If someone reports to police that he or she was raped in Ramsey County, chances are slim that criminal charges will be filed in the case.

A study recently released by the Ramsey County attorney’s office found that of some 650 sexual assaults reported to a handful of east metro law enforcement agencies between 2013 and 2016, just 11 percent resulted in charges against suspects.

Overwhelming caseloads for investigators, insufficient training on best practices for law enforcement officers and prosecutors, as well as a hesitancy to tackle complicated and time-intensive cases are all part of the problem, the study found.

The findings are not unique to Ramsey County.

In fact, a spokesman for the Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault said the statistics concerning sexual assault cases show better outcomes for survivors within its borders than national averages.

“To see a big prosecutor’s office in our state Capitol open the doors on their work and say ‘Look at what’s working and what’s not’ is really great,” said Caroline Palmer, manager of public and legal affairs for MNCASA, of the study. “I think it’s a really important first step that will hopefully serve as a model for other systems in the state.”

The study does point to problems with the existing criminal justice system’s response to sexual assaults though. It highlights ways prosecutors, law enforcement agencies and advocates can better serve survivors, according to those involved in the analysis.

The results prompted Ramsey County officials to commit to hiring two new investigative sergeants to help St. Paul police beef up investigations into sex crimes, as well as two more advocates within the county’s SOS Sexual Violence Services program to help survivors who want to press charges navigate what can sometimes feel like a legal minefield.

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“Sexual violence is really the most heinous crime other than murder that I can imagine,” said St. Paul Police Chief Todd Axtell. “It robs individuals of their psychological, physical and emotional well being and it happens entirely too often and we need to do more as a community to prevent it and support survivors.”

STUDY LAUNCHED IN 2016

The Ramsey County attorney’s office kicked off the study in earnest in the summer of 2016 after launching its Start By Believing campaign that spring.

The campaign was intended to shift the response to reports of sex crimes and raise awareness about ways the criminal justice system can do better, according to Ramsey County Attorney John Choi.

To get a better understanding of the scope and nuance of the issue, Choi asked Assistant Ramsey County Attorney Kaarin Long to analyze reports of sexual assaults made to six law enforcement agencies between 2013 and 2016, including the St. Paul, Roseville, Maplewood and New Brighton police departments, as well as the Ramsey County sheriff’s office and Metro Transit police.

Only about 20 percent of St. Paul’s massive caseload were included in the analysis, which examined cases involving survivors 13 and older. It didn’t include sexual assaults within families.

The study also was unable to dig into cases unreported to law enforcement because that data was unavailable. National studies indicate about 80 percent of sexual assaults are never reported.

“I think in many ways (the study) confirms what we suspected or at least what national data suggests,” Choi said. “Many of these cases don’t end up proceeding for a number of reasons.

“In order for us to change any of this or to do a better job … the amount of resources that we put into these investigations (has to increase) because what we see is that the workload and caseloads for these investigations is extraordinary,” Choi continued.

BY THE NUMBERS

The study categorized some 180 data points from each sexual assault case examined during the three-year period.

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That included location of the alleged crime, age and race of the victim and suspect, whether alcohol was involved, how many witnesses were interviewed, whether cases were referred to prosecutors for possible charges, the length of time it took to reach charging decisions, and many other factors.

Of the data collected, some statistics and findings stood out, including:

• Of 646 cases reviewed, only about 30 percent were referred by investigators to the Ramsey County Attorney’s office for possible charges.
• Of cases submitted for review, 37 percent resulted in charges. By comparison, the average charging rate for all felony cases within Ramsey County is about 60 percent.
• Only 11 percent of total sexual assaults reported during the study-period resulted in charges.
• The total conviction rate for cases charged was 70 percent.
• About 26 percent of survivors stopped an investigation midstream.
• The average lag time between an initial sexual assault report and follow-up with law enforcement was 20 days. Protocol recommends no more than 24 hours.
• In 88 percent of cases, no search warrant was executed to gather more information about a case.
• Of about 15 law enforcement investigators surveyed, about half had only one training in sexual assault before starting their positions. Five had no training.
• Of the cases submitted for prosecutor review, it took the Ramsey County attorney’s office an average of 42 days to reach a charging decision.

UNDERSTANDING THE PROBLEM

A chief challenge to adequately responding to sexual assault cases is the overwhelming caseloads facing investigators, according to the study.

Axtell, the St. Paul police chief, said his department had to divide about 1,800 reports of sex crimes among six investigators last year.

One interviewed in the study compared keeping up with the demand to “drinking from a fire-hose.”

With so many cases to track, it makes it difficult to conduct in-person interviews with survivors or talk to other potential witnesses to the assault.

It also allows less time to execute search warrants and sift through social media accounts that might prove relevant to the case, Choi said.

Other blocks include the limited training some investigators and prosecutors have on handling sexual assault cases, the report found. Well-meaning but insensitive questions or lags in response times to survivors struggling with trauma can lead many to drop out of the process, the study said.

Bringing advocates into the process earlier can help, according to Anne Barry, director of Ramsey County Public Health.

“That first interaction is so important,” Barry said. “(Advocates) might (encourage an officer) to ask a question a (different way) or to start by (telling a survivor), ‘Yes, we believe you.’ … So the person who experienced this doesn’t feel like they have to prove something immediately.”

Another problem spot identified was a lack of consistent data collection among all law enforcement agencies. Some, for example, don’t track the race of survivors and suspects.

There is also currently no easy way for agencies to find out if reports have been made about suspects in another jurisdiction.

HOW TO GET BETTER

To improve, county officials are already committed to making changes, including:

• Adding two investigative sergeants to the tune of about $300,000 to the St. Paul police department’s team of six that currently investigate instances of sexual violence. The funding from the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office’s Criminal Forfeiture Account and will cover the positions for two years. The hope is St. Paul will fund it in later years.
• Training all sex crime investigators with St. Paul police in best practices that allow them to better understand victims and perpetrators of sex crime. While some have already received such training, those that haven’t will undertake it in following year.
• Adding two advocates to the team of five that now serve survivors via the Ramsey County SOS Sexual Violence Services program. The $150,000 investment will be paid for by the county.
• Form an East Metro Sexual Assault task force led by St. Paul Police Chief Axtell that will allow agencies to work collaboratively to address sexual assault. Axtell invited 29 agencies across the area to participate. The unit’s first meeting is May 9.

County officials also hope to create a shift around the hesitation some in the criminal justice system feel to take on sexual assault cases.

Instead of worrying about whether a jury will support a case, prosecutors need to focus on determining if there is probable cause to support that a crime took place, Choi said.

He compared it to when he first started his work around changing the approach to sex-trafficking.

“When I first started talking about that issue back in 2011, I was reminded numerous times about how hard these case were to prove,” Choi said, pointing out how much has changed since then.

