A 95-year-old was grocery shopping at a Cub Foods in White Bear Township last June when a woman she didn’t know walked up to her cart and struck up a conversation.

Soon after, the elderly woman realized her wallet, which moments before was inside her shopping cart, was gone.

Authorities say Zetta Listice Mallett stole it as part of a months-long theft spree across the metro area last summer, according to charges filed against her via warrant in Ramsey County District Court.

Mallett, 54, of St. Paul, faces 10 felony counts of credit card theft.

Her scheme involved targeting elderly women as they shopped at Cub and Walmart locations, according to the charges.

Mallett or her accomplice — another woman who has not been charged — approached shoppers and made small talk, the complaint said.

Once distracted, they stole their wallets and subsequently used their credit cards to make more than $12,000 in fraudulent purchases, authorities say.

Mallett, who often donned a wig during the thefts, was arrested last July after investigators used surveillance video from several of the stores to identify her, the complaint said.

She declined to speak to investigators about the allegations.

Mallett’s criminal history includes several convictions for credit card theft, as well as identity fraud and assault.

She could not be reached for comment and no attorney was listed for her in court records.

A St. Paul woman is accused of relentlessly harassing her neighbor, at times going so far as to yell racial slurs at the woman’s visitors and attaching a sex toy to her fence, authorities say.

Roberta Ann Madison, 63, was charged via warrant with two counts of gross-misdemeanor level stalking, as well as three counts of violating a restraining order her neighbor took out against her, according to a criminal complaint filed in Ramsey County District Court.

She also faces charges of indecent exposure and disorderly conduct for her alleged harassment of her neighbor, which reportedly took place over a six-month period between August of 2017 and February of this year.

Madison said Friday afternoon that the charges are baseless.

“They can file all the fake charges they want. They still have to prove something happened and that’s going to be impossible because nothing did,” Madison said. “This has all been played out to make me look bad.”

The dispute started about a year after the neighbor purchased a home near Madison’s residence on the 800 block of Howell Street in the Hamline-Midway neighborhood, authorities say.

Last August, Madison started calling 911 to report that “suspicious” people of a “different race” were coming and going out of her neighbor’s home and suggested that her neighbor might be running a “sex operation,” the complaint said.

She also yelled racial slurs at the visitors and threatened to have them deported, according to legal documents.

The visitors were reportedly houseguests of the neighbor at the time.

The following month, Madison threw debris in the woman’s yard when she had a bonfire and repeatedly set off her own car alarm to compel the woman and her guests to retreat indoors on other occasions, the complaint said.

Some time later, Madison affixed a sex toy to the neighbor’s fence, according to the complaint.

The harassment, described by authorities as “relentless,” led the woman to get a restraining order against Madison last November, the complaint said.

The court denied Madison’s own attempt to secure a restraining order against the neighbor, dismissing her petition due to “lack of proof,” according to legal documents.

The harassment continued undeterred, making life for Madison’s neighbor “unbearable,” authorities say.

On two instances after the restraining order was in place, for example, Madison allegedly exposed herself and made obscene gestures toward surveillance cameras her neighbor had installed and routinely piled snow at the end of her driveway, the complaint said.

Two other neighbors in the area and one of the woman’s friends corroborated the accounts of harassment to investigators, legal documents say.

The neighbors reported that Madison had also harassed the previous homeowner.

Madison, who has lived in her home for nearly 30 years, said Friday that she has secured a retraining order against the woman and accused her neighbor of unlawful invasion of privacy.

She said the woman’s security cameras point in to her backyard, which is a private space. She added that she suffers from incontinence and hip problems, preventing her from sometimes making it upstairs to her second-floor bathroom. In those instances, she uses her backyard instead, Madison said.

She characterized all of the woman’s allegations against her as lies, and said she only once called the police when she saw someone inside her neighbor’s home late at night that wasn’t her.

Madison’s record includes one conviction for disorderly conduct in 2010.

Diamond Reynolds was found not guilty of the most serious charges in an assault case that involving allegations she attacked another woman with a hammer last February.

A Ramsey County District jury found Reynolds not guilty of the two felony-level charges filed against her in the case.

Jurors did find her guilty of fifth-degree assault, a misdemeanor.

Reynolds’ attorneys, Michael Padden and Karlowba Adams Powell, asked the court to add the lesser charge for the jury’s consideration at the start of Reynolds’ trial to help ensure she avoided a felony conviction.

While Reynolds left the courtroom crying, her attorneys characterized the verdict as a win.

“It could have been worse. It could have been a felony,” Adams Powell said.

Padden said Reynolds was upset with being found guilty of anything.

“But as her attorneys, we are very happy with this,” he said. “The state was trying to convict her of assault with a dangerous weapon and obviously the jury didn’t find that a dangerous weapon was used.”

The prosecutor on the case, Assistant Washington County Attorney Siv Yurichuk, declined to comment on the verdict as she exited the courtroom Friday afternoon.

Reynolds, 28, came into the public eye in July of 2016 after her boyfriend, Philando Castile, was fatally shot during a traffic stop in Falcon Heights by a St. Anthony police officer. Officer Jeronimo Yanez was subsequently charged with manslaughter but acquitted by a jury last summer.

Reynolds and two other women were charged with second and third-degree assault last winter for allegedly attacking a woman that had been feuding with a friend of Reynolds in an unrelated incident that broke out outside a townhome on Jessamine Avenue the morning of Feb. 28, 2017.

Reynolds maintains that she had nothing to do with the altercation and that she was mistakenly identified as one of the attackers.

The victim, Jacinda Dunlap, testified at trial that Reynolds and Chnika Blair jumped out of their car soon after she parked outside her residence Feb. 28, 2017 and assaulted her.

She said they began kicking her and pulling her hair before Reynolds pulled out a hammer and started repeatedly beating her over the head with it.

Then a third woman, Dyamond Richardson, pulled up in another car and sprayed mace at her before all three of them took off, according to Dunlap’s testimony.

Both Richardson and Blair, who also were charged with assault in the case, testified that Reynolds had been involved in the altercation.

The state also presented photographs of a cut to the head that Dunlap sustained during the incident and said the young woman briefly lost consciousness following the assault, which constitutes substantial bodily harm, one of the elements needed to prove third-degree assault.

Reynolds’ attorneys argued that Dunlap’s injuries were neither substantial nor consistent with a hammer and called a medical expert to testify who told the jury that the victim’s claim to the contrary was highly suspect.

It was much more likely that the one centimeter cut to Dunlap’s head was caused by Blair’s fingernail when Blair pulled out Dunlap’s weave, Padden told jurors.

The defense relied on cell phone data that placed Reynolds south of downtown St. Paul — miles away from the crime scene — shortly after the assault.

They also attempted to poke holes in the victim’s credibility.

Both Richardson and Blair pleaded guilty to third-degree assault in their cases.

Reynolds did not testify during the trial.

Her attorneys will argue she be placed on probation and avoid jail time when she is sentenced in late May, Padden said.

UPDATE: Passenger dies on 21st birthday after crash into light-rail pole

Prosecutors charged a 22-year-old with criminal vehicle operation Monday after police say he crashed his vehicle into a Green Line light-rail power pole in St. Paul, injuring the four passengers inside.

One remained in critical condition Monday.

Kanyi Lee Williams admitted to investigators that he consumed “several glasses of a hard-liquor mix” before the Friday afternoon crash, according to the criminal complaint filed against him in Ramsey County District Court. (Williams’ first name is sometimes spelled “Kayni” in other records.)

The St. Paul man faces four felony-level counts of criminal vehicular operation.

