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Mother sues Scheels for wrongful death
A mother of a 19-year-old that died by suicide in the Eden Prairie store alleges his death was preventable.
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — A new lawsuit filed Monday alleges Scheels could have prevented the death of a 19-year-old in 2022. Jordan Markie’s mother, Sarah Bogart is suing Scheels and employee, William Ballantyne for wrongful death and negligent entrustment.
On Aug. 22, 2022, Markie went into Scheels located off of Flying Cloud Drive in Eden Prairie and died by suicide. The lawsuit says Markie went into the store and was acting unusual, then approached an employee and asked to see a handgun stored in a cabinet. The suit says Markie was given a handgun by the employee without asking Markie for his identification or age. Markie loaded the gun in the store and shot himself within mere minutes of obtaining the gun.
“Scheels simply should have done more, ” Bogart’s attorney, Alla Lefkowitz said.
Markie, who was 19 at the time, was not legally old enough to buy a handgun in Minnesota. Lefkowitz said it’s common practice for gun retailers to have trigger locks on guns and said Scheels did not in this case.
Scheels does not have a comment on the lawsuit.
“They didn’t take any safeguards in providing this handgun to someone who is underage,” Lefkowitz said. “Had they taken the simplest of steps whether that’s the use of a trigger lock, checking identification, even asking age; Jordan would be here today.”
In Minnesota, you must be 21 years old to buy a handgun. Retailers are not required by law in Minnesota to keep trigger locks on guns in stores.
Suicide by firearm is a leading cause of death in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
If you or someone you love is having a crisis, the national mental health hotline is: 988.
The investigation showed that beyond purchasing the AirTag, Blackey had multiple photos on his iPhone showing private information.
MINNEAPOLIS — A Minneapolis Police Department sergeant is facing several charges after he allegedly stalked and harassed one of his fellow MPD sergeants.
According to the charging documents, the victim learned she was being tracked by an AirTag through a notification on her daughter’s phone on March 18.
The pair searched the car for the tracking device and eventually found it in a vehicle’s wheel well, according to the document.
The AirTag was linked to a phone number the woman recognized as Gordon Leanoard Blackey’s phone, according to prosecutors.
When the woman allegedly confronted Blackey, he said he placed the tracker on her car because he “cared about her,” according to the charging documents. She chose not to pursue further action against Blackey at that time.
Court documents said the woman had previously been in a “brief romantic relationship” with Blackey, about one year before the AirTag was discovered.
On April 30, Blackey allegedly asked the woman out for a drink, which she declined. Later that evening when the woman was out with her friends at a Blaine restaurant, she told investigators she unexpectedly noticed Blackley inside the restaurant.
The incident in Blaine reminded the woman of previous instances when Blackey appeared at events unannounced or appeared to have intimate knowledge about the details of her life, said the charges.
On May 7, the woman reported the incidents to her police department and contacted the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office to request an investigation and possible criminal charges against Blackey.
The investigation showed that beyond purchasing the AirTag, Blackey had multiple photos on his iPhone showing another individual’s private information.
Prosecutors said the images on Blackey’s phone were later confirmed to include information about the victim, her father and one of her coworkers. Those pictures were obtained using a state database accessible to police officers, according to the charging document.
Blackey admitted to tracking the victim’s vehicle on multiple occasions and using his police access to obtain private information about the victim’s father and coworker without a law enforcement purpose.
“I am, of course, very concerned about the charges, but I’ll refrain from commenting further to maintain the integrity of the criminal legal process,” said MPD Chief Brian O’Hara in a statement.
Blackey was charged Wednesday with one count each of harassment and unauthorized use of a tracking device; and two counts of unauthorized acquisition of non-public data.
The police department confirmed Blackey is still a current employee with the city, but they did not clarify in what capacity.
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.