Ramsey County Board Chair Jim McDonough, a survivor of sexual assault who has been integral to the Start By Believing Campaign, echoed that..

“The (whole) ‘He said, She said, this is too hard to prove’ can’t be where we start with these cases, and (too often) it is right now,” McDonough said.

County officials hope the study will continue to raise awareness about sexual violence and chip away at misconceptions, including the fallacy that more people are likely to falsely report a sexual assault than other crimes

Those involved said they are hopeful that the in-depth analysis coupled with well-informed strategies, collaboration, and a commitment of resources will create lasting change.

“The most promising thing to me … is that I see all (these) partners at the table that aren’t … defending what they do or pretending that everything is good,” Axtell said.

FOR HELP

Survivors of sexual assault looking to connect with an advocate or other resources can do so at http://mncasa.org/find-help/

READ THE REPORT

A jury has acquitted a former Roseville massage therapist accused of sexually assaulting a client.

On April 20, Marion Guy Anderson, 39, was found not guilty in Ramsey County District Court  of two counts of fourth- and fifth-degree criminal sexual conduct following a weeklong jury trial, according to court records.

It was an emotional moment for Anderson, who was an employee of Elements Massage on Snelling Avenue  in Roseville when the allegation was made against him in 2016 by one of his female clients, according to his defense attorney, Jason Rolloff.

Anderson was fired from Elements after he was charged with the crimes.

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Rolloff said that the accusation seemed to stem from a misunderstanding between Anderson and the client, as well as unfair assumptions some make about why men choose to become massage therapists.

“She believed he was coming on to her, where Mr. Anderson’s recollection of this was that he was just trying to make small talk to build up his customer base,” Rolloff said. “Ultimately, when the jury heard both sides of the story they came to a fair and just resolution.”

A 26-year-old woman accused Anderson of making inappropriate advances and comments to her during a massage in November of 2016, according to the criminal complaint filed against him. At one point during the session, the woman told investigators she could feel Anderson’s genitals against her back.

Rolloff said the jury reached its verdict after about two hours of deliberations.

“It didn’t take them long to decide he was not guilty of this offense,” Rolloff said.

A Vadnais Heights City Council member has pleaded guilty to violating a restraining order taken out against him by his ex-girlfriend.

Terry Nyblom, 54, entered a guilty plea to one count of violating a domestic abuse no contact order in Ramsey County Court this week, court records say.

Neither he nor his attorney could be immediately reached for comment about the case.

Nyblom was served a copy of the order after he was arrested for domestic assault against his former girlfriend and interfering with a 911 last April.

His ex told police at the time that Nyblom made threats to injure and kill her while he’d been drinking and forcibly pulled her up from a chair, leaving her skin bruised.

Nyblom denied the allegations but wound up pleading guilty to disorderly conduct last November after reaching a plea deal.

A couple months later, Nyblom violated his no contact order when he called his ex in January to ask her why she’d pursued charges against him.

When she told him he wasn’t supposed to be calling, Nyblom replied, “Well (I’m) going to jail.”

He then texted her twice after she hung up on him.

He opted to plead guilty after the state filed a motion of its intent to introduce evidence of Nyblom’s involvement in a separate alleged incident with his former girlfriend should the case go to trial, according to the legal document.

In that incident, his ex reported to the state that Nyblom pushed her after becoming upset with her and sent her a threatening text message that read:

“If you hold her head underwater long enough, she quit breathing.”

Nyblom is scheduled to be sentenced for his latest conviction in late June.

Per the terms of his plea deal, Nyblom is expected to receive another stayed sentence so long as he continues to receive domestic violence counseling, follow the recommendations of a chemical health assessment, and commit no more similar offenses.

The father of two was first elected to the Vadnais Heights City Council in 2012 and was re-elected to the seat in 2015.

He is works as an auto technician, according to his biography on the city’s website.

A Mahtomedi man was sentenced to 180 days in jail for racing through the Roseville area at speeds topping 120 miles per hour plowing into an SUV, seriously injuring the other driver.

Michael Flodine, 51, also received a stayed five-year prison sentence when Ramsey County District Judge Richard Kyle last week sentenced him on one count of criminal vehicular operation resulting in great bodily harm, court records say.

He was also ordered to complete treatment, a defensive-driving course and cognitive skills training, as well as read all the letters of support submitted on behalf of the victim in the case.

Steven Gernes of St. Paul suffered severe injuries to his right leg and ankle after Flodine plowed head-on into his northbound SUV on Roselawn Avenue in Roseville on Dec. 2, 2016.

Witnesses told police that Flodine was driving his 2008 Audi A6 east on Minnesota 36 that day when the car suddenly left the highway and plunged down a steep embankment.

His car then crashed through a chain-link fence and onto southbound Fairview Avenue, where it collided with a concrete lane divider before continuing south on the busy thoroughfare at speeds of 120 to 135 mph.

As Flodine’s Audi approached Roselawn Avenue, it reportedly passed a line of vehicles waiting at a four-way stop sign before striking Gernes’ SUV.

Gernes and Flodine were rushed via ambulance to Hennepin County Medical Center for emergency treatment.

Both vehicles were “completely destroyed,” the complaint said.

Neither Flodine nor his public defender could be immediately reached for comment Tuesday.

Court records show Flodine has been cited for speeding and other traffic violations in the past.

A St. Paul man is heading to jail after punching a nationally known comedian in the face at a bar on University Avenue and taking off with his wallet.

Anthony Charles Deberry, 36, was ordered to serve 90 days in jail when a Ramsey County District Court judge sentenced him at a hearing last week, according to court records.

He also received a 10-year stayed prison sentence so long as he follows the terms of his probation, which include receiving a chemical health assessment and undergoing mental health programming.

Josh Blue, a St. Paul native, was in town for a gig at the Joke Joint Comedy Club when he and some acquaintances stopped in at Hot Rods Bar & Grill on University Avenue around 9 p.m. last July 17.

Two hours later, while Blue was in the bathroom, Deberry approached him, punched him twice in the face with a closed fist, and fled with his wallet.

A bar employee told police that Deberry, a regular at the establishment, was the assailant.

A woman walking her dog in the area the next day found Blue’s wallet with his cash missing, according to the complaint.

Deberry was arrested shortly thereafter.

He pleaded guilty to the simple robbery charge in February after reaching a plea deal with the state. He previously faced one count of first-degree aggravated robbery but that charge was dismissed as part of the agreement.

Neither he nor his public defender could be immediately reached for comment.

Hot Rods recently closed, and the three-story building is now up for sale.

The bar had drawn negative attention from the St. Paul Police Department before, including an incident in September 2016 where an undercover police officer was allowed to leave the building with an open alcoholic beverage.

In a separate incident that October, a man wanted by St. Paul police on an outstanding gross misdemeanor warrant was arrested in a surveillance operation after leaving the bar with the night manager, whom he was reportedly dating. Police said he had brought an alcoholic beverage with him outside the establishment and into his car.