Williams was arrested Friday after officers arrived at the crash at University Avenue and Chatsworth Street about 4:45 p.m. and found him walking nearby.

He was slurring and smelled of alcohol, the complaint said. His four passengers remained trapped inside his vehicle.

A preliminary breath test indicated his blood-alcohol level was 0.118, legal documents say. The results of a blood test are pending. The legal limit to drive in Minnesota is 0.08.

Williams told police he was traveling eastbound on University Avenue when he went into the left turn lane to try and pass another vehicle, according to a police spokesman.

He said he overcorrected as he switched back to his lane and ended up striking a power pole on the Green Line tracks.

Paramedics took front-seat passenger Lamar D. Rodriguez, and back-seat passengers Deshawn L. Perry and Brian Trnka to Regions Hospital.

Perry, 21, was listed in critical condition and Trnka, 22, in good condition on Monday. Rodriguez was released from the hospital.

Amber Schochet, 16, also a back-seat passenger, was in satisfactory condition Monday at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis.

Williams also also injured, but has since been released from the hospital and is being held in the Ramsey County jail.

He told police at the scene that he only had a glass or two of hard liquor before the accident, but later admitted to consuming “several glasses,” the complaint said.

He told officers that his actions caused him “to fail his friends and that he deserve(d) whatever punishment he receives,” according to legal documents.

Williams’ vehicle landed between the tracks after the crash, leading to light-rail service being disrupted for several hours.

His criminal record includes a petty misdemeanor theft conviction in 2016 and two minor traffic violations. He was charged in January with driving without insurance and possession of a small amount of marijuana. That case is still pending.

No attorney was listed for Williams in court records and his family could not be immediately reached for comment.

The former controller of a St. Paul golf club has pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $1 million from the organization.

Julie Anne Lee, 53, of Farmington, was charged with four counts of wire fraud and six counts of filing false tax returns last August after authorities learned that the Twin Cities’ storied Town & Country Club was missing funds.

She pleaded guilty Monday in U.S. District Court in St. Paul to one count of wire fraud and a second count of filing a false tax return, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota.

Neither she nor her attorney could be immediately reached for comment.

Lee worked as the controller for the exclusive club from 2008 to 2016, giving her access and oversight to Town & Country’s bank accounts. During that time, she devised a scheme to steal more than $1 million.

Lee issued more than 50 checks to herself, totaling more than $150,000 directly from the club’s accounts. She also stole approximately $250,000 in cash from the club and deposited it into her own bank account.

And, Lee also made payments to her own personal credit cards directly from club accounts in the amount of roughly $750,000, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Authorities say Lee spent the money on personal travel, home improvements, her mortgage as well as vehicles such as a 2013 Dodge Charger, a 2015 GMC Sierra K3500 pickup truck, a motorcycle and a recreational vehicle.

She also reportedly purchased 81 acres of land in northern Minnesota.

Lee attempted to cover her tracks and cover the shortage in the club’s bank accounts by taking advances on Town & Country’s line of credit at Alliance Bank, legal documents say.

The scheme left Town & Country without enough money to make its quarterly payroll tax payments to the IRS, authorities say.

Members are staff are still feeling the impacts, according to Christine Meuers, the president of the club’s board of directors.

“I can’t even describe the disappointment in the theft and the embezzlement by our former controller,” Meuers said.  “We run a small bus and we have a lot of longtime employees, and this has effected our club significantly with the breach of trust.”

Meuers added that the club is still recovering from the financial loss, and said Lee is expected to be ordered to pay $1 million in restitution when she is sentenced.

“We are gratified that the U.S. Attorney has taken these actions and was able to reach an agreement with her that resulting in significant prison time and which she has fully admitted the full extent of her crimes,” Meuers said.

Destiny Xiong reached down for her cellphone just before smashing into a line of cars backed up on Interstate 35W in New Brighton almost two years ago.

The collision left a St. Paul woman dead, a toddler without her mom, a man without his fiancee, and a family seared by grief.

It’s a story a Ramsey County district judge ordered Xiong to continue telling at the Hudson, Wis., woman’s sentencing hearing Tuesday on one count of misdemeanor-level careless driving.

The 36-year-old previously faced charges of criminal vehicular homicide and operation for her driving conduct in early May 2016. But a jury found her not guilty of the charges following a trial in February.

The crash killed Brea Miller, 31, and seriously injured her fiance, Michael Bain, 37.

Angry and heartbroken over the verdict and the loss of Miller, her family on Tuesday pleaded with Judge David Higgs to give Xiong the maximum sentence allowed by law for the careless driving count, a conviction they said fell short of justice for Miller’s death.

Higgs granted their request, sentencing Xiong, a mother of three, to 90 days in jail for the crime despite her request for leniency. Higgs then went a step further.

“I want you to share your story,” Higgs ordered Xiong. “Not the story of looking down and grabbing your phone … but (the story of the) pain and agony … that distracted driving can cause.”

He wasn’t specific about how Xiong has to comply with that portion of her sentence, but suggested that it could include writing a letter to the editor in a local newspaper.

Miller’s family and fiance cried through the hearing. Three of her relatives also spoke. They described Miller as an exceptional mother to her and Bain’s now-4-year-old daughter, Izzy.

“Her horrible mistake has changed many lives forever,” Miller’s mother, Tracy Miller, said of Xiong. “Her kids get to see her everyday … while my granddaughter only gets to know what her mom look(ed) like (from pictures).”

“I wanted Destiny to at least feel some sort of devastation,” she continued, speaking of her hope that Xiong would be convicted of criminal vehicular homicide and operation at trial. “But again, she got to walk away unharmed.”

Bain’s stepfather told Higgs that he’s been relentless in his pursuit of local lawmakers to push for legislation that will prevent more injuries and deaths from distracted driving.

“Distracted driving is an epidemic in this state,” Bob Gunter said. “We should not be allowed to use phones in the car. Period.”

He encouraged drivers to make use of cellular apps that block receipt of text messages or phone calls while driving, decreasing the temptation drivers feel to use their phones while behind the wheel.

Xiong admitted to authorities after the crash that she had looked at a short text message from one of her children on her phone — the message read “Okay” — when she accidentally dropped it.

She had just retrieved it and was attempting to place it on her dash when she looked up and found herself crashing into Miller and Bain’s vehicle in front of her on I-35W just north of County Road D.

The impact caused a four-car pileup on the interstate.

At trial, prosecutors contended Xiong’s conduct constituted gross negligence, arguing she had been speeding and blew past several signs warning of upcoming construction when the crash took place.

Her attorney, Earl Gray, argued that the state’s crash reconstruction expert made critical errors in estimating how fast Xiong was going that day and said none of the signs she drove past told drivers to slow down.

Her conduct, he told the jury, was a careless mistake that any number of drivers are guilty of making on a regular basis.

Xiong sobbed as she addressed Miller’s loved ones Tuesday. She specifically called out Miller’s daughter, fiance and immediate family.

“I will always be reminded of what I have taken away from you … your mother,” she said to Izzy, who was not at the hearing. “You are not deserving of such loss and pain.”

“My heart pains knowing the love of your life is gone because of my actions,” she said to Michael Baine, who was also not present.

“I am sorry that the loss of your daughter … your sister … is because I failed to be a responsible driver,” she continued. “I am not worthy of your forgiveness … but (know) that in this world you will have a place in my heart as I will never forget the pain that I’ve caused.”

Xiong, a mother of three, works for the city of Minneapolis. She has no other criminal convictions on her record.

The state offers a variety of tips to prevent distracted driving, including turning off cellphones and designating a passenger to serve as the vehicle’s navigator.

A St. Paul man who crashed into a light pole along the Green Line on Friday faces criminal vehicular homicide charges after one of the four passengers in his vehicle died.

