Star Tribune
Willmar man under observation at hospital stabbed employee multiple times
A 31-year-old Willmar man is facing felony charges for reportedly stabbing an employee multiple times Monday while he was under observation at CentraCare-Rice Memorial Hospital.
Darrick M. Whelan was charged with one felony count of second-degree assault and one felony count of third-degree assault Wednesday in Kandiyohi County District Court.
According to court documents, officers were dispatched to the hospital’s emergency room just after 11:30 a.m. Monday for an “out-of-control patient who was being combative.”
The responding officer found hospital staff attempting to secure Whelan in a restraint chair and learned Whelan had stabbed a 53-year-old female employee with a a nine-inch spring-loaded folding knife.
The officer observed several stab wounds on the woman’s left chest, one of which was very deep and gushed blood as he tried to document it.
A security guard in the emergency room said Whelan was acting “pretty shady” and, while Whelan was in a hospital room, started “digging around his back side and grunting, as if he was trying to pull something out of his backside or buttocks,” according to the charges.
Multiple witnesses said Whelan emerged from his room suddenly and immediately attacked the employee, who was sitting in a chair and unable to retreat because the chair was pushed up against medical equipment.
Security footage shows Whelan swinging his arm back toward the security guard who was trying to restrain Whelan, documents state. Once Whelan was restrained, staff stitched up cuts on his left hand. He was then transported to Kandiyohi County Jail.
A news release issued Monday by Willmar Police Department stated Whelan was at the hospital for “an apparent mental health issue” and “has a significant history of erratic behavior and is currently on probation for a different second-degree assault case.” Court records show Whelan was previously convicted of property damage, disorderly conduct, drug possession and theft.
As of Tuesday, the woman was still hospitalized and documents state she required one additional night at the hospital. Records indicate she was stabbed in the breast, left chest, left shoulder and left forearm.
CentraCare spokesperson Karna Fronden on Wednesday said the safety and health of employees, patients and visitors are the organization’s top priorities.
“Events like this are happening far too frequently at health care facilities around the country, and we are not immune,” Fronden said. “Our thoughts are with the employee who is recovering from their injuries as well as the staff who suffered emotional distress as a result of this incident.”
Whelan was issued a public defender at his first court hearing Wednesday. His next hearing is scheduled for June 11.
A jury found a longtime farmhand in southern Minnesota guilty in the killing of his boss, a man whose death prosecutors argued would bring the debt-ridden worker a “significant financial benefit.”
Travis Joel Bauer, 48, of Winthrop, was found guilty of second-degree murder by a jury in Sibley County District Court on Friday. The jury, after deliberating until 9 p.m., also found him not guilty of first-degree murder with premeditation.
Bauer was arrested last year in connection with the 2022 shooting of his boss, Dennis D. Weitzenkamp, 79.
Winthrop police found Weitzenkamp in his machine shed, slumped over to the left side of his body, with a bloody gunshot wound in the back of his head and no weapon within reach, court filings said. Weitzenkamp appeared to have been about to shuck an ear of corn, police said.
Bauer had helped Weitzenkamp “farm his land for many years and was considered part of the family,” a complaint against him read. Weitzenkamp was an Army veteran who served during the Vietnam War and moved to the Winthrop area in 1998, his online obituary said. He was survived by his wife of 37 years, five stepchildren, and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and enjoyed “watching sports, playing cards, bowling, traveling with family, driving trucks and wintering in Florida,” the obituary added.
Bauer told police that he never saw Weitzenkamp at the farm property after they left for separate lunch breaks. But law enforcement analysis of Bauer’s and Weitzenkamp’s cellphones showed they were both at the farm at the time of the killing. The cap and pants Bauer had on that day had gunshot residue on them, police said.
Law enforcement’s argued Bauer’s finances “had significant debt and was behind on bills,” and that he received calls that he could lose his home if he didn’t pay his debts an hour before Weitzenkamp was found dead. Trust documents disclosed to investigators that Bauer “would receive significant financial benefit” from Weitzenkamp’s death, prosecutors said.