Bar managers said at the time they felt targeted by the city, and they felt city officials were trying to clean up the area in advance of the opening of the Major League Soccer stadium under construction across the street.

Frederick Melo contributed to this report.

About half an hour after closing time, a St. Paul man walked into a bar on Arcade Street last winter and tried to order a drink.

When the bartender at Vogel’s Lounge told John Wesley Dornfeld that the East Side establishment was done serving alcohol for the night, the 25-year-old took matters into his own hands, authorities say.

Dornfeld lunged across the bar that night on Feb. 9 and tried to grab a bottle of alcohol, causing the bartender and other patrons to detain him, according to the criminal complaint filed against him Thursday in Ramsey County District Court.

He was subsequently thrown out of the bar when staff noted Dornfeld had a knife in his pocket, the complaint says.

That’s when authorities say the incident escalated.

Dornfeld took a baseball bat to the bartender’s 2012 Toyota FJ Cruiser’s front windshield, a back window, three driver’s side windows and a taillight, according to the complaint.

The damage cost more than $10,000 to repair.

Dornfeld declined to make a statement to investigators after his arrest.

He faces one count of first-degree criminal damage to property for the alleged conduct.

Dornfeld’s attorney, Nicole Kettwick, declined to comment on the allegations as she hadn’t been able to review the complaint.

Dornfeld’s criminal record includes mostly traffic violations. He was also convicted of petty misdemeanor drug possession in 2014.

He was expected to make his first court appearance in the case Thursday afternoon.

A St. Paul man who repeatedly stabbed a woman in the head, face, side and stomach at a downtown St. Paul homeless shelter is heading to prison.

On Wednesday, Ramsey County District Judge Thomas Gilligan sentenced Tim Davin Dortch to nearly 20 years for the attack, which took place Dec. 30, 2016, court records say.

Dortch was convicted of second-degree attempted murder as well as first- and second-degree assault following a February trial.

Dortch assaulted the victim at the Dorothy Day Center, stabbing her five times and hitting an artery near her liver. The injuries required emergency surgery but the woman survived.

Witnesses said that they initially thought Dortch was punching the woman and didn’t realize she was being stabbed until later. The incident was prompted by a disagreement between the victim and Dortch’s girlfriend, according to legal documents.

The woman told the judge Wednesday that she is still haunted by the attack. She suffers anxiety attacks and is fearful of traveling on public transportation, going shopping or riding on elevators, she wrote in her victim impact statement.

Her face and body are marked by scars and she lives with persistent headaches, she said.

“I don’t even know this man … (For him to) attack me, a total stranger, from behind, with such cruel actions is unimaginable,” she wrote. “I live in constant fear that the defendant will get out of prison and finish me off.”

Dortch’s attorney, public defender Connie Iverson, could not be immediately reached for comment.

Natalie Pollard’s attorney told a judge Monday that watching his client be sentenced for doing something he said “most people” would have done in her situation was a “bitter pill” to swallow.

Still, A.L. Brown told Ramsey County District Judge Nicole Starr that his client had decided it was also a “necessary pill” so that Pollard could finally put the case behind her.

“I think it’s just tragic that at some point Ms. Pollard is going to have to walk back into a jail in Shakopee for doing something that most people would have done to someone who came in through their window, drunk,” Brown said. “But this is Mrs. Pollard’s choice … I am just sad that she has to make it.”

Pollard pleaded guilty in October to one count of second-degree manslaughter in the 2015 death of her boyfriend, Obinna Nwankpa.

The manslaughter plea presented a mixed bag for the mother of six, who previously had been serving time in prison after a Ramsey County Jury found her guilty of second-degree unintentional murder in Nwankpa’s death.

Her conviction was vacated this fall when the Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled that the Ramsey County District Court erred in the instructions it gave jurors in her case.

The ruling made way for Pollard’s release from prison while the Ramsey County attorney’s office debated whether to retry her again for murder.

Instead, the prosecution ended up offering Pollard the chance to plead guilty to manslaughter.

While the latter count is significantly less serious than murder in the eyes of the law, taking the plea deal still meant Pollard had to admit that her actions were criminal.

Both she and her two attorneys maintain that Pollard was defending herself against an abusive boyfriend who had drunkenly broken into her family’s home when she pulled out a knife back in July 2, 2015.

Scared for both herself and her children, who were present but sleeping at the time, Pollard stabbed Nwankpa when he began fighting with her, according to her account.

Police found Nwankpa, 30, unconscious and bloody at the bottom of her basement stairs. He died a short time later.

Her case caught the attention of local activists, some of whom circulated her story on social media. They have called out the Ramsey County attorney’s office for criminalizing what they say were the innocent actions of a domestic abuse victim defending her family.

The group also staged a recent rally outside Ramsey County Attorney John Choi’s office demanding he drop the charges against her.

Staff with the county attorney’s office has maintained that the facts of the case supported the manslaughter charge and point out that a jury previously convicted Pollard of murder for her actions that night.

Pollard was sentenced on the manslaughter count Monday in accordance with the plea deal reached with the state. Judge Starr sentenced her to about three and a half years in prison, but also gave her credit for the time she served on her last conviction. The result means Pollard won’t serve any additional prison time.

She was taken back into custody Monday though so she can be process and booked once again at a state correctional facility in Shakopee.

Starr said she expects Pollard will be out no later than Wednesday.

“It’s most important for Ms. Pollard to get this behind her,” Brown said of Pollard’s motivation to plead guilty and accept another sentence.

Pollard was tearful when she addressed the court.

The 36-year-old said she’s sorry her actions took the life of the father of one of her six children. She see’s Nwankpa in her toddler’s face and knows one day she’ll have to explain to him what happened, Pollard added.

“I know what happened to his father is traumatic … I wish I could apologize to (Nwankpa’s) father and his sister and let them know I am so sorry … It was an accident,” Pollard said.

Nwankpa’s father did not support the plea deal reached between the parties as he believed Pollard was guilty of murder.

“We all agree that no woman should leave in fear in her own home… I assume we can all also agree that no parent should have to bury their own child … even a child that may have strayed from the path,” Starr said to Pollard before delivering her sentence.

Pollard was taken into custody following the hearing.

A spokesman for the Ramsey County Attorney’s office issued the following statement about the sentence:

“Given the totality of circumstances in this case, we believe the judge’s sentencing decision is in the interest of justice,” the statement read.

The granddaughter of one of St. Paul’s most prolific philanthropists has been charged with stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from her former employer.

Tawnee Marie Nasseff, 48, was charged Monday via summons with six counts of theft by swindle for misappropriating more than $500,000 from a St. Paul law firm she worked at for nearly 20 years, according to the criminal complaint filed against her in Ramsey County District Court.

