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MPD Chief Brian O’Hara fires officer for having sex on duty
A recently published memo says officer Juan Alonzo Jr. for violating multiple departmental policies for the interactions, which involved a woman he met on Grindr.
MINNEAPOLIS — Recently published internal documents reveal that Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara fired one of his officers in February of this year for violating multiple department policies while engaging in sexual activity while on duty and in uniform.
The decision to discharge Officer Juan Alonzo Jr. was announced on Feb. 22 after an internal affairs investigation revealed he engaged in sexual activity on multiple occasions while on duty in the fall of 2022, using a city squad car to transport himself out of his assigned precinct without being assigned a call in that area and for personal reasons.
Investigators learned that Alonzo also exchanged graphic pictures and messages with the female, who he met on the dating app Grindr, and referred to his status as a Minneapolis police officer while seeking sexual interactions. They also determined
Among their specific findings:
- On 9/2/2022, Officer Alonzo communicated via the Grindr website with a community member and discussed a meeting to engage in sexual activity while in uniform and on duty.
- The community member met with Internal Affairs investigators and confirmed that she had engaged in sexual activity with Officer Alonzo multiple times within her home and that he was in full uniform. She provided text messages substantiating meetings on 9/3/2022 and 9/26/2022.
- On 9/3/2022 and 9/26/2022, AVL data shows squad car 563, manned by Officer Alonzo, parked in the area of the community member’s residence. This area is not in the 5th Precinct. The squad car is not shown to be assigned to any calls of service within the area.
- Officer Alonzo admitted in his investigative interview that, on 9/3/2022 and 9/26/2022, he met with a community member in her home and had oral sex performed on him while on duty and assigned to a district squad car.
- Officer Alonzo acknowledged that these described actions could be concerning to the community and stated, “It would be concerning because I could see where people would believe that I’m intentionally leaving an emergency call; you know, it also devalues like the trust of police and community,” during his Garrity statement.
“As Chief of Police, I am responsible for providing clear expectations about behavior and conduct in all situations, not just when it is convenient,” O’Hara wrote while explaining his decision to fire Officer Alonzo. “These expectations extend from myself to the command staff and all levels of the Minneapolis Police Department. My predecessors have also borne responsibility for setting expectations, and it is incumbent on every Chief to hold officers accountable for breaches of those expectations.”
O’Hara said one of the allegations against Alonzo – violating the department’s vehicle responsibility policy – would alone have resulted in suspension and not dismissal, but the other three sustained allegations warranted his firing.
Officials say 79-year-old Charles J. Finck of Elk River was piloting a single-engine Piper Cherokee when it went down near Wayne, Nebraska.
OMAHA, Neb. — Bad weather was reported near two Nebraska farm fields where small planes crashed minutes apart in August, according to preliminary reports from the National Transportation Safety Board.
The two crashes happened on Aug. 26, about 45 miles apart, and within 50 minutes of each other, the Omaha World-Herald reported Thursday. While the NTSB reports don’t yet cite a probable cause in either crash, both reports include witness accounts of low clouds and bad weather.
Joseph Rudloff, 73, of Norfolk, Nebraska, died when his single-engine plane, a two-seat RANS S19, crashed at 8:41 a.m. near the town of Crofton. At 9:31 a.m., a single-engine Piper Cherokee piloted by 79-year-old Charles J. Finck of Elk River, Minnesota, crashed near Wayne, Nebraska.
No one else was aboard either plane beyond the pilots.
Rudloff’s obituary described him as “an avid flier” who died after his plane was engulfed in thick fog. The NTSB report said that 11 minutes before the crash, he called a pilot friend saying he was over Yankton, South Dakota, but unable to land there because of poor weather. Yankton was seeing fog and light rain at the time.
Rudloff’s friend suggested he fly to an airport in Nebraska. Rudloff’s plane hit the ground near Crofton in the far northeastern corner of Nebraska.
That same morning, a landowner near Wayne heard an engine revving on a plane that turned out to be Finck’s. The landowner then heard a pop sound and saw a black plume of smoke coming from his cornfield. He told investigators that clouds were near the ground when he heard the plane fly by. Rain also was falling.
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Stillwater Correctional Facility on lockdown after staff exposed to an unidentified substance
Officials told KARE 11 that “several staff were taken to the hospital out of an abundance of caution.”
BAYPORT, Minn. — The Stillwater Correctional Facility was placed on temporary lockdown Thursday after staff members were exposed to an unidentified substance.
Minnesota Department of Corrections Director of Communications, Shannon Loehrke, told KARE 11 that “several staff were taken to the hospital out of an abundance of caution. The facility is on a temporary lockdown.”
The Minnesota Department of Corrections said an investigation is ongoing and they will provide more details as they become available.
No further information has been released.
Prosecutors charged 45-year-old Trevor Joseph Wunderlich with second-degree murder in the death of his 68-year-old mother, Charlene Gail Wunderlich.
HUGO, Minn. — The man who was the “person of interest” in the north metro search Monday night was charged Thursday morning in the murder of his mother.
Prosecutors charged 45-year-old Trevor Joseph Wunderlich with second-degree murder in the death of his 68-year-old mother, Charlene Gail Wunderlich.
According to court documents, Washington County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a 911 call from a home in the 15000 block of Ingersoll Ave. at approximately 5:55 p.m. on Sept. 16.
Dispatchers said they “could hear noises on the line consistent with an ongoing assault or struggle.”
When deputies arrived they found Charlene Gail Wunderlich on the kitchen floor severely injured, according to the criminal complaint. Deputies tried to “detain the defendant, but he ran into the basement of the home and fled out a rear door.”
Charlene Gail Wunderlich told the deputies that her son beat her before she lost consciousness. She was rushed to the hospital but died from her injuries.
Law enforcement agencies across the metro launched a manhunt for Wunderlich. Sheriff’s officials warned the public not to approach him as he was considered dangerous.
Just before 11 a.m. Tuesday, a resident in the 9800 block of 152nd St. N saw a man matching Wunderlich’s description in their trailer. KARE 11 spoke to the woman who owns the trailer, and she says her dogs were growling at the trailer, and when she opened the door Wunderlich was sleeping inside.
The woman said she screamed to her son who was working on the property to call 911. Her son had a brief conversation with Wunderlich and then Wunderlich ran down the road with no shoes to another property where, according to officials, police arrested him.
According to court documents, in 2021 Wunderlich was sentenced to 203 days in prison for violating a domestic abuse no-contact order. While serving that sentence, he was convicted of fourth-degree assault against a correctional officer.
