Kare11
Hennepin County Attorney releases Londregan case report
Moriarty’s office said the documents were held up, pending the release of materials from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
MINNEAPOLIS — Almost a year to the day since a former Minnesota state trooper killed 33-year-old Ricky Cobb II, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office made previously unreleased case documents public for the first time.
Moriarty’s office released its special prosecutors’ 69-page report and an additional two invoices for services Friday, coming just days after the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association (MPPOA) accused the office of misconduct during its investigation into trooper Ryan Londregan.
Londregan was charged with second-degree murder following Cobb II’s shooting, which happened after Cobb tried to flee a traffic stop in Minneapolis on July 31, 2023. Troopers pulled Cobb over on Interstate 94, alleging the lights were out on his vehicle before learning Cobb was wanted for violating a domestic no-contact order in Ramsey County.
Troopers ordered Cobb II out of his vehicle before he started pulling away. When Cobb refused to stop, Londregan opened fire, shooting the Spring Lake Park man twice.
Moriarty said her office released the documents Friday because she promised to do so when she dismissed Londregan’s case. Moriarty dismissed the charges under pressure on June 2, just a day after she filed them.
“When we dismissed the case against Mr. Londregan because of new evidence, I promised to release this report and the grand jury transcript as soon as possible,” said Moriarty, in a statement. “While the court denied our request to make the grand jury transcript public, I believe it’s still important to release as much of this information as we can.
“Such transparency is key to creating community trust. The family of Ricky Cobb II deserves this transparency, as does the larger community.”
Friday’s report includes data that Moriarty’s office said was held up, pending the release of materials from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. The BCA’s case files were shared publicly on Monday.
According to the county’s special prosecutor’s report, which was compiled by a group of former federal prosecutors retained to specifically assist in the Londregan case, they found there was a general “lack of cooperation” on behalf of the Minnesota State Patrol.
“Generally speaking, the lack of full cooperation by members of the MSP was not only disappointing to investigators, given that these members pledged to uphold the law, but it also created an unnecessary challenge to BCA and the HCAO’s necessary fact-gathering.
“Such selective cooperation, depending on whether witnesses are sympathetic to the investigation, is unacceptable. It undermines the rule of law,” said the special prosecutors’ report said.
Other findings in the report included:
- The HCAO’s initial decision to prosecute Mr. Londregan based on available evidence was justified. New evidence – including sworn statements by troopers that were not previously shared with BCA or HCAO investigators or the grand jury – made it impossible for prosecutors to prove the case.
- Minnesota State Patrol (MSP) Troopers and training officers generally did not cooperate with the BCA and/or HCAO investigation. Approximately 37 MSP troopers either refused to be interviewed or did not reply to BCA interview requests.
- Many of the troopers – none facing charges – retained counsel for interviews with the BCA.
- Involved troopers delayed submitting reports for more than a week after the shooting.
- MSP trainers and officers waited months after the filing of charges to provide additional information related to Trooper Londregan’s training.
- Troopers had several non-violent options that could have prevented Mr. Cobb’s death.
The invoices, which have since been removed from the county attorney’s website, showed the state spent more than $578,000 on retaining the group of special prosecutors.
In response to the report’s allegations that the troopers didn’t cooperate, Londregan’s attorney, Chris Madel, told KARE 11 he believed Moriarty’s office was “trying to backfill their misconduct.”
“They’re trying to backfill their misconduct and that’s what she keeps doing, and keeps trying to drag my client’s name through the mud,” he said.
Madel went on to claim the office was “just continuing the mantra of misstatements and lies that they’ve done since day one,” with the documents’ release and called it “nonsense and absurdity.”
“There was a war. She lost. We won. She needs to understand it’s time to move on and shut up,” he said, adding, “Get on with your life. Go ruin someone else’s life and leave my client alone. That’s what I’m asking.”
Gary Peterson and his friends are collecting donations to help people in their community.
ST. LOUIS PARK, Minn. — A St. Louis Park pumpkin display is raising money for their local food shelf.
Gary Peterson started carving and painting three pumpkins over a decade ago. It’s now grown to over 100.
“I’ve heard people say they’ve come from Hutchinson,” he said.
Peterson along with two of his neighbors have spent the last 14 years growing their display, turning it into a neighborhood event.
“It’s been incredible, I just can’t believe how much this has expanded,” he said. “We did it just because we like to and then people were asking to give us money to cover the cost.”
The trio refused to take people’s money, but then one of them had an idea.
“My neighbor, Steve Leensvaart, just mentioned how about we just do it for the STEP program and the STEP program is our local food shelf in St. Louis Park,” he said.
So, they started to collect donations to help families in need. They’ve raised hundreds of dollars and donated hundreds of pounds of food over the last few years, carving for a cause.
“It is more gratifying every year,” Peterson said.
He estimated they have over 100 unique pumpkins in their yard. They’ve created the displays and come up with new family-friendly concepts for people to enjoy. Peterson said about 30 of their neighbors carved their own pumpkins to be put on display, and it’s been a big hit.
