Star Tribune
Homicide evidence disturbed as thief rifles through two dozen vehicles at MPD forensic garage, charges say
A 21-year-old man repeatedly broke into the Minneapolis Police Department’s forensic garage and stole or disturbed evidence from numerous vehicles in connection with various cases, including one involving homicide, according to charges.
Dakoda S. Peplinski, of Minneapolis, was charged in Hennepin County District Court this week with three felonies: receiving stolen property, theft and fleeing police in connection with the series of break-ins from March 10 until March 22 until his arrest during a police pursuit.
Peplinski remains jailed in lieu of $10,000 bail ahead of an April 25 court appearance. Should he be able to post bond, the court has warned him to stay away from the police garage just west of downtown on N. Colfax Avenue.
A message was left Wednesday with his attorney seeking a response to the allegations.
The criminal complaint says Peplinski entered more than two dozen vehicles in all, with most of those intrusions occurring on March 10.
The Star Tribune is inquiring with the Police Department, the County Attorney’s Office and the county’s chief public defender for any information about the evidence that was stolen and what impact the thefts might have on cases.
On March 15, a police sergeant visited MPD’s forensic garage to search a vehicle as part of a homicide investigation. The sergeant saw items that were “scattered all around the interior of the vehicle that had not previously been scattered,” the charges read.
The sergeant reviewed surveillance video from March 10 that captured Peplinski in the lot for roughly two hours as he rifled through 21 vehicles, according to the charges. He threw items from those vehicles over the chain-link fence, climbed over, gathered up the items and fled.
Surveillance video from March 12 showed Peplinski in the lot for about two hours and entering three vehicles. Again, he pitched items over the fence, climbed over and left with what he stole.
On March 22, Peplinski walked toward the lot’s fence, carrying a desktop computer with a keyboard and a French horn in a box, the charges said. He ran through a hole in the fence and entered a vehicle.
A police squad arrived and pursued Peplinski as he drove off, striking a city vehicle in the process. He was captured in his vehicle, wheels spinning in the snow when an unmarked police squad vehicle blocked his progress.
A search of Peplinski’s vehicle by police turned up a handgun, ammunition, a designer handbag with fentanyl in a baggie and an addictive prescription drug used to counter panic attacks.
Mohamed Omar is the new board chair of Hennepin Healthcare System, the organization that runs HCMC, making him Minnesota’s first Somali American hospital board leader.
The health care system board permanently appointed Omar to the position Wednesday at their regular meeting. He had served as interim chair since Babette Apland stepped down in September.
Omar has been on the volunteer board for three years, working on the finance, investment, audit and compliance committees. He is the chief administrative officer at the Washburn Center for Children and previously was chief financial officer at the Greater Minnesota Housing Fund.
In a statement, Omar said he was excited to lead a hospital board in the state with the largest Somali American population in the U.S. He said he shared the health system’s dedication to providing “equitable, high-quality care.”
“My commitment is to deepen our community engagement, build more authentic connections between patients and team members, and build a confident future together,” Omar’s statement said.
CEO Jennifer DeCubellis and Nneka Sederstrom, chief health equity officer, praised Omar’s selection to lead the board. They said more inclusive leadership with a commitment to ending health disparities are key to HCMC’s success.
Hennepin County Board Chair Irene Fernando, who is also on health system board, said she was excited to work with Omar. She said county leaders are dedicated to good stewardship of the “state’s last public safety-net hospital.”
“As the first Hennepin County Board Chair of color, I know how impactful it is for our communities to see themselves represented in public leadership,” Fernando said.
DULUTH – The Superior National Forest has lifted its forestwide campfire ban, including the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, effective Friday.
Recent rain and humidity have improved conditions across the national forest’s 3 million acres, forest officials said in a news release.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has also lifted fire restrictions in Cook, Koochiching, Lake and northern St. Louis counties.
Fire danger is still a concern this time of year, said Karen Harrison, DNR wildfire prevention specialist.
“As leaves fall and vegetation continues to dry out, it’s important for people to be cautious with anything that can cause a spark,” she said.
The national forest imposed its broad campfire ban nearly two weeks ago, after a third wildfire, named for Bogus Lake, was discovered on forest land. No significant fire activity has been reported in recent days for any of those three fires. A fourth fire inside the forest, the 8.5-acre Pfeiffer Lake Fire, started Oct. 17. It was contained within 24 hours, the Forest Service said.
Much of northeast Minnesota is still classified in the “severe drought” stage by the U.S. Drought Monitor.
WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris was asked this week if she thought Donald Trump was a fascist, and she replied ‘’Yes, I do.’’ She subsequently called him the same thing herself, saying voters don’t want ‘’a president of the United States who admires dictators and is a fascist.’’
But what exactly is a fascist? And does the meaning of the word shift when viewed through a historical or political prism — especially so close to the end of a fraught presidential race?
An authoritarian, ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is often associated with the far right and characterized by a dictatorial leader who uses military forces to help suppress political and civil opposition.
History’s two most famous fascists were Nazi chief Adolf Hitler in Germany and Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. Known as Il Duce, or ”the duke,” Mussolini headed the National Fascist Party, which was symbolized by an eagle clutching a fasces — a bundle of rods with an axe among them.
At Mussolini’s urging, in October 1922, thousands of ”Blackshirts,” or ”squadristi,” made up an armed fascist militia that marched on Rome, vowing to seize power. Hitler’s Nazis similarly relied on a militia, known as the ”Brownshirts.” Both men eventually imposed single-party rule and encouraged violence in the streets. They used soldiers, but also fomented civilian unrest that pit loyalists against political opponents and larger swaths of everyday society.
Hitler and Mussolini censored the press and issued sophisticated propaganda. They played up racist fears and manipulated not just their active supporters but everyday citizens.