The Ramsey County Attorney’s Office amended the charges filed against Kayni Lee Williams after DeShawn Lloyd Perry Jr. died from his injuries early Monday morning.

Williams, 22, had previously faced four counts of criminal vehicular operation for allegedly consuming several alcoholic beverages Friday afternoon and getting behind the wheel of a Honda CRV.

He is now charged with two counts of criminal vehicular homicide, according to the criminal complaint amended Wednesday. One of the charges is for operating a vehicle in a grossly negligent manner. The second relates to driving under the influence of alcohol.

Williams still faces two counts of criminal vehicular operation.

He was arrested last Friday after officers arrived at the crash at University Avenue and Chatsworth Street about 4:45 p.m. and found him walking nearby.

He was slurring and smelled of alcohol, the complaint said. His four passengers remained trapped inside his vehicle.

A preliminary breath test indicated his blood-alcohol level was 0.118, legal documents say. The results of a blood test are pending. The legal limit to drive in Minnesota is 0.08.

Williams told police he was traveling eastbound on University Avenue when he went into the left turn lane to try and pass another vehicle, according to a police spokesman.

He said he overcorrected as he switched back to his lane and ended up striking a power pole on the Green Line tracks.

Video footage obtained from Metro Transit’s surveillance system shows Williams’ vehicle swerving and changing lanes on University Avenue before the crash, the complaint said.

Paramedics took front-seat passenger Lamar D. Rodriguez, and back-seat passengers Perry and Brian Trnka to Regions Hospital.

Trnka, 22, was listed in good condition on Monday and Rodriguez was released from the hospital.

Amber Schochet, 16, also a back-seat passenger, was in satisfactory condition Wednesday at HCMC hospital in Minneapolis.

Her injuries necessitated surgery for a fractured skull and a brain-bleed over the weekend, according to the complaint.

Williams also was injured, but has since been released from the hospital and is being held in the Ramsey County jail.

He first claimed to police at the scene that he only had a glass or two of hard liquor before the accident, but later admitted to consuming “several glasses,” the complaint said.

Williams’ vehicle landed between the tracks after the crash, leading to light-rail service being disrupted for several hours.

His criminal record includes a petty misdemeanor theft conviction in 2016 and two minor traffic violations. He was charged in January with driving without insurance and possession of a small amount of marijuana. That case is still pending.

No attorney was listed for Williams in court records and his family could not be immediately reached for comment.

His next court appearance is scheduled for April 16.

Perry — who came from a large extended family — was remembered by loved ones Tuesday as a talented basketball player and artist who loved music and dancing. He went to St. Paul’s Central High School between 2012 and 2014, before moving to Iowa and attending school there.

Carlos Rogers was a 28-year-old father of two who loved to fish and swim, spend time with his big extended family, and make people happy.

He had plans to right the course of his life after getting out of prison last May, according to his family. But less than two weeks later — in the early hours of June 11 — he was gunned down outside Born’s Bar on Rice Street in St. Paul.

Rogers’ family and friends packed a Ramsey County courtroom Wednesday to try to convince the judge sentencing the man convicted of aiding and abetting his murder to give him the maximum penalty for his crime.

Jurors found Justin Darrell Reynolds, 29, of St. Paul guilty in February of two counts of aiding and abetting second-degree murder in Rogers’ shooting death.

“He loved his life and he respected everyone … you have left us with a great hole in our hearts,” Rogers’ aunt, Kimberly Jennings, told Reynolds at the hearing.

His sister told District Judge Judith Tilsen about the pictures of Rogers she has on nearly every wall of her house.

“I’m upset I wasn’t there to make sure he was OK like a big sister should,” she said of what it’s like to think of her brother bleeding to death on the street. “I wish we had more time to take pictures. They say time heals all wounds. I guess this one hit an artery because this one just won’t stop bleeding.”

Rogers’ family and friends, many wearing T-shirts with his picture on them, filled five rows inside the courtroom. Several sobbed throughout the hearing.

Reynolds stood quietly with his hands behind his back during the proceeding. He declined to address the court.

Despite his attorneys attempts to convince her that circumstances of Reynolds’ trial made him worthy of a shorter term, Tilsen sentenced him to about 32 years in prison.

One of his two defense attorneys, Michael Padden, argued in a court motion that both an enhanced version of the bar’s video of the shooting, which he had modified by a videographer, as well as additional evidence never presented at trial showed that his client was not the shooter.

Jurors did watch the original footage of the shooting captured on the bar’s video cameras.

Padden went on to accuse prosecutors of ignoring key evidence in the case because they were intent on convicting Reynolds.

The defense alleged that Charles Frye, Reynolds’ former co-defendant in the case, was the real shooter.

The state dismissed the second-degree murder charges he previously faced in November, citing “developments regarding a key witness.”

Assistant Ramsey County Attorney Dawn Bakst disputed Padden’s assertions Wednesday, saying the jury reached different conclusions about the video and that an enhanced version of it created by someone hired by the defense should not be considered at his sentencing.

Tilsen agreed.

“This trial has been litigated. … This trial has been to a jury and we have a verdict,” Tilsen said.

Rogers was fatally shot in the face after he became entangled in a dispute with Reynolds and Frye outside the bar, according to court documents.

At some point, Reynolds took out a gun and shot Rogers, according to the criminal complaint.

Authorities previously stated that Reynolds shot after Frye told him to “get” Rogers. Rogers and Frye had ill will stemming from a 2011 homicide, court documents say.

Reynolds has three children, including a newborn.

His attorneys plan to appeal his conviction, saying the state railroaded him.

“He is completely innocent,” Padden said.”We have no doubt that this case will be overturned on appeal.”

A St. Paul man was sentenced to nearly 10 years in prison for repeatedly striking an intruder he discovered in his garage last summer until the man stopped moving.

Allan “Buddy” Mischara Aguilar, 47, died from the blows.

Instead of reporting what happened to law enforcement, John Michael Erickson decided to cover up what had happened and hid Aguilar’s body in his garage. It decomposed there for weeks before being discovered.

On Monday, Ramsey County District Judge Nicole Starr sentenced Erickson to more than nine years in prison on one count of first-degree manslaughter for his actions. He received an additional two years on one count of interference with a dead body, but that time will be served concurrently.

Erickson, 50, pleaded guilty to both counts in February after reading a plea deal with the state that included dismissing the second-degree murder charge he previously faced in the case.

His attorney, public defender John Riemer, could not be immediately reached for comment.

During his plea hearing, Erickson described walking downstairs inside his home in St. Paul’s Payne-Phalen neighborhood sometime between June 13 and July 14, 2017, when he heard something fall in his garage.

Suspicious, he went upstairs to put on some shorts and then proceeded into his dark garage. That’s when he said he was confronted by someone who hit him.

Fearful and angry, Erickson said he fumbled for a weapon and found a steel pipe, which he used to repeatedly hit the intruder — including at least one blow to the head — until the man stopped moving.

Then he moved the dead body to the side of his garage and covered it with layers of bedding.

It wasn’t until later that he discovered that the person he killed was Aguilar, a man he was angry with for stealing his tools, Erickson said in court.

He admitted at the time that he lost control of his emotions and began striking Aguilar in the heat of passion.

Authorities discovered Aguilar’s body after friends of his broke into Erickson’s garage to look for the missing man last July.

A medical examiner determined that the body had been decomposing for about four weeks, which puts Aguilar’s time of death sometime between when he was last seen June 13 and when his remains were found July 14, according to court.

His skull was crushed by Erickson’s blows.

