Star Tribune
Victim of St. Paul residential fire this week has died
A person who sustained injuries from a fire this week in St. Paul’s Macalester-Groveland neighborhood has died.
The victim, whose identity has not been released, was injured in the fire Tuesday in the 1600 block of Juliet Avenue. Firefighters responded to the call shortly after 11 a.m. and found the victim inside the residence. Fire medics transported the victim to the hospital while firefighters battled the blaze.
St. Paul Fire Deputy Chief Roy Mokosso said officials learned Saturday that the victim had died.
Investigators believe the fire started in the kitchen and have ruled it as accidental.
“Cooking is the leading cause of fires in both Minnesota and the United States,” Mokosso said in a press release.
The death marks St. Paul’s fifth fire fatality this year. Four children died in a Jan. 3 fire in St. Paul’s Payne-Phalen neighborhood, making it one of the deadliest fire incidents in the city’s history. Two other children and their mother were also hospitalized. Investigators so far believe that fire was accidental and caused by an unattended candle, but the investigation is ongoing.
Transforming the heart of both downtowns, which have much larger buildings than old warehouses, is going to take a lot more money, creativity and time. Josh Talberg, managing director at downtown Minneapolis brokerage JLL, said with no major apartment buildings on the drawing board in either downtown, the fleet of empty office buildings present a golden opportunity to create more housing and lead both cities in a new direction.
“You can can certainly see the fundamentals improving, and you can feel that vibrancy, and that’s ultimately the foundation that’s needed to get investors to reinvest in the city,” he said. “But it’s not as if these 18-wheelers can turn on a dime.”
The Minnesota Department of Transportation closed part of a state highway Wednesday evening near Austin because of a “major hazardous materials release” in the area.
Hwy. 56 from Hayfield to Waltham, a stretch covering about five miles, was closed in both directions and drivers were directed to follow a detour to Blooming Prairie on U.S. Hwy. 218.
No information on the hazardous materials released was immediately available.
A federal judge dismissed a civil lawsuit against Minnesota state trooper Ryan Londregan in the shooting death of Ricky Cobb II during a 2023 traffic stop.
The decision is the latest development in a case that has drawn heated debate over excessive use of force by law enforcement. Criminal charges against Londregan were dismissed by Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty in June, saying the prosecution didn’t have the evidence to proceed with a case.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Nancy E. Brasel granted Londregan’s motion to dismiss the civil suit, arguing he acted reasonably when he opened fire as Cobb’s vehicle lurched forward with another state trooper partly inside.
Londregan’s attorney Chris Madelsaid Wednesday that it’s been a “long, grueling journey to justice. Ryan Londregan has finally arrived.”
On July 31, 2023, the two troopers pulled over Cobb, 33, on Interstate 94 in north Minneapolis for driving without taillights and later learned he was wanted for violating a felony domestic no-contact order. Cobb refused commands to exit the car.
With Seide partly inside the car while trying to unbuckle Cobb’s seatbelt, the car moved forward. Londregan then opened fire, hitting Cobb twice.
In her decision, Brasel said the troopers were mandated by state law to make an arrest given Cobb’s domestic no-contact order violation. She said it was objectively reasonable for Londregan to believe Seide was in immediate danger as the car moved forward on a busy highway, which would make his use of force reasonable.
