Suit alleges Minneapolis cops planted gun by man they killed

Fong Lee's family claims police had recovered the same gun in a burglary years before.

[...]

The officer, Jason Andersen, claimed Lee had a gun, although he said he never directly pointed it at him. The gun, a Russian-made Baikal .380, was found 2 feet from Lee's body after he was shot nine times.

But new evidence filed Monday in a lawsuit brought by Lee's family against Andersen and the city of Minneapolis suggests that the gun had been in police possession, not Lee's, for nearly two years before the shooting. A Police Department report provided to Judge Paul Magnuson showed the gun found near Lee's body was the same gun recovered from a burglary in north Minneapolis in 2004, inventoried and kept in the department's property room since the burglary.

[...]

I see heads rolling.

I see medals awarded.

If this is true, it's going to be a major stink:

http://www.startribune.com/local/42163722.html?elr=KArks:DCiUnP::DE8c7PiUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiUr



Did a Mpls cop steal the gun and plant it on an innocent kid? Did a Mpls cop steal the gun, and sell it to a local drug dealer, who gave it to a member of his gang?

Either way, someone in the MPD is dirty.

(And, for that matter, why did they not return the gun to the guy it was stolen from in the first place?)

"Lawsuits like this take away from the fact that officer Andersen used good tactics …"

I see medals awarded.

Minneapolis officer in disputed shooting got Medal of Valor

Attorneys for slain man's family are critical of the bravery award to the Minneapolis officer who shot Fong Lee.

By DAVID CHANEN, Star Tribune

Last update: April 1, 2009 - 5:59 AM

The Minneapolis police officer at the center of a wrongful-death lawsuit alleging that a gun was planted at the crime scene received the Police Department's Medal of Valor last year in connection with the case.

Officer Jason Andersen fatally shot Fong Lee, 19, during a foot chase on a playground at Cityview Elementary School in north Minneapolis in July 2006. Andersen said Lee had a gun, which police said was found about 2 feet from Lee's body.

A grand jury cleared the officer of any criminal wrongdoing, and the department's internal investigation found he didn't violate any procedures. In July, the department awarded Andersen one of its highest honors for bravery.

"Here's a guy who killed an unarmed citizen, and he gets an award," charged Michael Padden, an attorney representing Lee's family in a lawsuit against Andersen and the city. "Chief [Tim] Dolan has taken audacity to O.J. Simpson levels."

Evidence filed in the suit Monday suggests the gun found by Lee's body had been in police possession for nearly two years before the shooting. The suit says contradictory police reports, all witness accounts and the security videotape from the elementary school prove that Lee didn't have a gun.

Sgt. Jesse Garcia said the department is waiting for the city attorney's office's response to the new allegations before the department can comment.

In a police report from February 2004, then-Sgt. Mike Fossum wrote that an officer found a loaded Russian-made .380 gun in a snowbank. The officer notified Fossum that the gun had been taken during a burglary in north Minneapolis a few weeks earlier.

The officer reached the burglary victim, who said the recovered gun sounded like his. The officer said the gun would be returned after a trial of the accused burglars.

Six days after Lee's death, a Police Department report indicated that the gun recovered by Lee's body was the same Russian-made .380. The serial number matched the one of the gun taken in the burglary.

But another report, dated several days later, says the gun recovered in the snowbank was a FNH pistol with a different serial number. The officer involved in the 2004 burglary case now said the serial number on the wrong gun had been checked.

In a report, Fossum said the misidentification never became an issue at the burglary trial because the defendants pleaded guilty. The pistol was never taken from the property room, nor was it released to the owner, Fossum said.

During a deposition for the suit, Andersen said "it's hard to tell" in the video if Lee had a gun in his right hand during the chase. In an affidavit, Sgt. Robert Krebs, who did the department's internal investigation of the case, said the video depicts something dark in Lee's hand.

"With respect to the videotape, the video is not high quality and is not dispositive as to whether Fong Lee is carrying a gun," Krebs wrote. "It does depict him carrying something dark in the hand, which appears to be a gun."

The medal awarded to Andersen was not the first given to an officer for conduct that proved controversial.

Last year, the department awarded medals of valor to eight officers who participated in a 2007 raid on a north Minneapolis house and exchanged gunfire with the owner, who thought they were intruders. Police had raided the wrong house.

Lt. John Delmonico, head of the police federation, the union representing officers, including Andersen, said the department should be more consistent in awarding medals. He said officers in several high-profile shootings in recent years didn't receive them.

David Chanen • 612-673-44

Hey guess what? The cop got a medal of valor for the original incident. I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt when the story first broke, but this is now an "Isolated Incident" AFAIC.

Wow Dean, you go to such great lengths for your April fools jokes. You didnt fool me... um...?