Star Tribune
Eagan police urge caution, search for suspect in Lebanon Park sexual assaults
Eagan authorities are asking residents to stay vigilant after two sexual assaults at Lebanon Hills Regional Park.
The Eagan Police Department said a woman was attacked while walking alone on one of the park’s trails around 11 a.m. on Nov. 7. Her assault follows a “similar incident” near the same location on Sept. 7, but that victim got away from the suspect. No arrests have been made.
“The Eagan Police Department and Dakota County Sheriff’s Office have increased patrol activity in and around the Lebanon Hills Regional Park,” a news release said. “We are actively working on leads in both cases, therefore this is an open/active investigation, so no further information will be released.”
While investigators search for suspects, police asked residents to remain cautious by: walking in pairs or groups, staying aware of their surroundings, avoiding poorly lit areas and staying in populated areas, and reporting suspicious activity to 911.
Star Tribune
Sentence topping 8 years for man whose ricochet gunshot struck Minneapolis girl, 11, in face
A 45-year-old man received a prison term Tuesday topping eight years for squeezing off automatic gunfire moments into New Year’s Day in Minneapolis that ricocheted and struck a girl in the face while she was looking out her second-story bedroom window.
James William Turner, of Fridley, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis after pleading guilty to being a felon in possession of ammunition in connection with the shooting of Laneria Wilson, 11, on Jan. 1 near 23rd and Bryant avenues N.
With federal sentencing guidelines recommending a sentence of anywhere from 8⅓ to nearly 10½ years in prison, Judge Ann Montgomery opted for the lowest point in that range and added three years of court supervision after his release.
Ahead of sentencing, prosecutors pointed out to Montgomery that “instead of celebrating New Year’s with her friends or family, [Laneria] spent the evening having bullet fragments removed from her face. The victim could easily have been killed. Moreover, the bullet that struck the 11-year-old appears to be one of 24 shots Turner fired that night — 24 bullets that could have injured or killed innocent people.”
Prosecutors also noted that Turner’s criminal history spans his entire adult life and includes convictions for second-degree assault in Anoka County and domestic assault in Ramsey County. Those convictions barred him from possessing guns or ammunition.
Defense attorney F. Clayton Tyler asked that Turner receive a five-year term, arguing that he has abstained from illicit drugs and alcohol since his arrest and has completed mental health therapy.
Also, Tyler added, while Turner admitted to firing the automatic rifle, “he did not do so maliciously or with intent to hurt or frighten anyone. On the contrary, he considered himself close friends with the child’s mother and had previously babysat the child.”
Laneria’s mother, Shenedra Ross, told the Star Tribune in May that since the shooting, she moved her family about two hours west of Minneapolis, where they had lived previously. In the days after being shot, just shy of her 12th birthday, Ross said, Laneria had difficulty coping and was afraid to be near windows.
A 34-year-old Dilworth man who was hit in the head by a stray bullet Saturday while deer hunting is not expected to survive.
According to the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, Jace Srur was shot by someone within his hunting party in rural Moorhead on Nov. 9. Authorities had responded around 8 a.m. and provided first aid before an ambulance arrived and Srur was air lifted to Sanford Hospital.
As of Tuesday, Srur’s injuries were considered “life-threatening and non-survivable,” according to the sheriff’s office. The shooting is still under investigation.
On the same day, a 37-year-old man was injured in a hunting accident in Lee Township, Minn., however, his injuries weren’t life threatening.
Saturday was the start of Minnesota’s firearm deer hunting season.
DULUTH – A Duluth man accused of violent home invasions targeting seniors on consecutive days last week was charged with five felonies Tuesday morning in St. Louis County court.
Jeffrey Scott Montana, 58, has been charged with crimes ranging from burglary to kidnapping and assault for a three-day spree that ended when he was arrested midday Thursday at the Duluth Transportation Center, where police found him via cellphone data.
The case will be handled by Itasca County because of a conflict with the local county attorney’s office. Montana, who has also used the name Jeffrey Scott Undahl and has a history of similar crimes, is housed at the St. Louis County Jail.
According to court documents, a man matching Montana’s description entered a house on W. Kent Road just before 7 p.m. Thursday. He knocked an 80-year-old man to the ground, flashed a firearm and asked for money. The following day, Montana is accused of knocking on the door of a home on Vermilion Road, asking an 85-year-old man for a piece of paper and then striking him over the head with a club. The suspect forced the victim and an 80-year-old woman into the basement, then hit both with the club.
In both cases, the victims were taken to a local hospital for their injuries.
The accused was thwarted on the third day near the 2500 block of E. Second Street. Several people called 911 to report that a 70-year-old woman was outside yelling for help. She had encountered a man in black clothing and a ski mask standing in the entryway to her living room. He demanded her purse. She was injured when she ran out her front door and down the stairs.
Duluth police used surveillance video and cellphone data to to place Montana at the scene of the three home invasions, then the downtown transportation center. They found a Beretta air pistol at his apartment that matched the description of a weapon given by the first victim.
According to court documents, Montana was released from a Minnesota Department of Corrections within the past three months.