Aguilar had seven children, and was also a son, brother and uncle to many, according to a statement read at the hearing by Assistant Ramsey County Attorney Margaret Gustafson Samec.

The statement was written by Aguilar’s twin sister, Mercedes Reyes.

Reyes was not present at the hearing. She wrote in her statement that none of Aguilar’s loved ones felt they could face Erickson.

“We all know what this person has done,” Reyes continued. “He took away a Son, Brother, Father, Uncle, a human being that meant a lot to many of us.”

A St. Paul man was charged Wednesday in connection with a collision in Minneapolis last month that left an Uber driver dead and his passenger injured.

Emery Winford, 42, is charged with two counts of criminal vehicular homicide and two counts of criminal vehicular operation in the March 16 crash, according to the Hennepin County attorney’s office.

A warrant was issued for Winford’s arrest, and the Hennepin County sheriff’s office later announced that he was arrested Wednesday night at a residence in Brooklyn Park.

Abdishakur Sandiko, 48, died as a result of injuries sustained in the crash.

Sandiko, an Uber driver, was taking a passenger east on Plymouth Avenue North about 9:25 p.m. on the night before St. Patrick’s Day when Winford, driving a Chevy Tahoe, smashed into the side of Sandiko’s black Chrysler sedan, authorities say.

The impact sent Sandiko’s vehicle into an electrical box at the southeast corner of the intersection.

A witness to the crash told investigators she saw Winford’s car speeding and “driving erratically” shortly before the crash, the Hennepin County Attorney’s office reported.

Winford’s blood-alcohol level at the time was just under .17, authorities say. The legal driving limit is .08.

Sandiko was unconscious and breathing when police responded to the scene. He died from his injuries three days later. His passenger sustained broken ribs and needed stitches to treat a wound on his leg.

The passenger told police that Sandiko was looking at his phone at the time of the crash, but reported that the Uber driver had been driving fine before that, according to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office.

Winford told officers who responded to the scene that he consumed one beer prior to the crash, according to the criminal complaint.

When a preliminary breath test indicated his blood-alcohol level was double the legal limit, Winford reportedly attributed the finding to “adrenaline” coursing through him from the crash, telling police that adrenaline can sometimes throw off breath tests.

A warrant was issued for Winford’s arrest after authorities received the results of his blood test, which indicated his blood-alcohol concentration was .169 two hours after the collision, the complaint said.

No attorney was listed for Winford in court records and he could not be immediately reached for comment.

His criminal record includes past instances of driving with a revoked license.

A St. Paul man who posted his ex-girlfriend’s address on Facebook along with a message urging men to visit her for sex will spend a couple of weeks in jail for the scheme.

Kou Thao, 45, was sentenced to 30 days in jail in Ramsey County District Court Wednesday on one count of violating a harassment/restraining order. His attorney, Michelle Anna Speeter Margoles, said the judge is allowing him to serve his time via electric home monitoring.

He previously faced stalking allegations but that count was dropped as part of a plea deal Thao reached with the prosecutor.

“Mr. Thao and I believe that (the judge’s) sentencing order in this case was very reasonable,” Margoles said.  “She looked at all of the circumstances in this case and specifically indicated, on the record, that she didn’t think sitting in jail was necessary for Mr. Thao.  Instead, she ordered that he be able to serve his time from his home through electric home monitoring and also that he enter a program specifically for Hmong-American men.”

Thao will spend an additional 60 days in jail if he fails to meet the terms of his one-year probation, which include receiving domestic abuse counseling.

Thao’s ex contacted police after strangers started showing up at her house on Margaret Street last August in response to the ads, which were posted on the walls of several fictitious Facebook accounts created by Thao, according to his criminal complaint.

The advertisements indicated that Thao’s ex would take the men to a private location after meeting at her St. Paul house. Once there, the posts indicated she would pay the men between $40 and $200 in exchange for sex.

One of the posts was made on a fictitious Facebook account created using Thao’s ex-girlfriend’s husband’s name so that his family and friends would see it, charges said.

In an interview with police, Thao admitted to taking a photograph of his ex’s address from one of her electric bills and posting it to Facebook along with the advertisement.

His attorney said the victim in the case has also harassed Thao via social media, and added that her client is sorry for his own actions.

“Mr. Thao feels terrible that he made Facebook posts about Ms. Lee in response to this harassment and thereby violated a restraining order,” Margoles said.   “He has ceased all contact with Ms. Lee since he was first approached by law enforcement.”

His criminal record includes two driving-while-intoxicated convictions in 2015 and 2016.

A man suspected in a shooting late last month faces criminal charges after leading police on a high-speed chase across the east metro on Wednesday, authorities say.

Frederick Albert McGee, 28, was charged with second-degree assault resulting in great bodily harm, fleeing police in a motor vehicle and fifth-degree drug possession, according to the criminal complaint filed against him Friday in Ramsey County District Court.

McGee was wanted in a March 30 shooting in St. Paul. He  is suspected of firing at a Toyota Tundra in a parking lot at 110 W. Arlington Ave. after spotting a man with whom he had a dispute, legal documents say.

The man’s 44-year-old father was struck in the left shoulder and below the ear and was taken to a nearby hospital by his wife. He was listed in stable condition in the days following the shooting.

After talking to the victim and his son, police narrowed in on McGee as their suspect, the complaint said.

Officers spotted him in Oakdale on Wednesday and attempted to pull him over, legal documents say.

Instead, McGee accelerated and led officers on a high-speed chase through St. Paul and the surrounding east metro area, according to the complaint.

His speeds reportedly topped 90 mph at times.

After speeding through the intersection at the top of the Maryland Avenue exit ramp off Interstate 35E, McGee crashed into a light pole and rolled his vehicle, the complaint said.

SPPD officers arrested a 29-year-old male today after he led them on a pursuit through the East Side, Maplewood, North St. Paul, Oakdale and back into Saint Paul.

He crashed, dropped a stolen handgun and ran … but officers caught up with him on the 300 block of Maryland. pic.twitter.com/396eh18otb

— Saint Paul Police Department (@sppdmn) April 11, 2018

The St. Paul man took off running, but police caught up to him and placed him under arrest, legal documents say.

Officers found a stolen revolver near his vehicle, as well as methamphetamine, ammunition and drug paraphernalia inside it, the complaint said.

McGee told officers that he ingested drugs and needed medical attention.

His criminal history includes two convictions for fleeing police, as well unlawful possession of a firearm, domestic assault and four counts of violating a no-contact order.

No attorney was listed for him in court records.

A St. Paul woman formerly convicted of killing her boyfriend stood singing among some 40 of her supporters in front of the Ramsey County attorney’s office Friday.

“Not gonna let no attorney turn me round, turn me round, turn me round,” the crowd sang, tweaking the words of the freedom song sung during the civil rights movement to more closely fit Natalie Pollard’s situation.

Then group members started chanting the reason they gathered on Pollard’s behalf on an unusually chilly spring day in downtown St. Paul.

“Drop the charges,” the supporters yelled.

The demand was made of Ramsey County Attorney John Choi, whose office filed second-degree murder charges against Pollard after police found her boyfriend, Obinna Nwankpa, 30, bleeding inside her St. Paul townhome in the summer of 2015 from a stab wound inflicted by Pollard.

Throughout her trial, Pollard, 36, maintained that her actions were self-defense against an abusive boyfriend who broke into the home she shared with her children and became combative, putting all of their lives at risk.

Nwankpa was convicted of domestic violence-related crimes against two other woman in the past, but never Pollard.

A jury wound up convicting Pollard of the murder charge.