She could not be reached for comment on the allegations and no attorney was listed for her in court records, though her criminal complaint suggests she has hired an lawyer.

Tawnee Nasseff is the daughter of the late John “Mickey” Nasseff Jr. and the granddaughter of the late John Michael Nasseff. John Michael Nasseff was a senior West Publishing executive before becoming one of St. Paul’s most prolific donors. He died in February.

John “Mickey” Nasseff Jr. was a businessman who founded Nasseff Mechanical Contractors. He died in a motorcycle crash in western Wisconsin in 2012.

Reached at home Monday afternoon, Art Nasseff, Tawnee Nasseff’s uncle, and his wife, Susan, said they hadn’t heard about the allegations.

“We are very surprised by this. This is nothing we’d ever think she would do,” Art Nasseff said. “Tawnee … (has) always been very honest, very straight-forward.”

Her sister, Trina Pontrelli, said she was surprised by news of the charges.

“I am in shock,” Pontrelli said. “I don’t believe it. I don’t have any words.”

Tawnee Nasseff was fired from her job as a bookkeeper at Paige J. Donnelly Ltd. in August 2016 after the law firm discovered she had been overpaying herself, authorities say.

Though she initially denied the conduct, she later admitted it and paid the money back, the complaint said.

The incident prompted the company to hire an accounting firm to conduct an in-depth investigation into her handling of the firm’s finances.

She misappropriated some $860,000 from her employer between 2010 and the date she was fired, according to the accounting firm’s December 2017 findings, legal documents say.

Her scheme relied heavily on two strategies, authorities say. In several cases, Tawnee Nasseff would write checks from the law firm’s bank account at Wells Fargo and use the money to pay off her personal credit card, the complaint said. When she listed the checks in the firm’s ledger, she indicated the funds were used to cover the company’s legitimate business expenses instead, authorities say.

In other instances, she would transfer funds directly from the firm’s bank account to her own and then alter bank statements to reflect otherwise, according to the complaint.

Law enforcement began investigating her in the fall of 2016, focusing on the previous five years as applicable under the state’s statute of limitation laws.

In that time period, officers discovered Tawnee Nasseff stole more than $500,000 from the firm, according to the complaint.

The law firm issued the following statement about the matter:

Tawnee Nasseff’s next court appearance on the charges is scheduled for June 14.

One of three gun-related charges filed against the Vadnais Heights father of a boy accused of threatening violence against fellow students has been dismissed.

On Monday authorities dropped one count of possession of a machine gun or short-barreled shotgun previously facing Christopher Stowe, according to court records.

Stowe still faces a second count of the same charge as well as a third count of negligent storage of firearms. Machine guns and short-barreled shotguns are banned in Minnesota.

The count was dismissed after further investigation revealed the gun in question was a rifle, according to information provided by a spokesman for the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office.

While a rifle is not illegal to posses in the state, it could be considered for charges by federal authorities, the spokesman said.

Stowe’s attorney, Bruce Rivers, said he anticipated the development and said he expects to see the second illegal gun possession charge dropped as well.

“As I said from the beginning, this is a classic case of government overreach,” Rivers said. “The gun they thought was a short-barreled shotgun was nothing of the sort.”

Rivers said the gun was in fact a pistol.

He added that law enforcement mistook another of Stowe’s guns for a machine gun, which Rivers insists it wasn’t.

Christopher Stowe and his wife, Lisa Stowe, were charged after authorities executed a search warrant on March 2 at their Vadnais Heights home following an incident at their 13-year-old son’s school the previous day.

During the search, law enforcement found the illegal guns as well as several other firearms that were found “loaded and located out in the open,” legal documents say.

Authorities say their search was prompted by a report that the boy had threatened to kill a classmate at the Academy for Sciences & Agriculture in Vadnais Heights.

The boy faces one felony count of threats of violence. His mother was charged with one count of gross-misdemeanor-level negligent storage of a firearm.

The 13-year-old is autistic and his family has indicated that his actions were harmless and misinterpreted.

Christopher Stowe’s next hearing is scheduled for June 5.

Lisa Stowe’s next hearing is Friday.

A Minneapolis man admitted to repeatedly striking a police officer who was attempting to resolve an order for protection violation in St. Paul, sending the officer to the hospital with a head wound in March.

On Tuesday, Coni Lamark Shegog, 28, pleaded guilty to three counts of fourth-degree assault against a peace officer in Ramsey County District Court for his conduct, according to court records.

He had previously faced six counts of the charge.

The incident began as a routine police call for St. Paul officer Dominic Dzik, who was called to an apartment building on Cook Avenue near Westminster Street about 1:30 p.m. March 7.

A woman at the scene reported that earlier in the day, a neighbor — who is Shegog’s girlfriend —  had violated an order for protection the woman had filed after recently being threatened with a knife.

As Dzik talked to the woman in the parking lot, a vehicle pulled in and the woman’s neighbor was in the passenger seat.

When Dzik went to talk to the people in the car, the driver, Shegog, began yelling at the officer, telling him to move his “(expletive) squad,” before exiting the vehicle.

Things quickly escalated between the two, prompting Dzik to eventually spray chemical irritant at Shegog as he attempted to place him under arrest.

That’s when Shegog started swinging, repeatedly striking Dzik on the top of his head with his fists and a set of keys.

He also spit in another officer’s face.

Dzik, who had difficulty seeing due to the amount of blood seeping from his head, was taken to Regions Hospital, where doctors had to staple his head wound shut.

Shegog will be sentenced in July.

His attorney, Jeremy Plesha, declined to comment on his case Tuesday.

A woman was sleeping on a light rail train heading into downtown St. Paul earlier this spring when she was startled by a man pulling down her pants, authorities say.

That man, 70-year-old Kenneth Ray Logans, now faces charges of fifth-degree criminal sexual conduct, according to the criminal complaint filed against him Wednesday in Ramsey County District Court.

The incident took place March 10 on a light rail train en route from Minneapolis, the charges say.

The 39-year-old woman was asleep when she awoke to Logans pulling down her pants and underwear, the complaint said.

She told him to stop and then told others she knew aboard the train about what had happened, according to authorities.

One of her acquaintances took a picture of Logans before he deboarded and showed it to police, who used the photo to track him down, the complaint said.

A review of the train’s surveillance footage reportedly shows Logans touching the woman’s legs before untying her pants, legal documents say.

The Minneapolis man’s criminal history includes convictions for trespassing, loitering with an open bottle, disorderly conduct and drunkenen driving.

He was charged via warrant Wednesday and could not be reached for comment.

No attorney was listed for him in court records.

Hours before she was slain by her boyfriend, Phanny Phay sent a string of text messages to one of his mentors describing her fear as she watched the man she loved grow increasingly delusional.

“Everything is spiraling out of control,” she wrote in one of the messages, according to court records. “Andre has been (laughing) to himself and walking around with (two) guns. He says there is a demon inside his aunt.”