“It’s great. In the last couple of years, it’s turned into more of a neighborhood event,” said Sarah Durch.
“We love this Halloween display, we come every year to see it. We love that the whole community gets involved to craft and carve the pumpkins,” said Jami Gordon-Smith.
“The shading and the details are unbelievable,” said Elizabeth Hanson.
Hanson hopes to take her 2-year-old son trick or treating for the first time but is worried the cold temperatures might keep them indoors.
“We’re going trick or treating hopefully,” she said. “He’s going to be a firefighter, but we’re probably going to have sweatshirts maybe like two pairs of sweatpants underneath. We’re going to be bundled up.”
Gordon-Smith said her family will be out Halloween night no matter the weather.
“Halloween only comes once a year, so you really have to take advantage and enjoy the evening no matter what the weather brings,” she said. “Guess it’s not totally unheard of in Minnesota to have a cold Halloween, but we are going to try and modify and do a lot of layers underneath our costumes and then we might add some hats and maybe some warmer socks.”
Durch also isn’t surprised they’re in for another chilly night.
“Well, what would Halloween be without Minnesota cold? I feel like every time you plan a costume you have to plan for how you can make this work if it’s snowing,” she said.
Peterson said they will have a bonfire and some hot chocolate and cider on Halloween to keep trick-or-treaters warm while they look at their pumpkins.
Click here to learn where you can see the pumpkins and how you can donate.
Jeremy Jourdain was 17 when he was last seen on Halloween 2016.
BEMIDJI, Minn. — The search for Jeremy Jourdain, who was last seen on Halloween in 2016, continues now eight years later.
Jourdain was last seen at a family member’s house in Bemidji, according to the U.S. Department of the Interior Indian Affairs. He left the residence near the 500 block of Wood Avenue after midnight and while people followed him, no one was able to find him.
Jourdain was 17 at the time.
Officials said he was wearing a blue and grey sweatshirt, and blue jeans when last seen. He is Native American and is described as 6 foot 5 and 175 pounds.
If you have any information on his whereabouts, you can contact the Bemidji Police Department at (218) 333-9111. Tips can also be sent to 1-833-560-2065, or you can email ojs_mmu@bia.gov.
The organizations say many Asian Americans are planning to vote despite lack of candidate outreach.
ST PAUL, Minn. — Most people have been contacted in some way shape or form by a campaign in the last few weeks. And if the polls are right and the race for president is a dead heat, every vote will matter.
That’s why this is a head scratcher:
According to a September 2024 voter survey by Asian American Pacific Islander Data, 27% of Asian-American voters said they hadn’t been contacted by either political party trying to get their vote. Last spring, earlier in the voting season, it was even more – 42%.
Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are the fastest growing racial or ethnic group nationwide.
Their voter participation levels are growing too, with 60% of eligible Asian-American voters turning out in 2020. And AAPI Data reports as many as 90% of Asian Americans they surveyed said they plan to vote this cycle.
“Candidates are not reaching out to Asian Americans, which is a huge mistake,” said ThaoMee Xiong, executive and networking director of the Coalition of Asian American Leaders.
She says even though there are more than 200,000 eligible Asian voters in Minnesota, the Asian vote is under-appreciated.
“Neither the Democratic or Republican parties have been reaching out in huge numbers,” Xiong said. “They’re sending general mailers to everyone but … they need it in their native language.”
That’s why CAAL is partnering with two more organizations to keep voter turnout high and reach anyone candidates or advocates missed.
Xor Xiong is from Asian American Organizing Project, which focuses on engaging metro-area teens and young adults.
“Many of our communities are still facing barriers to go to vote,” he said. “There’s been more times than I like to admit in terms of when I was having a conversation over the phones of voters being surprised that they can take time off to go and vote, or they can bring the kids to the polling locations, or they can even bring someone to translate for them.”
“In Ramsey County, because of the large Hmong American population there, the polls in Ramsey County are federally required to provide interpreters and translated materials,” ThaoMee added.
Their nonpartisan campaign, Get Out the Vote for Asian Minnesotans, aims to get people registered and well-informed.
“Throughout Covid, there was a lot of anti-hate around the AAPI community and we are still feeling the impact of that to this day,” said Amanda Xiong, a community organizer with a group known as CAPI USA. “Even if folks are afraid to go to the polls, due to that, we try our best to then educate them around absentee ballots, voting early.”
“And so yes, there is a huge increase in terms of voter turnout, but then why is it still 70% feel as though they don’t belong?”
In 2021, the FBI reported a 168% increase in anti-Asian hate crimes.
In Brooklyn Park and Brooklyn Center, the groups knocked on at least 700 doors in one session alone while keeping safety top of mind.
“We make sure that there’s a car following all the door knockers,” ThaoMee said. “We put everyone on text chain … and we are putting a lot of precautionary measures in place for the day of voting.”
After the election, the CAAL plans to conduct surveys and send the results to county election officials. They’ve done this before and say it led to policy changes this year at the legislature including measures to ensure people have easier access to interpreters.