But the conviction was recently overturned based on a technicality in the instructions read to jurors presiding over the case. The Ramsey County attorney’s office subsequently offered Pollard the chance to plead to second-degree manslaughter instead, in exchange for a promise she won’t have to serve additional prison time when she’s sentenced next month.

Pollard took the deal, telling media previously that she didn’t want to risk another trial and more time away from her children.

Her supporters say Pollard shouldn’t face any charges for defending herself against her abuser and that Choi should drop the manslaughter count. They argue a felony conviction will make finding safe housing and good employment difficult for the single mother of six.

Nwankpa’s father maintains Pollard murdered his son and that her claims that he was abusive are lies aimed at helping her evade responsibility for her actions.

Choi’s office stood by its decisions in a statement issued Friday, saying some of the concern voiced by community members is based on “limited information” about Pollard’s case that has circulated online.

“Multiple facts came out during the court process which led the jury to find Ms. Pollard guilty of second degree murder in January of 2016,” the statement read. “We believe those facts support the decision Ms. Pollard made to plead guilty to second degree manslaughter.”

It went on to say that the county attorney’s office agreed to resolve the case with Pollard’s attorneys in such a way that the mother wouldn’t have to spend any more time in prison.

Pollard’s supporters held signs and wore matching red T-shirts at her rally Friday afternoon.

“Surviving domestic violence is not a crime,” one sign read.

Tonya Honsey was among those who spoke. She is an organizer with We Rise, a group that describes itself as “a collective of women conceiving change and birthing progress.”

“This system needs to be held accountable for the trauma she’s endured,” Honsey said.

“I am more than thankful to be out here with everyone today supporting me and just (knowing) that what happened is not right,” she said.

A St. Paul man who formerly faced murder charges in the death of a senior citizen at a light rail station was sentenced Monday to two years in prison on manslaughter charges instead.

After reaching a plea agreement in the case, prosecutors dismissed two murder counts previously facing Cavis Deandre Adams in exchange for his guilty plea to one count of second-degree manslaughter, according to Ramsey County District Court records.

First-degree manslaughter charges and one count of aiding and abetting first-degree aggravated robbery also were dropped against the 22-year-old.

Prosecutors filed charges against Adams and another man, Shawn Delaine Bellazan Jr., 21, in connection with the death of Gebremedhin A. Tela.

Police found the 68-year-old lying unconscious at the Robert Street Green Line station in St. Paul at around 10 a.m. Sept. 8, 2016.

Witnesses told officers they saw two men fleeing from the area and surveillance video indicated it was Bellazan and Adams, court records say.

The footage showed the men getting involved in an altercation with Tela on the platform after the older man approached them to reportedly ask if they could make change for a $10 bill he handed them.

Adams is shown handing Tela back “one crumpled bill” before putting the $10 in his pants pocket, according to the criminal complaint filed in the case.

Apparently upset that he was shorted on the change, Tela reached toward Adams’ pocket and a dispute broke out. Prosecutors say Tela took a swing at Bellazan before the younger man repeatedly punched him in the head while Adams held him, authorities said.

A short time later — after the three are back off the train — surveillance video shows Tela grabbing at Adams’ shirt as the younger men are trying to flee with his cell phone.

That’s when Adams punched Tela in the face, causing him to hit his head on a pole and fall to the ground unconscious.

Tela was taken to Regions Hospital to be treated for a laceration to his head and a possible brain injury and discharged the next morning. He returned four days later — on Sept. 12, 2016 —  complaining of headaches and blurred vision.

He died later that day of a blood clot that traveled from a leg to his lungs, the complaint says.

A medical examiner said the clot was caused by his blow to the head from days prior.

Bellazan was aquitted of the murder and robbery charges filed against in the case after a jury found him not guilty in January.

His attorney argued that the state had overcharged her client, telling jurors that while Bellazan may have gone “overboard” in his reaction to the situation that day, his actions warranted nothing more than assault and theft charges.

Adams’ was sentenced to 28 months in prison for his role in Tela’s death.

He will be given credit for the year and a half he’s already spent in custody.

It was supposed to be the best time of their lives.

The two close friends had just finished their last day of high school; graduation was days away. In the fall, they’d head off to college, where the young women planned to pursue nursing degrees and compete on intercollegiate bowling teams.

Their excitement was fresh when they and two male friends headed to Harriet Island in St. Paul late June 5, 2017, to kick-off the start of summer, the women recounted in Ramsey County District Court Tuesday.

Now excitement feels elusive, they said, a state they sometimes fake so as not to draw attention — like when they walked across a stage to receive high school diplomas four days after being raped and robbed at gunpoint on Harriet Island that June night.

“I just kept thinking … is this actually happening … I had no idea how it was going to end,” one recalled.

The Pioneer Press generally does not name victims of sexual assault.

The 18-year-olds spoke at the sentencing hearing for DeAndray Easley, one of the four males accused of raping and robbing the women that night. The defendants also were accused of robbing the two males who accompanied the women to the park, forcing them to the ground at gunpoint while the women were repeatedly raped in a car nearby.

Easley, 19, is so far the only defendant to take his case to trial. He was convicted of 10 felony counts following a jury trial last October, including aiding and abetting first-degree criminal sexual conduct, first-degree aggravated robbery and kidnapping.

Two other defendants — Devontre Vann, 20, and Vershone Hodges, 20 — both pleaded guilty to a handful of similar counts after reaching plea agreements with the state and were sentenced in January and March respectively.

The final and youngest defendant’s case is still pending.

Easley’s sentencing was the first time the victims addressed the court about their experience. The courtroom was crowded with their family and friends Tuesday. Easley’s relatives also were there.

ASSAULT AFTERMATH DESCRIBED

The young women described going to the hospital after the assault and being unable to see their parents for hours after it happened. They described taking medication for a month to prevent contracting the HIV virus or other sexually-transmitted diseases.

Both now have regular panic attacks and suffer from severe depression.

One said she has to sleep with the TV on, and insists that someone meets her at the door when she enters a house for fear someone might be waiting inside to hurt her. The other described struggling to control her anger.

Though they tried to go to college in the fall after the attack, flashbacks, nightmares and severe anxiety caused their grades to suffer, prompting both women to not to return after winter break.

“I feel so hopeless …  like nothing will ever fix me,” one of them said through tears Tuesday. “My life is full of panic attacks, pills and therapy.”

The other said: “All of these changes were from one night. A night I will never forget … because it was the most terrible thing I ever had to go through.”

ATTORNEY: EASLEY TRIED TO STOP ASSAULTS

Easley sat looking ahead as the woman spoke. His attorney, A.L. Brown, argued for a sentencing departure for his client on his criminal sexual conduct counts because Easley didn’t actually rape the young women.

Brown said his client even tried to stop the sexual assaults, at one point taking the gun from one of his accomplices and telling them to “knock it off.”

He added that Easley admits to his role in the robberies. The young men stole the group’s cell phones and wallets. After the sexual assaults concluded, they told them to stay put because people were hiding in the bushes that would hurt them if they moved.

Brown also told Ramsey County District Judge George Stephenson that Easley had a low IQ and was high on Xanax and alcohol that night.

“The events that happened on the island were undoubtedly horrific,” Brown said, adding that both the victims and Easley were entitled to justice.

“He is not entitled to a sentence that reflects the state’s wrath and anger … or the public’s anger,” Brown said.

Arguing for the state, Assistant Ramsey County Attorney Elizabeth Lamin said she took issue with the assertion that Easley was some kind of hero when it came to the sexual assaults.

Rather, she said Easley was the leader of the group that night, and while he may not have actually raped the victims, he helped facilitate the assaults and did nothing to stop them. Instead, she said Easley cracked jokes and threatened violence.

She added that the jury convicted him on all counts at trial.