Sibley County Attorney, Don Lannoye, said prosecutors were pleased at the verdict.
Roseville has joined the ranks of Minnesota cities with ordinances aimed at reducing the amount of Styrofoam and single-use plastic takeout containers in the trash.
On Monday, Roseville’s City Council unanimously passed a “Green To Go” ordinance, which requires takeout containers to be compostable, recyclable or reusable. Diners will likely see some changes when they pick up dinner.
“Any takeout food that they bring home from a restaurant, either if they’re getting takeout or if they’re bringing home leftovers from dining in, should be in something that they can put in the recycling bin, or it’s compostable,” said Noelle Bakken, the city’s sustainability specialist.
The city joins neighbors, including Minneapolis, St. Paul, St. Louis Park and Edina in enacting ordinances designed to make takeout containers more environmentally friendly.
The ordinance affects restaurants and food trucks, gas stations and convenience stores, grocery stores and schools. It does not affect hospitals and nursing homes, businesses with no retail food or beverage sales or caterers.
The ordinance includes utensils, though single-use straws may be available in dispensers or given to customers on request.
To-go container materials allowed under the ordinance include recyclable plastics (#1, #2, #5), metal and compostable plastic, paper or fiber products. No longer allowed are black plastic (including #5), Styrofoam and other plastics, including #4 and #6. Prepackaged foods and plastic films are exempt.
Bakken said the vote on the ordinance followed outreach with residents and businesses. Some businesses have been early adopters, and the city will help connect others to more sustainable packaging resources.
Star Tribune
Bloomington offers hopeful model for reducing police clashes with people in mental distress
For more than a quarter-century, James Ayers met with some of the most vulnerable residents in Minneapolis. As the former director of Walk-In Counseling Center, a free and anonymous counseling center on Chicago Avenue in Minneapolis that is staffed by volunteers, he witnessed the value of accessible mental health services.
“The tendency is to take a policing approach, to correct it without getting into what the hell is going on,” he told me.
It’s also why he and other counselors have praised a Bloomington police pilot program that aims to help residents gain access to counseling services when they call 911 during an emergency. The department has been nationally recognized after hiring two marriage and family therapists to help people address life challenges that may demand a mental health professional rather than a police officer.
“The whole idea is that people generally don’t deal with mental health issues until there is blood on the floor,” Ayers said. “And you can get ahead of the game by providing services as soon as possible when people are asking for it. The whole rationale for a walk-in counseling center is that you’ve gotta make it easy for people to talk. And that’s done by privacy, professionalism, timeliness. What’s going on in Bloomington is a good start.”
When I was a child, a relative of mine endured a mental health crisis outside our church. I was too young to understand the totality of mental health then, but I remember the moment when police arrived. One by one, they surrounded him. I was afraid. He wasn’t harmed but the possibility seemed real.
Every police department — and many have partnered with mental health organizations in recent years — should employ resources to address individuals facing mental health crises, as those situations can quickly deteriorate. Counselors and therapists, Bloomington’s program has shown, may help residents find solutions and avoid those encounters with police. They may also help families and individuals process their collective challenges before they matriculate and lead to violence and damage in their homes and communities.
The complexities and problems in policing here and elsewhere are well-documented. The model in Bloomington is one that could work throughout the Twin Cities, but only if patients’ privacy is protected and not improperly used by police. There is value in independent counseling services, but those services are not always attainable for those who need them most.
In Bloomington, more than 4,000 people are uninsured, according to the department, and the service gives those people access to therapists whom they might not see otherwise because of that barrier. To many, 911 is the universal number to call when there is a serious situation they can’t resolve on their own. That’s a habit we’ve all developed over time. Yet, a call to that number should not always start with a police response. If anything, the presence of counselors allows for nuance and patience in these scenarios, says the Minnesota Counseling Association, the local chapter of the American Counseling Association.