In another she wrote: “I want to call the police, but he has guns. I don’t want to invite a terrible situation. I am so scared.”

Two hours later, police discovered Phay’s bloodied body with shotgun wounds and multiple sharp-force injuries inside a bedroom in the couple’s apartment in St. Paul’s Highland Park neighborhood.

Her longtime boyfriend, Andre Antwan Duprey, 30, was standing in the room’s entryway holding a knife. A bloody double-barrel shotgun was reportedly found on the bed.

Despite police commands, he refused to drop the knife and started chanting “demon” as officers approached him. He had to be Tasered multiple times before he was subdued. Officers needed to use a baton to knock the blade out of his hand, legal documents say.

As he was taken into custody that day last November, he asked of officers, “Can you see my eyes … Can you tell me what you see … Do you see the beast?”

THE ASSESSMENT

According to a psychiatric evaluation conducted by a doctor in the months following his arrest for Phay’s murder, the incident was the final scene of an escalating psychotic episode that had been gripping Duprey for weeks.

As such, the doctor found Duprey was experiencing “profound impairment in the areas of cognition, volition and capacity to control his behavior” when he shot and killed his girlfriend on Nov. 19 and is therefore not criminally responsible for her murder, legal documents say.

In fact, Duprey thought he was battling a demon at the time, the doctor concluded, according to court records.

Ramsey County District Judge Joy Bartscher agreed and found Duprey not guilty due to mental illness of  the second-degree murder charge facing him in the case.

Phay’s family and friends crowded into a courtroom Friday as his acquittal was officially read into the record. The verdict followed a short court trial with stipulations held earlier this month.

Bartscher also ordered that Duprey, who’s been in jail since his arrest, be transferred to the state psychiatric hospital in St. Peter while he awaits proceedings for his civil commitment.

‘IT’S A TRAGEDY’

Duprey stood quietly during the brief proceeding and declined to speak through his public defender, Connie Iverson, when given the chance.

“He is obviously very sorry that any of this happened,” Iverson said afterward. “If he had not been mentally ill this wouldn’t have happened. It’s a tragedy all the way around.”

Iverson added that it was only after Phay’s death that Duprey received his mental health diagnosis of bipolar disorder with psychotic symptoms.

“It was clear to his family and friends that something was happening but unfortunately he didn’t get the help he needed until this happened,” Iverson said. “He is looking forward to seeking treatment now and hopefully overcoming his mental illness someday.”

Twice in the lead-up to the incident, Duprey had run-ins with police. One was the day prior to Phay’s shooting when Duprey called police to a location in downtown St. Paul to report that several people were trying to hurt him.

When they arrived at the scene, Duprey knelt and said, “Gentlemen, thank you, I was just about to die.”

Phay’s family declined to comment Friday.

THE VICTIM

The 28-year-old Cambodia native, who graduated from Kennedy High School in Bloomington, received a full scholarship for her undergraduate studies at the University of Minnesota.

It was at the U where Phay met Duprey, who graduated with a degree in political science and went on to become a legislative aide at the state Capitol. Phay reportedly had hopes of becoming a doctor.

The couple had dated for almost eight years and were living together when the slaying happened.

Duprey has no significant criminal record in Minnesota. He is an Army veteran and served as a legislative aide to Rep. John Lesch, DFL-St. Paul, for a year.

ADVICE FOR OTHERS

Sue Abderholden, the executive director of the National Alliance of Mental Illness Minnesota, said anyone concerned about a loved one’s mental state should be sure to prevent the person’s access to any weapons.

Such a step not only helps protect the safety of others, but also the safety of the person in mental distress.

She also encouraged people to reach out to their local police department before an emergency develops and ask to speak to an officer trained in crisis intervention who can advise  individuals how to best address their concerns.

Anyone in Phay’s situation should call 911, Abderholden said.

“When you call the police it’s important that you make it really clear that they have a mental illness and tell them, ‘Here are the symptoms I am seeing, I am worried about X, Y and Z and that there are weapons in the house,’” Abderholden said.

St. Paul police  also encourages anyone in immediate danger to call 911.

People can also now call **CRISIS (**274747) to connect with mental health crisis services anywhere in the Twin Cities metro area, or call Ramsey County Mental Health, if they suspect a loved one might be experiencing a mental health crisis, at 651-266-7900.

Abderholden added that only a small number of people with mental illness commit acts of violence.

A judge who handed down a record sentence to a St. Paul man convicted of running a sex trafficking ring was forced to scale back his prison time after the Minnesota Court of Appeals found his sentence had been unlawfully enhanced.

After expressing her disagreement with the higher court’s ruling, Ramsey County District Judge Joy Bartscher reduced Rashad Ramon Ivy’s sentence from about 58 years to just over 48 at a resentencing hearing held for him Friday.

“To impose a sentence less than this court imposed (before) … minimizes the extreme conduct that Mr. Ivy was involved in,” Bartscher said. “I believe Mr. Ivy deserved every day that I gave him in custody … This was a horrible, horrible case.”

While shorter than his initial sentence, the prison term handed down Friday was still an upward departure from state sentencing guidelines.

Barscher said the departure was warranted due to the physical and verbal abuse Ivy forced upon some of the women ensnared in his sex-trafficking operation.

“(One of the victim’s) was choked. He pushed her face into a bathtub full of water after beating her over and over,” Bartscher recalled of the case. “He treated each of these women like pieces of dirt.”

Ivy’s defense attorney asked for a substantially shorter sentence for his client at the hearing, arguing that the higher court’s findings prevented Bartscher from handing down an enhanced sentence a second time.

Ivy, 37, sat in a wheelchair during the proceedings and remained silent. He declined to make a statement when Bartscher gave him the opportunity. A few of his loved ones attended the sentencing; one women left the room crying.

Ivy was convicted in February of 2016 on multiple counts of sex trafficking, solicitation and criminal sexual conduct following a jury trial. At the time, Ramsey County prosecutors described him as the “ring leader and criminal mastermind” behind a trafficking ring that involved multiple victims and operated in 2014 and 2015.

According to court documents, he and two accomplices — Tarris Trapps and Danika Johnson — recruited women by approaching them in expensive rented cars, telling women how attractive they were and offering promises of “making money, getting new cars and living the dream” if they worked with them.

They began with talk of music videos but turned the conversation quickly to prostitution, using what prosecutors called “a combination of enticements, coercion and physical violence.”

For at least one victim, Ivy used her small child “as a hostage to compel cooperation,” court documents say.

Two women reported being sexually assaulted by Ivy and Trapps, and one was beaten so badly by Ivy she was hospitalized.

Both Trapps and Johnson pleaded guilty for their roles in the ring. Trapps received about eight years in prison. Johnson was sentenced to a year in the county workhouse.