“You do not get to point guns at people … You do not get to terrorize people … and dehumanize them in every way … and then say ‘my hands are clean,’ ” Lamin said.

Easley wiped tears from his eyes when it was his turn to speak.

“I just want you to know that I am not the monster they want you to think I am,” he told Judge Stephenson. “I didn’t want that to happen to them females.”

When pushed by Stephenson about why he didn’t try harder to stop the assaults — asking Easley what he would have done if it had been his sister, mother or girlfriend — Easley admitted he could have tried harder.

Stephenson ended up sentencing Easley to 30 years in prison on eight of the 10 counts he was convicted of at trial. He was granted slight departures on the two criminal sexual conduct counts since he didn’t actually commit the rapes himself, Stephenson said.

The defense has asked for a 20-year sentence. The state sought a roughly 45-year sentence.

The two female victims embraced while they awaited Stephenson’s decision. Easley’s mother collapsed in grief outside the courtroom after it was handed down.

A Minneapolis man was charged in the beating of a Metro Transit bus driver last week, leaving the driver bloodied and temporarily vision-impaired, authorities say.

Sterling Smith, 26, faces one count of third-degree assault for his alleged involvement in the attack, which took place April 10 at a bus stop at Emerson and 15th avenues in North Minneapolis, according to the Hennepin County attorney’s office.

The incident began after three women boarded the bus at the stop and one of them reportedly began swearing, authorities say.

The bus driver called police to have the woman removed when she refused to stop using offensive language and became increasingly uncooperative, the county attorney’s office reported.

As the bus waited for officers to arrive, another woman on the bus approached the driver to ask why the vehicle wasn’t moving, at which point the first woman told the second that the driver had made racial comments, authorities say.

The woman who’d approached the driver was reportedly on the phone with her boyfriend, Smith, at the time, and proceeded to tell him what bus she was on and where it was stopped.

A short time later, Smith showed up on the bus and began striking the driver in the head, according to the county attorney’s office.

The driver was able to activate his alarm and Smith fled the scene.

Police found the driver with blood on his nose and lip and a cut to his right eye lid, authorities say. He told officers he was also experiencing double vision.

A passenger on the bus recorded a cellphone video of the incident, which went viral after it was shared on Facebook.

When officers located Smith, he allegedly told them he thought he’d overheard the bus driver use a racial slur, according to the criminal complaint filed in the case.

Investigators said no such statement could be heard in the audio and video recording of the incident captured by the bus surveillance system, authorities said.

Smith will make his first appearance on the charges Thursday.

No attorney was listed for him in court records.

Serving as Hennepin County attorney for more than a decade, Tom Johnson sat across tables from too many people who had horrible things happen to them.

Amid the blur of faces and stories, one still sticks in his memory after nearly 30 years.

The boy was one of a handful of teenagers who authorities suspected had been sexually abused by the founder and former artistic director of the Children’s Theatre Company of Minneapolis — John Clark Donahue — in the 1980s.

Johnson and his colleagues secured statements from other survivors, but they couldn’t persuade the boy to open up.

He and Michael Campion, a lead investigator at the time with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, went so far as to hop on a flight out of state — where the boy and his family had relocated — to give it one more shot.

“We got nothing,” Johnson said from his law office in downtown Minneapolis as he recalled the trip. “On the flight back, Campion turns to me and says, ‘Nothing good is going to come of this.’ ”

Five years later, Johnson learned the boy had killed himself.

“That has haunted me. … It just goes to how deep the pain has to be. … So if there is something I can do …” Johnson said, trailing off as tears filled his eyes.

VOLUNTARY SERVICE

That’s the story Johnson tells when asked why a seasoned attorney with a top-shelf résumé volunteered to serve as the ombudsman for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

The new job entails acting as the initial point of contact for survivors of clergy abuse who may not feel comfortable turning to archdiocesan staff or the police for help. The aim is to encourage people to come forward who might otherwise not in an attempt to foster additional healing.

The post is one of the requirements outlined in the settlement agreement reached between the archdiocese and the Ramsey County attorney’s office in 2015 following the archdiocese’s failed handling of clergy sexual abuse claims.

A judge recently commended the archdiocese’s efforts to meet the terms of the deal, finding it “substantially compliant.”

Many laud both Johnson’s involvement and the archdiocese’s intentions to right its past wrongs. But some still entangled in legal battles with the archdiocese say the role, regardless of who fills it, amounts to little more than putting lipstick on a pig.

“The experience I have had with this archdiocese now for over three decades is that they often say one thing and do another,” said Jeff Anderson, a St. Paul attorney who has represented scores of clergy-abuse victims. Anderson also is a lead attorney on behalf of survivors in the archdiocese’s ongoing bankruptcy case.

“They are good at convincing the public, the people and the prosecutors that they are doing the right things, but then we get deep into it and realize it’s not what it seems,” Anderson said.

PAST SKEPTICISM

Johnson understands people’s skepticism with the archdiocese. As a close friend to survivors of clergy abuse, he says he’s struggled with his own.

He also butted heads with the Twin Cities’ former archbishop, John Nienstedt, when he did some work as a legal liaison for the archdiocese in their interactions with law enforcement and the Ramsey County attorney’s office as clergy-abuse claims mounted back in 2013.

A whistle-blower ultimately exposed the archdiocese’s mishandling of abuse cases. 

Johnson is tight-lipped about what exactly happened, but says it was enough to lead to a “parting of ways.”

He adds that if Nienstedt were still at the helm, he wouldn’t have agreed to take on the unpaid position. The archdiocese is now led by Archbishop Bernard Hebda.

“I wouldn’t have believed that the real intention was to get to the bottom of this and heal. But I think they are there now. That’s not to say they won’t make any mistakes, but it won’t be because they aren’t trying,” Johnson said.

He points to the archdiocese’s overhaul of its investigatory practices when allegations of clergy abuse surface. Now, instead of clergy investigating fellow clergy, lay people oversee those complaints.

Johnson also believes the church’s decision to hire Campion and Tim O’Malley to head up the archdiocese’s Ministerial Standards and Safe Environment department indicates a genuine commitment to change.

Both have extensive backgrounds in law enforcement. Campion is a former commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety and a past director of the BCA. O’Malley also previously served as director of the BCA.

“These are guys that know what they are doing and they have the highest level of integrity,” Johnson said. “They are trying to do the right job and they have the skills to do it, so that is real important to me.”

SENSE OF URGENCY

Another reason Johnson is up for the task is that he has more time and a sense of urgency.

About 3½ years ago, the 72-year-old was diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer. He’s been treating it ever since with chemotherapy and other drugs.

“I’m alive longer than I should be because of those treatments … and my doctor thinks he can keep me alive for a while longer. … I’m actually a very healthy person except for stage 4 cancer,” Johnson said with a laugh.

The disease has so far been asymptomatic, enhancing Johnson’s sense of gratitude each morning when he wakes up pain-free.

The diagnosis has also made him focus on certain things — spending time with his wife, Victoria, his four children and his three grandchildren. It also led to a drastic reduction in the hours he’s logging at his law firm.

That extra time makes serving as ombudsman for the archdiocese possible, Johnson said.

As he looked for a place to “park (the) gratefulness” he now feels for his life, the cancer also served as catalyst for Johnson’s conversion to Catholicism, he said.

He is loath to talk about his faith, though, insisting it’s created no outward change in how he lives his life and has no bearing on his work for the archdiocese and county attorney’s office.

“I do not wear my religion on my sleeve,” Johnson said.

‘IT JUST EXPLODED’

It’s Johnson’s career history that made him an obvious first choice for the post, according to Ramsey County Attorney John Choi, O’Malley and others who took part in the selection.

