First Documented Defensive Gun Use in Minnesota
Bingo
We've now got the first documented self-defense case by a Minnesota permit holder since the carry bill passed. There's been some others, apparently, but they weren't well-documented. This one is.The full report is here, as a .tif file.
After I posted this on my LiveJournal—see link at left—I got an email that asked if I'm going to be talking about this at length in my carry classes? You bet—it's really, really nice—no "blood on the streets." No "leaping pistols." No shots fired—and the cops who were called to the scene conducted themselves with exemplary professionalism. It could hardly have gone better.
The Event
The short form is this: guy—call him Frank; I don't know his name and don't want to—is driving down the street on Valley View Road, wanting to make a left turn, when he comes near a bicyclist. Let's call the bicyclist Bozo (you'll see why in a second); he's a fifty-year-old guy, just under six feet tall, 195 pounds. Frank's a young guy, not quite 22, and has a carry permit, and is carrying a .45 caliber semiauto.
It's one in the afternoon.
Now, there's some conflict in the statements, but it comes down to this:
For whatever reason—Frank's take is that it was to get Bozo's attention, so he wouldn't end up running over Bozo—Frank honks his horn as he approaches, then goes on by. Frank stops at the red light. Bozo rides up, drops his bike in front of Frank's car, and walks up to the driver's side window, which Frank starts trying to roll up.
Bozo either "asked [Frank] what he was trying to do," or said, "What the fuck do you think you're doing, you fucking punk?" and grabs Frank.
No question that Bozo grabbed Frank: Bozo only admits to grabbing Frank; Frank says Bozo was trying to choke him.
Frank, who has a permit, tells Bozo that he's got a gun, and goes for it at the same time that he's trying to roll the window up.
Bozo backs up, and when the light turns green, Frank drives through the intersection, going over the bike as he does, getting far enough away so that he can keep an eye on Bozo, and sees him going into the PDQ store there, but not close enough to resume the confrontation.
The Witness
The witness, a bus driver, saw it, from the point where Bozo was at the window. He didn't report seeing Bozo choke Frank, but he did see the bike in front of the car, and Frank drive off, over the bike.The Aftermath
Both Bozo and Frank call the cops—Frank via 911 on his cell phone; Bozo via the pay phone at the PDQ store across the street. Bozo reports it as a "road rage incident."
Eden Prairie Officers Miles, White, and Sergeant DeMann respond. (It's not clear to me when the Sergeant is on scene; it's possibly later.)
And they do it right. They temporarily relieve Frank of his handgun, and ask him what happens. He tells them that he was attacked, that he feared injury, and that he "had to run over the bike in order to escape." They talk to the witness, and to Bozo, who admits grabbing Frank.
The cops return Frank's gun to him.
Bozo, upon advice of the city attorney, gets arrested, and charged with 5th degree assault, which seems about right.
609.224 Assault in the fifth degree. Subdivision 1. Misdemeanor. Whoever does any of the following commits an assault and is guilty of a misdemeanor: (1) commits an act with intent to cause fear in another of immediate bodily harm or death; or (2) intentionally inflicts or attempts to inflict bodily harm upon another.
It Gets Better
While it's not in the report, Eden Prairie PD, from some previous experience with Frank, would not be overly tempted to give him the benefit of the doubt; he's not always Minnesota Nice, apparently.
But they didn't go with their prejudices: they went with the facts. Given the facts presented to them—by the witness as well as Frank and Bozo—this was an assault, by Bozo, on Frank, and they turned it over to the City Attorney, who it appears wrote out a complaint and ordered an arrest.
Post Mortem
As defensive gun uses go, this one is pretty typical, though just perhaps a little less exciting than my own, some years ago. Which I'm sure is fine with Frank.
Like mine, though, it's utterly typical in that not only was nobody killed, no shot was fired. It was the reference to the gun that persuaded Bozo to stop choking Frank.
Bottom line: we've had the first documented permit holder self-defense case in Minnesota since the carry bill passed, and it came off perfectly: nobody was hurt, the good guy went home after a short investigation, and the perp got busted.
I think this calls for some applause.
In no particular order:
Applause
Well, it sounds like Frank did it all right. Firstly, there's nothing wrong with a quick beep on the horn to avoid an accident, (in fact, doing something like that is required by law) and draw the attention of a bicyclist. Secondly, he didn't overreact—he used the threat of his gun and the leverage of his window to break loose, then got out of there as quickly as he could, and only went far enough to see to his own safety, then called 911. When the cops arrived, he didn't argue with them, but just told the facts simply, and straightforwardly. It's arguable that he talked too much -- but this was a pretty clear case, and he wasn't admitting to anything; it was Bozo who did all the admitting.
More Applause
But most of the applause goes to the Eden Prairie cops. They didn't panic. They behaved sensibly, and professionally—they temporarily seized the gun, asked polite questions, got the facts, and acted on all of the information that they had.
This doesn't just speak well of Officers Miles and White, and Sergeant DeMann—although it does. It also speaks volumes for the senior officers in the Eden Prairie PD, which is headed by Chief of Police Dan Carlson. You'll note on the Eden Prairie website that Chief Carlson uses a term that isn't always used for the public. He says:
On behalf of the men and women of the Eden Prairie Police Department I would like to welcome you to our web site. As we continue to look for ways to keep our customers informed, we hope that you find our web site helpful. Our Department was built around a strong belief in prevention and customer service. However, for us to be successful in these areas, and our enforcement efforts, we continue to require help from the public. We are very interested to hear from you. Your ideas, questions, concerns, and tips are important to us. Please feel free to contact a member of our very qualified and professional staff with your needs. We look forward to working with you as we maintain, and improve, the very positive quality of life in this beautiful community.Yes, he uses the word customers, and it's clear that the word's gotten out.
Well done, all.