Ivy’s initial 58-year sentence was described by prosecutors at the time as the longest of its kind in Minnesota.

Lisa Kirkwood admonished the state court system Tuesday for failing to deliver sentences for Gabriel Kimbrough’s past crimes that were harsh enough to thwart his increasingly violent behavior.

Instead, it was allowed to escalate, she said, culminating in the 24-year-old’s role in the murder of Kirkwood’s granddaughter’s father last May in a marijuana deal gone bad.

Referring to Kimbrough as a “manipulator” and a “monster,” her voice boomed inside the quiet Ramsey County courtroom as she spoke during his sentencing hearing for one count of aiding and abetting unintentional second-degree murder in Brock Cecil Larson’s May 9, 2017, death.

She directed her anger at Kimbrough, ordering him to “be a man” and “look at (her).”

Kimbrough, who kept his eyes downcast during much of the hearing, briefly met her eyes at one point before his attorney, Robert Plesha, motioned for him to return his gaze to the table in front him.

Most of the woman’s remarks focused on what Kimbrough and his three co-conspirators took from her 2-year-old granddaughter when Kimbrough’s accomplice — Ryan Steven Fore — fatally shot her father near 333 Burgess Ave.

The four had concocted a plan to rob Larson, 36, that day under the guise they wanted to buy marijuana from him, according to court documents.

“He wanted to be there to smell her. … He wanted to be there to breathe on her. … He wanted to be there to kiss her, he wanted to be there to feed her. … He wanted to talk to her and teach her about growing up,” Kirkwood said of Brock’s ambitions as a father.

“(But) Gabriel took him away. … The sick monster … strip(ped) her of growing up with two parents.”

Larson’s mother and sister also spoke during the hearing. They described Larson as a man with a range of talents and interests including building houses, cutting hair and cooking, who most loved being a father, uncle, son and friend.

“My brother will never barge through my door again and say ‘Where the kids at?’ ‘Sis, what did you cook?’ “Where my plate at?’” Nicole Larson said, crying.

“Why him,” she continued. “My heart is broken and I am tired. I would give everything to bring him back.”

Toward the end of the hearing, Kimbrough was given his own chance to speak. He apologized.

“I want to say I am sincerely remorseful … even though I didn’t plan for this,” Kimbrough said. “No one deserves to be taken away from their relatives.”

Ramsey County Judge Mark Ireland sentenced Kimbrough according to the terms of the plea deal reached between the defense and the state, which called for a roughly 13-year sentence.

The prison term was a downward durational departure from state sentencing guidelines, which Kimbrough’s attorney said was justified given the “minimal role” his client played in what happened.

“Mr. Kimbrough was not the shooter … he was half a block away at the time of the shooting,” Plesha said.

Assistant Ramsey County Attorney Somah Yarney disputed that characterization, saying the only reason the state offered Kimbrough the deal was because of his willingness to plead guilty and testify against the other three defendants in the case.

“I do believe he had a very strong role … essentially setting up (the robbery),” Yarney said.

The shooter, Fore, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in April and is scheduled to be sentenced in July.

Edward Lamonte Williams pleaded guilty last December to the same charge for his role in the slaying and will be sentenced Thursday.

Paris Sjostrand pleaded guilty in April to aiding and abetting second-degree murder and will be sentenced in July.

Before his murder conviction, Kimbrough was twice convicted of first-degree aggravated robbery and once for possessing a pistol without a permit.

Johnny Taylor repeatedly punched his newborn son’s face like “he was a grown man,” almost killing him, according to a Ramsey County District Court judge.
For that, the 23-year-old Little Canada man was sentenced Wednesday to about seven years in prison.

The term was handed down by Judge Sara Grewing about two months after Taylor pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree assault. His son was 4 weeks old at the time of the attack in the Little Canada apartment where Taylor lived with his girlfriend, the infant’s mother.

Before the sentencing, Grewing told Taylor she was sorry for the troubled childhood he’d had to endure and that society didn’t do a better job intervening to help him. Taylor’s mother died and his father’s parental rights were terminated when he was still a child.

Grewing also addressed the baby boy’s mother and grandmother, both of whom spoke at Taylor’s sentencing hearing.

“I think the fact that he is still on this earth means he is made for great things,” she said of their son and grandson.

A MOTHER’S NIGHTMARE

Taylor was charged last November after the boy’s grandmother discovered extensive bruising on the child’s face when he and his mother showed up at her home.

The baby’s mother told investigators that Taylor got upset with their son over his crying. He punched the child in the face repeatedly and shook and squeezed him while she begged him to stop.

The woman fled with her child to her mother’s home after Taylor fell asleep.

The mother called Taylor a “coward” and a “pretender” Wednesday for failing to be honest about what really happened to their son.

She added that the two of them had been happy together at one point. Then things shifted, and Taylor became physically and verbally abusive, she said.

“How can you wake up one day and be a helpful partner and dad, and the next day I don’t even know who you are,” she said.

“Did you think it would be peaches and cream?” she asked him of his expectations of parenting. “You should have gotten up and rocked him” when he was crying, instead of turning to violence, she said.

Seeing her helpless baby connected to tubes and hooked up to machines in the hospital was her “worst nightmare,” she said, often crying as she spoke.

TAYLOR APOLOGIES TO FAMILY

After his arrest, Taylor denied punching or shaking his son. He said he and his girlfriend had been arguing and slapping each other while he was holding him and that he inadvertently slapped the child. He also said the baby’s head may have hit the wall during the incident.

His girlfriend said Wednesday that his account of what happened was a lie.

Taylor’s attorney, Kate Courtney, had asked the court to give her client a sentence shorter than recommended by state sentencing guidelines because of his young age, his clean criminal history and his amenability to probation.

Unlike what others had experienced from him, Courtney said she’d witnessed her client’s remorse on several occasions.

She added that he’d only just been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder and that proper treatment for both, which he’d never previously received, would help ensure his success.

Taylor got his chance to address the court toward the end of the hearing.

“I just want to say I love my son and I apologize for the injuries … and I apologize to my family and friends,” he said.

Despite his words and guilty plea, Grewing sided with the state and the victim’s family’s assessments that Taylor had failed to fully assume responsibility for what he’d done. As such, she denied the defense’s motion that his case warranted a shorter prison sentence.

A teen who held a gun to a St. Paul homeowner’s head last winter and threatened to “blow (his) head off” as he ransacked the man’s house will spend nearly five years in prison.

Martonio Jeremiah Austin, 19, was sentenced this week in Ramsey County District Court on one count of first-degree burglary with a dangerous weapon, court records say.

Previous charges of kidnapping and aggravated robbery were dropped as part of the plea deal reached with the state after Austin agreed to plead guilty to the burglary count in February.