When Johnson became Hennepin County attorney in 1979, he could count on one hand the number of child sex-abuse cases that came across his desk, he estimates.

“Then it just exploded,” Johnson said.

It quickly became evident that the traditional approach of scrutinizing a victim for the necessary information to compile a winnable case wasn’t working when it came to children, Johnson said. The experience of talking to professionals untrained to work with minors — detectives and emergency room doctors — was traumatic for children.

It prompted some to clam up or offer differing versions of what happened.

That led Johnson and others to found CornerHouse in the late 1980s, an organization that changed how child abuse cases were handled.

The model involves a professional trained in child trauma interviewing the victim in a kid-friendly environment while the other people who need to be in the know — detectives, prosecutors, physicians, child-protection workers — can listen unbeknownst to the victim.

Johnson also was county attorney when the sexual assault scandal involving Donahue and the Children’s Theatre Company broke open in the ’80s.

As the founder and artistic director at the time, Donahue was a beloved and trusted figure in the community. His sexual abuse of a number of children in the theater company sent shock waves across the Twin Cities.

‘MAKE A DIFFERENCE’

Johnson’s history as an advocate for child victims and interest in protecting them made Johnson a natural choice for the ombudsman role, Choi said.

“He is very knowledgeable about how investigations should happen … (and) knows that an organization should always defer to law enforcement,” Choi said. “I can say with great confidence that he is not interested in trying to cover things up or be a part of some public relations effort. This is something he truly wants to make a difference around.”

Jeri Boisvert, chairwoman of the archdiocese’s ministerial review board, also praised Johnson.

Boisvert, who has family members who were abused by clergy, also was the past director of the justice program for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.

“I think he is a man of tremendous integrity … great warmth, and I think he can maintain complete confidentiality and understand that victims need to guide this process,” Boisvert said. “He is also the kind of guy who wouldn’t take something on if it wasn’t real.”

The decision to select Johnson was an easy one, O’Malley said.

“When John Choi and I talked about potential candidates, we both agreed he was our first choice,” O’Malley said. “His compassion for others and his really lifelong commitment to justice and in particular to protecting children over his career made him stand out.”

IS MEANINGFUL CHANGE POSSIBLE?

Even Anderson has to admit he likes the guy. But as an attorney who has represented scores of clergy-abuse victims, Anderson doubts that even someone as skilled as Johnson can help create meaningful change inside the archdiocese.

“The person can only do as much as the authority and power they are given,” Anderson said. “And so as well intended as Tom is … I am skeptical of any claim by (the archdiocese) that they have receded any real power or authority to him to do anything other than to appear to be doing something.”

One only needs look to the archdiocese’s past failures to put victims’ needs first and take accountability for mistakes to know what he’s talking about, Anderson said.

“For years, they hid and concealed and failed to supervise offenders and when they were caught, they claimed to have cleaned it up, when in fact they hadn’t and instead continued to engage in same or similar practices,” Anderson said.

He said the archdiocese is continuing to engage in deceptive practices in its handling of its bankruptcy case, hiding assets and being unwilling to negotiate a fair payout for victims. The archdiocese maintains it has been forthright and well-intentioned in its bankruptcy dealings.

“They still have yet to learn the lesson that there is virtue in truth-telling, and not just speaking it but doing it,” Anderson said.

Jim Keenan shares Anderson’s concern about the legitimacy of the ombudsman role. Keenan, a survivor of clergy abuse, is the chairman of the committee that represents victims in the bankruptcy case.

“I am worried that this is an equivalent of a concierge in the front lobby of a nice hotel that has absolutely no power to direct you anywhere,” Keenan said.

What would really help victims heal, Keenan said, would be a heartfelt apology from those involved in the archdiocese’s cover-up.

He added that any gesture that the archdiocese is being court-ordered to make feels inauthentic and empty, regardless of who fills the ombudsman role.

“I’ll hope it works … but I am not going to blow sunshine at the archdiocese for doing something that would have never happened if they weren’t forced,” Keenan said.

TIME AND ACTIONS

Not all victims agree with Keenan.

Frank Meuers, head of the local Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said offering victims a place to turn that has no ties to the archdiocese could be exactly the catalyst some need to share their stories and find healing.

“This isn’t totally an archdiocesan endeavor. We feel we had something to do with it,” Meuers said of SNAP’s involvement. “I feel it’s a valid attempt to reach out to people who have concerns and questions and don’t know where to turn.”

O’Malley insisted the creation of the role was fueled by sincere intentions. He added that the fact that Johnson isn’t being paid and reports to no one means he is a free agent working on behalf of victims’ best interests.

“The church has a history that can lead some to be skeptical, but I don’t question that things are different today,” O’Malley said. “How do we prove that? With time and with our actions.”

Hebda echoed that.

“Certainly the appointment of somebody with Tom Johnson’s credentials lends credibility to what the archdiocese is doing,” he said. “… I am hoping we will be able to prove to Jeff Anderson and to any skeptic that the archdiocese is truly committed to creating safe environments and protecting children.”

‘I TRY HARD TO LISTEN’

So far, Johnson estimates he’s received about 10 phone calls as ombudsman. Not all of them have been related to clergy abuse.

“I try hard to listen,” Johnson said of his approach to the work. “And to identify what people’s goals are … what they are trying to achieve by calling me and then to determine just how I can meet those objectives.”

In a couple of instances, he’s roped in officials from the archdiocese with the victim’s permission.

He described the archdiocese’s response to date as “very cooperative.”

“If they aren’t, I’ll be raising my voice,” he added.

While the role is still developing, Johnson sees himself potentially helping survivors get counseling or sit down with the appropriate people within the archdiocese if it’s an apology they’re after. In some cases, it might mean reaching out to the Ramsey County attorney’s office or law enforcement if that fits with the survivor’s wishes.

“My ultimate goal here is to try to foster some resolution that addresses the concern, maybe the pain, the harm that has been done,” Johnson said.

A St. Paul man faces a murder charge after crashing into a car while drunkenly fleeing police and killing the other driver, authorities say.

Shawn Michael Konder, 26, was charged with third-degree murder, two counts of criminal vehicular homicide and one count of terrorist threats, according to the criminal complaint filed against him Tuesday in Ramsey County District Court.

The murder charge alleges that Konder committed an act that was “eminently dangerous to others and evincing a depraved mind without regard for human life,” the complaint said.

This is only the second time in the past ten years that the Ramsey County attorney’s office has charged someone with such a crime.

Lashay Whittaker, 41, of Mounds View, died from injuries sustained in the crash. He leaves behind his wife of nearly 15 years and their two daughters, 8 and 14.

Whittaker, who was a barber in St. Paul, often worked late on Fridays and Saturdays. He was on his way home at the time of the crash.

“Our family is devastated and whatever (Konder) gets, he deserves,” said Thomas Echoles, Whittaker’s father-in-law. “He was leaving one crime scene, fleeing the cops and it was a terrible accident that could have been avoided. But due to his behavior, my son-in-law is gone.”

The incident began in Frogtown just before midnight last Friday when police were called to the 800 block of Blair Avenue. The 911 caller said a man who had been drinking was going after his girlfriend’s 14-year-old son with a machete and also had threatened to shoot her, authorities say.

The boyfriend, who police identified as Konder, fled the scene in a white van, authorities said.

A police officer who responded to the call spotted Konder driving west on Blair Avenue from Avon street. Konder almost rammed in to his squad before racing down nearby streets and alleys without his headlights on, sometimes traveling at speeds as high as 80 mph, the complaint said.

