis cops aren’t doing everything they can to try and solve that problem, not partnering with people to try and address it is just not true and it’s a slap in the face to the cops that are out there every single day, putting their lives on the line to try and solve this problem as quickly as we can. I am all for diverting juveniles when appropriate, but that is not the problem we are dealing with right now. We need to do everything we can to get these violent juveniles arrested, charged, and off the street.”
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Cities across Minnesota expanded voting hours and locations for the upcoming presidential election.
MINNEAPOLIS — Expanded early voting hours and locations are giving Minnesotans more opportunities to cast their ballots before the general election.
Over 1,000 people visited Minneapolis Elections & Voter Services over the weekend to make their voice heard.
“We have always voted as a family. We have this right as Americans to vote, and we wanted him to know right from the get-go that you’ve got to vote in every single election because this is our voice, this is our opportunity to really pick the future that we want based on the candidate that we vote for,” said Kelly Wallander.
Kelly and her husband, Claude, picked up their son Harrison from college, so they could all vote in the general election for the first time as a family.
“It’s interesting. It’s cool to see elections on TV, basically as long as I can remember, and now know that I’m a part of it and being able to vote with my parents is cool,” Harrison said.
“I like voting early just because exactly you miss the line and you get it in there,” Claude said.
Director of Elections and Voter Services for the City of Minneapolis Katie Smith said the past two days have been busy.
“We’ve had really solid turnout. We’ve had about 42,000 people who have already voted in this election,” she said.
She anticipates next weekend will be even busier.
“Every year we kind of looking at how many people we’re planning for and how many people are coming through. We try to always expand our service hours as we get closer and closer to the election,” she said.
Smith said they’ve also started using pop-up voting locations to reach more people.
“In 2023, there was a legislative change that allows for us to have sites around the city that are open for different lengths of time as well as different dates form our main site. We’ve really taken the opportunity to host some one-day early vote pop-ups… in some unique and really great spaces throughout the city,” Smith said.
Sunday’s pop-up was at the Capri Theater. Paige Gayle voted here along with her sister.
“I like early voting because it’s convenient, it’s fast and it’s quick,” she said. “I work on actual election day, so for me it was important to get out beforehand.”
Smith said offering more voting opportunities for people in Minneapolis is crucial to their work.
“It’s so important to be able to offer all of these voting methods so that people can find something that works really well for them and make their voting plan,” Smith said.
Voters tell KARE 11 one of the perks to early voting is little to no wait. Voting early also gives them peace of mind and is one less thing to do on election day.
“It’s so much more convenient. This way I don’t have to worry about it. I’ll still be working on election day, so I would have had to go in before or after work. Now, I don’t have to worry about it. I know my vote will be counted,” Macy Bauers said.
Bauers said she votes in every election and hopes more people take advantage of early voting in the coming days.
The two adults who were killed were both male, according to the department, which is investigating the shooting.
MINNEAPOLIS — Three people were shot, two of them fatally in a Minneapolis encampment on Sunday afternoon, according to the Minneapolis Police Department.
The shooting occurred on the 4400 block of Snelling Avenue shortly after 3 p.m., said the MPD.
The two adults who were killed were both male, according to the department, which is investigating the shooting.
A woman was also taken to the hospital after the shooting and is in critical condition, said the MPD.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
John Sawchak faces four felony charges after officials said he shot his neighbor on Grand Avenue South while trimming a tree on their shared property line.
MINNEAPOLIS — A man is recovering in the hospital after being shot outside his home in a dispute with a neighbor on Grand Avenue South in Minneapolis on Oct. 23.
According to a criminal complaint, Minneapolis police responded to a hospital for a report of a gunshot victim on Wednesday night. The injured man had been transported from his home on Grand Avenue South for an unknown medical condition that caused him to collapse. The man was found in the fetal position by his wife when she got home from work that evening.
Officials later identified the victim as Davis Maturi.
At the hospital, providers found a small puncture wound in the back of Maturi’s neck that led to the discovery of a bullet lodged near his spine. When he arrived at the hospital, he couldn’t recall what led up to him being shot, according to the criminal complaint.
Maturi’s wife told officials that he had been outside earlier in the day pruning a tree near their property line with a chainsaw. She said their neighbor, John Herbert Sawchak, 54, had “almost certainly” shot her husband.
In the previous week, Maturi’s wife said Sawchak told her husband “Touch my tree again and I’ll kill you.”
The criminal complaint goes on to detail numerous complaints of harassment the Maturi’s experienced since purchasing their house in September 2023.
Oct. 11, 2023: Maturi approached Sawchak to discuss the tree on their property line. Sawchak became irate, according to the criminal complaint, yelling at Maturi and using “racially charged language.” Sawchak told Maturi if he “touched” the tree, Sawchak would “take care of” him.
March 1, 2024: Sawchak approached Maturi while he was working outside his house on a ladder. While verbally harassing him, officials said Sawchak told Maturi that he would put him in the hospital.
April 5, 2024: Sawchak threw household items at Maturi from his 2nd-floor window.
May 28, 2024: Sawchak verbally threatened Maturi, calling him “a Black bastard,” and telling him “I’m going to kill you if you call the police again. All you people do is lie and commit crimes.”
Aug. 7, 2024: Sawchak verbally threatened Maturi from his 2nd story window. Maturi saw Sawchak holding up a large knife in the window while threatening to kill Maturi and his wife.
Oct. 8, 2024: Sawchak verbally threatened and screamed racial slurs at Maturi from his 2nd-floor window. Sawchak also, once again, brandished a knife from his window while threatening to kill Maturi.
Oct. 14, 2024: Maturi saw Sawchak outside Maturi’s home with a firearm. Sawchak pointed the firearm at Maturi through the window.
On the evening of Oct. 23, Maturi’s wife went home to pack some things and leave for the night, officials said. Sawchak verbally harassed her and shone a stone light on her as she left her home, the criminal complaint read. The next day, Maturi and his wife were able to access home security footage from their home cameras. The video shows Maturi working outside near the tree at the property line with his back to Sawchak’s home. A faint “crack” or “pop” can be heard, then Maturi collapsed to the ground.
Maturi remains hospitalized with a fractured spine, two broken ribs, and a concussion. He talked to KARE 11 from his hospital bed and said he feels the police failed to protect his family by not arresting Sawchak during one of the various other incidents.
“If you’re saying you’re scared, what does that do to me?” Maturi said. “You have this body armor, you have professional training… when I call for assistance, when I called for having a knife pointed at me, I had to wait hours and hours and hours.”
As of Sunday morning, Sawchak is not in police custody. According to the criminal complaint, Sawchak has at least three active warrants associated with prior threats or acts of violence against Matsuri and other neighbors. Sawchak has “actively evaded” police during their prior attempts to contact or arrest him.
A letter from ranking members of the Minneapolis City Council to Mayor Jacob Frey showed anger and blame directed at the Minneapolis police department for allegedly failing to act on Maturi’s numerous complaints against Sawchak before the shooting, and failing to arrest him immediately after the shooting.
“MPD still has not arrested the suspect despite charges from the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office for Attempted Murder, 1st Degree Assault, Stalking, and Harassment and a request from the HCAO for a warrant with $1 million bail. MPD told the HCAO they do not intend to execute the warrant ‘for reasons of officer safety,’” said the letter from the Minneapolis City Council.
Watch Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara’s response below:
