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MPD Chief announces new protocol to combat recent robbery spree
Chief Brian O’Hara plans to redirect officers from non-emergency calls toward robbery details if the patterns continue.
MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis Police plan to reassign officers from non-emergency calls toward specific robbery details if patterns of crime continue to emerge, according to a new protocol announced by Chief Brian O’Hara.
Moving forward, O’Hara said his officers will be required to call him directly if they notice a cluster of similar robberies or violent crimes in a geographical area. This week, the department has been investigating a spree of robberies involving groups of armed teenagers, with much of the activity happening in the Fifth Precinct of South Minneapolis.
According to MPD data, robberies have spiked by 42 percent citywide so far in 2024 compared to this same time period last year. In the Fifth Precinct, robberies have increased 149 percent.
“Any officers that are writing reports, conducting typing on investigations, on breaks, they will be pulled immediately and redeployed into the areas of concern,” O’Hara said. “If something like this happens and I order the police to not respond to non-emergency calls, yes, there will be delays. But that’s a decision I’m absolutely willing to make because I’m not willing to allow a robbery spree to continue unabated.”
Last weekend alone, MPD reported 46 violent crimes across the city — 70 percent consisting of robberies. On Saturday night into Sunday morning, between 8 p.m. and 1:30 a.m., O’Hara said his department responded to “at least a dozen robberies happening in a short period of time.”
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office has already charged four teenagers in connection to the spree. However, O’Hara said there are other suspects involved, many of whom he said have been involved in previous violent crimes.
“We don’t have enough to charge them or even to make arrests, but we know they are associates. These are young people that are well-known to us. Some had been involved in carjackings, in robberies, in gun crimes in the past and obviously they have not learned their lesson,” O’Hara said. “We are providing negative reinforcement when we are engaging in catch and release, catch and release. We’re almost encouraging them to do this.”
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty was not available for an interview Thursday, but her office released a statement saying they are “deeply supportive of MPD’s efforts to develop the evidence necessary” to charge these cases. Moriarty’s office set up a program last summer to identify repeat offenders of carjackings and auto thefts and has noted that only a small percentage of crimes have been forwarded for prosecution.
“We are working with the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office as best we can, to build the cases they are requiring in order to charge,” O’Hara said.
O’Hara also indicated that MPD may ask for outside help to tackle these robberies. That could include reaching out to the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office or Metro Transit Police, he said.
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The woman helped police track the vehicle through an Apple AirTag inside, and the suspect was arrested and charged.
A Saint Paul police officer was caught off guard Sunday night. He was giving sobriety tests to a woman he had pulled over, when a random stranger jumped into her car and stole it.
The woman, in turn, helped police track down the suspect using the Apple “Find My” app.
As part of the statewide “Toward Zero Deaths” enforcement focused on arresting impaired drivers, a Saint Paul Police officer pulled over a woman he says was speeding in her Lincoln Navigator near Jefferson Avenue and 7th St. at about 6 p.m. Sunday.
According to a criminal complaint, when the officer began field sobriety testing, a completely unrelated man who was sitting on a nearby bus stop bench got into the driver’s seat of the woman’s car.
Police say the man was 39-year-old Kyle Vanwert, who has a long history of minor crimes involving drugs and theft. Before the officer could stop him, court papers say Vanwert sped away in the woman’s SUV.
After the thief took off in the Lincoln Navigator, the woman told police her iPhone and other electronics were still inside. Using the “Find My” app, they traced the iPhone to Apple Valley, where they found it — apparently tossed out the window by the thief.
But little did he know, according to the criminal complaint, that the woman still had an Apple AirTag dangling from the keychain.
After notifying Richfield police that AirTag was pinging from the area of 77th Street and Nicollet Avenue, the complaint says they found the SUV, chased it, and finally arrested Vanwert.
In the end, the woman got her vehicle back — intact — and she was not charged with DWI. Saint Paul Police say she was not over the legal limit.
Vanwert, however, could get a DWI instead. Police say they believe he was high on drugs but they are waiting for the blood test to come back.
Police had sought the man, identified as 29-year-old Seantrell Murdock, in connection to a murder that occurred Wednesday night in St. Paul.
ST PAUL, Minn. — The St. Paul Police Department released body camera video from the officers who shot and killed a man believed to be a suspect in a murder the night before.
Police had sought the man, identified as 29-year-old Seantrell Murdock, in connection to a murder that occurred Wednesday night in St. Paul.
Police say officers monitored a house on the 100 block of Meridian Street in Belle Plaine overnight after the license plate number from the suspect’s vehicle was listed to the home. Police say a man matching the description of the suspect was seen leaving the home at around 6:30 a.m. when body cameras capture officers yelling, “Let me see your hands.” One officer is heard yelling, “Gun! Gun!” before multiple shots were fired.
The officers who fired their weapons were identified as Aaron Bohlen, who has worked in law enforcement for 10 years, and Lance Christianson, who has worked in the field for 20 years, according to the BCA. Both officers have been put on standard administrative leave.
While officers were putting handcuffs on Murdock, he was heard asking officers, “Why did you shoot me?” One officer responded, “Because you had a gun in your hand.” A gun is seen lying next to Murdock after the shots were fired.
Murdock was transported to HCMC, where he later died.
The BCA said Murdock was a suspect in a murder that occurred Wednesday, Sept. 25 near the 200 block of East Kellogg Boulevard. The woman was later identified as 66-year-old Carrie Kwok of St. Paul. Lowertown Lofts Artists Cooperative confirmed on Facebook that Kwok was one of its members and she was shot while working on an art project outside the building.
“This has been a very sad time for our city and the families of those impacted by the loss of a loved one,” said St. Paul Police Chief Axel Henry in a statement. “We stand committed to being transparent and accountable for our actions and we hope the release of these videos will help answer some of the questions people have. The families, our community, and our officers will continue to be our priority as this independent investigation moves forward.”
Nicole “Nikki” Anderson, 56, left her home in Randolph Township around 10 a.m. on July 6, and hasn’t been heard from since.
RANDOLPH, Minn. — A $45,000 reward is being offered to anyone with valuable information into the disappearance of 56-year-old Nicole “Nikki” Anderson, who has been missing since early July.
The Dakota County Sheriff’s Office said private parties came together to offer an additional $40,000 to be added to the original $5,000 reward that was offered earlier this year. The reward will be given to anyone who provides information that leads to the whereabouts of Anderson or the prosecution of anyone involved in her disappearance. Only tips received through the sheriff’s office or CrimeStoppers will be eligible for the reward. Tips can be submitted by phone at 651-438-TIPS (8477), via email at crimeandwarranttips@co.dakota.mn.us or online at the link Report A Tip.
According to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), Anderson left her home in Randolph Township around 10 a.m. on July 6, and hasn’t been heard from since. Officials say Anderson left on foot without her phone, wallet, glasses or medication, adding there is “concern for her welfare.”
Anderson’s mother, Dorene Mies, told KARE 11’s Kiya Edwards that her daughter left the house that morning to get the mail and never returned. The moment was captured on their Ring camera.