Shortly after Konder turned into an alley between University Avenue and Sherburne Avenue at Chatsworth Street, another officer heard a loud crash and saw smoke and debris fill the air, authorities say.

He soon discovered that Konder had struck Whittaker’s vehicle, which had apparently been northbound on Victoria Street, sending the man’s 2000 Nissan Maxima into a garage at 856 Sherburne Ave., the complaint said.

The garage had collapsed on a portion of the vehicle and Whittaker had to be extricated. He was taken to a hospital, but died shortly after the crash.

The front wheels and engine compartment of his Maxima had been completely sheared off the rest of his vehicle, charges say.

Konder tried to run away after the collision, but was captured by police after he fell to the ground.

He allegedly admitted that he’d been drinking after officers noted the smell of alcohol on his breath and his slurred speech. Seven airplane size bottles of Fireball cinnamon whiskey were found inside his pants pockets, the complaint said.

Results of blood-alcohol testing are pending.

While en route to the hospital to be treated for his own injuries, Konder allegedly laughed and referred to the police chase as a “cat and mouse game” that he lost, the complaint said.

Whittaker was a soft-spoken man who was well known in the community as a barber at Grooming House on Selby Avenue and Milton Street, said Echoles, his father-in-law. On his days off, Whittaker loved barbecuing and spending time with his family.

Whittaker, who graduated from DeLaSalle High School in Minneapolis in 1995, met the woman he would marry — Ankquinet Whittaker — at a Minneapolis record store years ago. Echoles said they discovered a great coincidence: His daughter’s middle name is Lashay and she goes by Shay.

Some people referred to Lashay Whittaker as Shay, though Echoles said he stuck with calling his son-in-law Lashay because if “I would say, ‘Shay,’ they would both answer,” he recalled Tuesday.

“Shay loved him and his kids loved him,” Echoles said.

It was heart-breaking over the weekend when Whittaker’s youngest daughter kept asking, “When is dad going to come home?” before they told her about his death, Echoles said.

Mara H. Gottfried contributed to this report.

HOW TO HELP

A fundraising site has been set up for Lashay Whittaker’s family at gofundme.com/whittaker-family-fund.

A St. Paul man was sentenced to more than a decade in prison for grabbing a young teen as she walked down the hallway of her relative’s apartment building and raping her last spring.

A Ramsey County District Court Judge Monday sentenced Adrian Raymaar Keys, 41, to nearly 12 years in prison on one count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct for the assault, according to court records.

Two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and a kidnapping charge previously facing Keys were dismissed as part of a plea deal reached in his case with the state.

His attorney, public defender Patricia Hughes, could not be reached for comment.

Keys and an accomplice pulled the 14-year-old girl into a unit inside a West Side apartment complex on the 60 block of West George Street last May 23 as the teen was walking to her cousin’s apartment to retrieve her phone, according to the criminal complaint.

Once inside, the men took off her clothes and sexually assaulted her.

The girl later told police that her perpetrators smoked methamphetamine during the attack and occasionally blew it in her mouth.

When it was over, they threw her a $20 bill and left, the girl told officers.

She left the money behind and eventually disclosed what happened to her mother, who took her to a hospital for a sexual assault examination.

The teen told police that she had seen her attackers inside her cousin’s apartment building a few days before when they complimented her and a friend as they danced and sang inside the complex.

When initially interviewed by police about what had happened, Keys admitted to having sex with the girl but said she had initiated the encounter. He said he didn’t know her age.

Keys was convicted of second-degree murder in 1995. In that case, Keys, who was 17 at the time, fatally shot Heidi Brummett while attempting to rob her and a man with her at the time.

Nicholas Lofquist-Sprangel didn’t have to go to great lengths to steal from John Nasseff while he worked as the late St. Paul philanthropist’s overnight caretaker.

He just waited for the infirm man to shuffle into the bathroom with his walker. Then, moments alone, Lofquist-Sprangel rifled through the wealthy benefactor’s wallet and dresser drawers, pocketing cash, watches, cufflinks and other valuables.

Over time, the 23-year-old stole more than $1.4 million in jewelry and cash from Nasseff, a former senior West Publishing executive and one of St. Paul’s most prolific donors.

Nasseff died Feb. 21, on what would have been his 94th birthday.

On Tuesday, his widow, Helene Houle, wept as she pleaded with Ramsey County District Judge George Stephenson to sentence Lofquist-Sprangel to more prison time than is recommended under state sentencing guidelines for his crime, describing it as a significant “breach of trust” against an exceptionally “generous man.”

Stephenson did. He sentenced Lofquist-Sprangel to two years in prison on one count of theft despite the young man’s clean criminal record and his attorney’s argument that his client’s willingness to take responsibility for his actions should accord him leniency.

The presumptive sentence for felony level theft in Minnesota is a year and one day.

Lofquist-Sprangel sobbed after his sentence was handed down. At one point he turned and looked at his mother and fiance sitting in the gallery, his shoulders shaking. He flashed an “I love you sign,” to them as bailiffs took him into custody from the courtroom to execute his sentence.

Moments before, Lofquist-Sprangel apologized to the Nasseff family for what he did.

“First off, I would like to say I am truly sorry,” Lofquist-Sprangel said. “(The Nasseff family) did treat me very well, and I did breach their trust. … They didn’t deserve this … I don’t know what came over me.”

Lofquist-Sprangel was hired by the Nasseff family in October 2016 after being highly recommended by a local agency that provides in-home care.

The family was looking for someone to provide overnight care for Nasseff after a stroke left him struggling with his mobility. The caretaker was to ensure he got safely to and from the bathroom and help with Nasseff’s other needs.

Lofquist-Sprangel was paid between $8,000 and $10,000 for his services.

Over time, the Nasseff family started noticing cash missing from John Nasseff’s room, and then expensive heirlooms, according to Houle.

Finally becoming suspicious, the family set up a surveillance system in Nasseff’s room and soon learned that Lofquist-Sprangel was stealing from them.

Some of the footage was played in court Tuesday, revealing five instances where Lofquist-Sprangel pocketed Nasseff’s personal belongings and money while Nasseff was either in the bathroom or sleeping right beside him.

Lofquist-Sprangel pleaded guilty to the felony-theft charge in January.

“John accomplished a lot in his life … He was generous to so many … (And) at the time when (he) was most vulnerable … Nicholas ended up taking advantage of John beyond belief … It is truly heartbreaking,” Houle said.

“Please do not give leniency to Nicholas,” Houle asked Stephenson. “Nicholas is a thief and a liar … and his behavior is … unforgivable.”

Assistant Ramsey County Attorney Thomas Hatch said it was Lofquist-Sprangel’s decision to exploit a vulnerable adult via his position as his caretaker that made his crime particularly cruel and worthy of a departure from sentencing guidelines.

Before handing down his sentence, Stephenson asked Lofquist-Sprangel what justice he would like for a caretaker who stole from his mother.

Lofquist-Sprangel said he’d be “very upset” and would likely want the thief to pay restitution and commit to bettering himself and society.

Stephenson was unconvinced.

“My dad is 89 and in poor health … we have a care provider for him (in Chicago),” Stephenson told Lofquist-Sprangel. “The idea we would bring a caretaker into my folks’ house and he would take advantage of (my father) … I can’t tell you how violent I would be (toward) that person.”

“Your comment about community service? Come on, man, come on,” Stephenson added.

In addition to two years in prison, Lofquist-Sprangel was ordered to pay $57,000 in restitution to the Nasseff family. Much of the rest of the $1.4 million in stolen items has been recovered.

Houle said she was pleased with Stephenson’s decision after the hearing.

“I’m angry about what (Lofquist-Sprangel) did and I’m happy about what he is getting,” she said.