Lamar Smith Jr., 18, was also charged for his role in the home invasion. Smith pleaded guilty to first-degree burglary in January and received a four-year stayed prison sentence. He was also ordered to serve one year in the Ramsey County jail.

The two held up a couple at gunpoint at a home in the 1200 block of Albermarle Street after knocking on the door around 9 p.m. Nov. 29.

When the homeowner opened it, he saw Smith, a family acquaintance who had previously done yard work for him, standing outside. Then he saw another man he didn’t recognize — Austin — standing behind him with a gun.

The resident tried to close the door but Austin fired a bullet through it and the assailants pushed their way inside.

Smith then punched the resident in the face and said, “You know what this is,” before he and Austin forced the resident and his girlfriend to lie face-down in a bedroom as the men ransacked the home, according to criminal complaints filed against them.

Austin’s attorney, public defender Erik Sandvick, said he had argued for a shorter sentence for his client on account of his youth, his struggles with mental health issues and his exposures to lead as a child.

He said his client made a brief apology in court before his sentencing.

“He definitely felt remorseful,” Sandvick said. “He pleaded guilty and accepted full responsibility for his part.”

Smith’s attorney could not be reached for comment on his sentence.

Cathy LaMere started the countdown as soon as her son was convicted.

Sentenced to 10 years for providing the drug his friend died using, she knew he’d get out in about six with good behavior.

Six Christmases and birthdays and Mother’s Days without Tim, then five, four …

Last February, Timothy LaMere was released from prison on Valentine’s Day into a halfway house. In September, he was finally back on his own.

“I had all kinds of plans,” Cathy LaMere recalled of what she’d hoped to do with her newly reunited family.

“Trips, going to the State Fair … just doing everything we didn’t get to do for the last six and a half years. … I looked forward to every aspect of his life.”

Cathy LaMere is again enduring life’s big events without her only son. This time, there is no countdown.

LaMere died suddenly last month of cardiac arrest attributed to natural causes, according to the Ramsey County medical examiner’s office. He was 28.

LaMere was thrust into the public eye in 2011 when he bought a bottle of the synthetic drug 2C-E — often described as a mix of ecstasy and LSD — online and took it to a Blaine house party on March 17, 2011. LaMere and 10 others, including 19-year-old Trevor Robinson, took it. Most of them snorted lines of the white powder.

All of the partiers overdosed that night and wound up in hospitals. Robinson, a good friend of LaMere’s, died.

Robinson was attending Anoka Ramsey Community College and working part time at Aveda Corp. in Blaine when he died. He was also a father. Hundreds turned out for his funeral at North Heights Lutheran Church in Arden Hills, where he was remembered not only as someone who liked raising the eyebrows of adults and making people laugh, but also as a fiercely loyal friend and family member.

The Anoka County attorney’s office filed third-degree murder charges against LaMere for providing the drug. He pleaded guilty in 2012.

‘PUNCH TO THE FACE’

The case shone a spotlight on the dangers of what appeared to be a rising tide of designer-drug use. It intensified local lawmakers’ efforts to make it more difficult for them to be sold and to make prosecuting cases involving their distribution easier.

Nearly identical to the controlled drugs they were made to emulate, their manufacturers — many of them located overseas — tweak molecules in the synthetic versions just enough to try to skirt drug laws. At the time, the substances were commonly sold at head shops, truck stops and other outlets.

LaMere’s case also seemed to mark a shift in how some prosecutors approached fatal drug overdoses.

In the five years before his conviction, 10 defendants were sentenced statewide on third-degree murder charges related to the distribution of drugs that led to fatal overdoses, according to the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission. In the five years after, 29 were sentenced. Data is not yet available for 2017 or 2018.

“LaMere was sort of that punch to the face in terms of how we needed to be (approaching) these kinds of cases,” said Paul Young, chief of the Anoka County attorney’s office’s criminal division and the prosecutor who tried the case against LaMere.

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“It was an awakening that young people are doing very dangerous things and they are having dire consequences, and while criminal prosecution isn’t going to necessarily stop drug use … by investigating and prosecuting these cases, we can maybe start chipping away at the problem one case at a time,” Young added.

‘HE WAS A POLITICAL PAWN’

Cathy LaMere says her son was unfairly targeted by authorities for buying what he thought was a legal substance online.

“He was a political pawn; everybody knows that,” she said. “Everybody who came in contact with him couldn’t believe what happened to him.”

Young disagrees.

“He wasn’t a fall guy for an ill-advised international drug trade,” he said. “He knowingly purchased something that was illegal, that was dangerous, and distributed it at a party, and it had significant consequences, not just for the victim who died but for everyone who got sick.”

Brad Zunker, Timothy LaMere’s defense attorney at the time, did not respond to requests for comment.

‘HE COULD HAVE BEEN BITTER’

LaMere was interviewed by the Pioneer Press two years into his prison term at the state correctional facility in Lino Lakes. He kept a photograph of Robinson on his cell wall.

LaMere spoke of the regret he felt over what happened to one of his best friends and how the pain he’d caused Robinson’s family, particularly his mother, never left him.

Robinson’s mom, Jill Robinson, has never blamed LaMere for what happened and urged prosecutors to send him to treatment, not prison.

“I wish I could go back,” LaMere said during the 2013 interview. “A lot of people say that about a bad experience, but I mean even if I had more time to do … I wish I could go back and give her her son back, you know. I wish that every day.”

He also spoke of the gratitude he felt for the way prison had forced an end to his drug use and reawakened some of his old interests.

He started working out and lost 60 pounds in addition to spending hours each week teaching basic literacy to adults. He also prayed regularly, and began visiting schools with other inmates to talk to students about the dangers of drug use, according to his mom.

“With everything that happened to him, he could have been very bitter,” Cathy LaMere said. “But instead, he rose up and made such a difference in every life he had seen in prison, and every life out.”

‘IT ALL JUST MAKES NO SENSE’

One of the first things Timothy LaMere did upon his release was get a tattoo to honor Robinson, according to Jill Robinson, who stayed connected to LaMere through the years. It showed Robinson’s birth and death dates along with a fist over his heart.

He and Jill Robinson had been talking about trying to find ways to spread the word about the dangers of drugs when she heard LaMere had died.

“I just talked to him the day he died,” she said. “He was such a good kid. … I’ve always forgiven him from the moment it all happened. He loved Trevor.”

LaMere was living with a few friends at the time and had plans to apply for a journeymanship for pipe insulation, according to his mother. He was spending time reconnecting with old friends and his large extended family.

LaMere died the day after Easter, his mom said. He and his sister had gone to a casino that night. After dropping her off at the end of the night, he went to a friend’s house. At some point, he started complaining of shortness of breath.

The friend got up to get him some water. When she got back, he wasn’t breathing.

“I know he is OK. He had great faith. I know he’s up in heaven,” Cathy LaMere said. “We will never be OK, though. … He was my inspiration.”

DESIGNER DRUGS STILL A PROBLEM

The landscape has changed for designer drugs in the wake of LaMere’s case, experts say.

Legislation has been passed making it illegal to use or sell designer drugs such as the 2C-E that killed Robinson, and every year more substances are added to the state’s list of controlled substances, according to Cody Wiberg, executive director of the Minnesota Board of Pharmacy.

It’s also much less common to hear about a head shop or a truck stop selling the substances since the 2013 conviction of the owner of the Duluth head shop Last Place on Earth for refusing to stop peddling designer drugs. Jim Carlson was sentenced to 17½ years prison.

“I think that probably had a powerful deterrent effect on other (retailers),” Wiberg said.

Yet, the use of designer drugs in Minnesota has held relatively steady, said Carol Falkowski, a former drug-abuse strategy officer with the Minnesota Department of Human Services who tracks drug-abuse trends.

Leading the way continues to be use of synthetic marijuana, often called K2. The Minnesota Poison Control center had 212 exposures to the substance reported to its staff last year. There were just five involving synthetic hallucinogens such as 2C-E and 21 related to so-called bath salts.

“(The Blaine case) really marked the beginning of it and since then, (designer drugs have) just become a part of the fabric of drug abuse as opposed to a trend that has come and gone,” Falkowski said. Drugs with “significant risk,” she adds.

LASTING IMPACT OF OVERDOSE

A.J. Carver was 16 when she snorted a line of the 2C-E alongside LaMere, Robinson and seven others that night.

The trip took her into her “own personal hell,” she said. The traumatizing images she saw still sometimes reappear to her in nightmares.

The experience taught her “not to play with fire,” she said.

“It shook me into reality that I am not invincible and that the things I do to myself matter and that drugs are something we just shouldn’t play with,” she said.

Carver was so shaken by what happened that she’s since cut ties with the others who were at the party that night, she said.

She follows their lives on social media, though, and says all of them seem to be doing well; some are in college, others raising children. At least one is sober.

Carver is a junior at Anoka Ramsey Community College pursuing a business degree.

“Everybody, I think, took that night very seriously and we got our (expletive) together,” she said. “It was a very pivotal moment. We all changed our lives around for the better.”

She’s not happy about the way things ended up for LaMere, though.

“I just think we were all made an example of, and I don’t think Trevor would have wanted anyone to get in trouble for something we all chose to do,” she said. “It’s just really sad. Now Timmy’s gone, right after he had a fresh start.”

A Roseville man was sentenced to four years in prison for burglarizing the home of St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter in August, an incident Carter described as “traumatizing” for him and his family.

Ramsey County District Judge Robert Awsumb handed down Larobin Shawntel Scott’s sentence during a hearing last Friday, according to court records.

The 24-year-old was charged with first-degree burglary last summer after the then- mayoral candidate alerted police that his family’s home had been ransacked. The items missing included a video game system, ammunition, a plastic bag with a child’s tooth inside, a box of cigars and two handguns.

Carter’s neighbor had notified him that someone was at his house in the 400 block of Aurora Street the morning of Aug. 15, 2017, prompting Carter to return home and call 911.

Carter, who was elected to the mayor post in November, told officers that he saw a man in his back yard who started running. Carter followed him in his vehicle and then ran after him, but the suspect got into a sport utility vehicle that drove away, according to court records.

Police discovered the front door of Carter’s home had been damaged and a basement window broken. There was also heavy damage on the door from the garage into the house.

Two days later, police stopped a vehicle that matched the description of the SUV and found several of the missing items, minus the two handguns, inside. Scott was driving it.

He denied any involvement in the burglary at the time but pleaded guilty to the charge in April after reaching a plea deal with the state.

According to a motion filed by his defense attorney, public defender Luis Enrique Rangel Morales, Scott admitted to serving as the getaway driver in the incident.

Morales argued in the motion that both his client and society would be better served if the court ordered Scott to attend treatment and placed him on probation rather than send him to prison.

Morales cited Scott’s lack of a high school degree, homelessness, “menial job skills” and chemical substance abuse among his reasons.

“At its core, prison lacks the foundation to address these concerns,” Morales wrote.

He added that Scott’s remorse, willingness to take responsibility for his actions and amenability to probation further supported his request.

Morales could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Awsumb wound up sentencing Scott to just over four years in prison.

Carter described the burglary shortly after the incident as a “traumatic one for myself and my family, especially my children.”

The guns stolen from his residence — which Carter said once belonged to his father, a retired St. Paul police officer — were in a locked box and also trigger-locked, according to information provided by his campaign at the time. Carter told police he did not have the guns’ serial numbers.

Thousands of high school students across the metro-area can hit the gym this summer free of charge thanks to a program aimed at offering young people safe and healthy options when school is not in session.

The Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation and the YMCA of the Greater Twin Cities are partnering to offer some 6,000 youth free memberships to 25 YMCA locations scattered throughout the Twin Cities-area.

The organizations’ effort aims to decrease risky behavior such as drinking, drug-use and violence that teens are more apt to engage in during summer months.

Only about 20 percent of 16 and 17-year-olds hold a summer job these days, according to research the groups cited from the Pew Research Center. That figure is even lower for teens of color.

Ramsey County Attorney John Choi said he hopes teachers, parents and other adults in the community will help spread the word to teens and encourage them to take advantage of the program.

“I think it’s great to have these types of opportunities to keep high school kids engaged during the summer months,” he said Wednesday. “… You’ve got parents who might be working during the daytime and the whole host of issues where you’ve got young people without that structured school setting. Having things to keep them occupied and their mind and body engaged is always a positive thing.”

In addition to offering the free memberships, health and well-being classes, leadership and development programs, youth specific fitness challengers and job readiness workshops will all be offered at participating locations.

“Any time kids have something positive to do, somewhere safe to spend their time, that’s a good thing,” said Steve Linders, a St. Paul police spokesman. “Our officers love and support the YMCA and YWCA and all youth programming in the city.”

Since some teens don’t get healthy meals at home, eight locations also will offer free meals to youth that obtain memberships. Those sites include Blaisdell in Minneapolis, Burnsville, Coon Rapids, East St. Paul, Maplewood, Midway St. Paul, New Hope and West St. Paul.

All teens entering ninth grade through 12 are eligible to participate by visiting one of the 25 involved locations beginning June 1 with a valid ID, class schedule or report card along with the permission of an adult.

Adults can sign registration forms at home and bring them to their YMCA-site or complete the online registration for teens at home.

Each individual participating location can accommodate up to 250 participants.

The program was first offered last year to 4,800 kids. The spots filled in 12 days, meaning this years memberships are likely to go quickly as well, according to YMCA staff.

There are wait lists available for any teens who sign up after spots fill.

The memberships are valid from June 4 to Aug. 31.
Visit ymcamn.org/getsummer for more information.