Hennepin County Attorney Keeps Busy With North, Northeast Crime...

Stock Photo By John Hoff

Recently, while trying to flesh out a blog post about Edgar Barrientos--a convicted murderer whose arrest was featured on an episode of A&E's "The First 48"--I found myself on the County Attorney's website, looking at an alphabetical list of recent criminal complaints, click here for the site.

To my delight, I was able to pull up numerous criminal complaints which involved cracking down on North and Northeast Minneapolis crime, including the shooting of Haywood Eaton (pictured above) and emergency assistance fraud where some North Minneapolis addresses were involved. The complaints were not brief summaries, but images of the original documents.

I had to wonder why I'd never been to this site before, since it was so useful, but then I noticed the site was turning up relatively low Google rankings when I was searching for "Edgar Barrientos."

I thought it would be informative to go through the long alphabetical list of criminal complaints and pull out some interesting cases which are North and Northeast Minneapolis related...


It should be noted most of the crime documented in the online criminal complaints is NOT from North and Northeast. All of Hennepin County is represented, including suburbs.

So here we go, not quite in alphabetical order.

First, YOLANDA WILLIAMS was (allegedly) involved in welfare assistance theft, and several of the addresses used--fraudulently used, it appears, and not actually OWNED by fraudsters--were in North Minneapolis. Yolanda Williams was an insider, working for Hennepin County. Click here for a copy of her indictment. Another of the Hennepin County insiders was FELECIA BELL, click here for her complaint document. Yet another names AARON MAURICE SHAW II, click here for the complaint document.

It appears something of a "house cleaning" has been going on with Hennepin County. A Buildings Operations Manager named ANGELA MARIE BENNETT-DWANYEN was charged for claiming more than 500 hours of work time in which she allegedly wasn't working, click here for the paperwork. Also, the employee of a contractor working for Hennepin County--Scott Oldenburg--was charged for allegedly stealing phone equipment, click here for complaint document.

If I had to take a guess about how things went down in Hennepin County, I'd say that somewhere along the line somebody was accused of wrongdoing, and began spilling the beans on others...and that caused a whole chain of fraud and deceit to unravel.

Moving on from the "Hennepin County insiders" to other crime...

The criminal complaint against DENNELL "L'IL DON" RAY MALONE, JR. in the shooting of Haywood Eaton contains little information NOT already found in the media, except for the fact no less than six witnesses fingered Malone from a photo lineup. The criminal complaint was made before Malone was in custody. Click here for the criminal complaint. Malone took a plea and has already been found guilty in the shooting, so maybe it's safe to buy a burger again at the Burger King next to the notorious drug-infested Hawthorn (sic) Crossings strip mall.

Then again, maybe not.

CHRISTOPHER DINEAA BAHTUOH, A.K.A. "FAT CHRIS, killed a Roosevelt High School varsity basketball player named Kyle Parker. Click here for the criminal complaint. This shooting was featured on A&E's "First 48 Hours" in the episode called "Heart of Gold/Last Breath."

It was EDGAR BARRIENTOS who started me off on this whole search. Here is a copy of his criminal complaint, click here. Additional info not found in the media to date include gritty details of the melee of bullets, and the fact Barrientos--in his mid-20s--dated a girl of high school age who attended Roosevelt High School. The main connection with North Minneapolis is the fact Barrientos' attorney, Ben Myers, is a colorful, pitiable character from the Jordan Neighborhood.

JEFFREY ROBERT CHOSA is a resident of Northeast Minneapolis (2542 Polk Street NE) who was allegedly involved in a stupid and violent beating over $20 worth of alcohol which resulted in the death of the beating victim. Click here for a copy of his criminal complaint. A relative of Chosa--FRANKLIN ANTHONY CHOSA--was also involved and has his own charges, click here.

CURTIS LARRY COLEMAN was involved in a classic example of thug crime. In a dispute over ownership of a freezer, he ordered his pit bull named "Lucy" to attack the victim. The attack happened at 2222 McNair Avenue, which is in North Minneapolis, click here for the criminal complaint. It should come as no surprise this property is owned by notorious slumlord Gregge K. Johnson, who has been mentioned on this blog a number of times, and undoubtedly will be mentioned again. Gregge Johnson apparently has a propensity for taking in tenants who set their pit bulls loose on people. This event sounds eerily similar to the notorious incident at 1716 26th Ave. N., which set off the 2002 "gang house riot."

Curtis Coleman might be the thug with the pit bull, but it's Gregge Johnson who needs to be in jail.

Moving on from there...

ANTONIO RASHAUN DALE, a.k.a. "TROUBLE," last resided at 3718 Washburn Ave. N. In an altercation at Blondie's Bar in Brooklyn Park, "Trouble" shot and killed Romel Jones, Jr., whose nickname is "Bullet." Click here for the criminal complaint. One can't help but feel something like this was predestined when these thugs got their nicknames.

GEORGE WATKINS was charged with the murder of Jamis Marks in a Robbinsdale home invasion, an incident which received extensive media coverage. Watkins was found not guilty by a jury. Watkins was a resident of North Minneapolis, residing at 1127 Humbolt Ave. N. The property is owned by Amalgamated Gent Concern, LLC, a name which turns up as the owner of a troublesome property at 751 Tyler Street in Northeast Minneapolis, click here for more info.

Watkins was charged with false imprisonment and terroristic threats, click here for criminal complaint. An associate of Watkins named ARTHUR FIELDS is charged with witness tampering and terroristic threats. Both incidents appear to be associated with a woman whose initials are "J.H.," who was reportedly a witness against Watkins.

The other alleged person allegedly involved in the Jamis Marks murder, click here for criminal complaint, was Keith Merchand Hemphill, whose address is 2653 Lyndale Ave. N., Apt. 102. (It should be noted 2653 Lyndale Ave. N. is a condemned building. It was condemned April 10, 2009. The owner is Steven J. Gotham. Interestingly, Gotham's name turns up on another Hawthorne Neighborhood property, a vacant lot at 2826 Bryant Ave. N., which has now gone into tax forfeiture.

GILBERTO HERRERA GONZALEZ resides at 1631 Sheridan Ave. N., a property which appears to be homesteaded by a relative with the same last name. Gonzalez is accused of raping a 3-year-old female and--based on the criminal complaint, click here--the evidence appears overwhelmingly solid.

PIERRE LAVONTAE GRAY is accused of second degree murder of a child. Basically, he beat his own daughter to death for urinating on herself, ALLEGEDLY. Click here for the criminal complaint. Gray's address was 412 Madison St. NE, a property where the taxpayer is listed as MDC 2000 Investments, Inc. and the taxpayer is a Doug A. Wahl. (Notably, the criminal complaint lists his address as "Madison Ave. NE" but that address does not appear to exist. It is assumed the address is, in fact, 412 Madison St. NE)

CAMERON JAMAL GRAY shot a man in the guts in a dispute over basketball, allegedly. The shooting happened in Northeast, in a park located at 1615 Pierce Street Northeast. Cameron Gray resided in North Minneapolis at 1215 Queen Ave. N. Click here for the criminal complaint.

MELISSA KATHLEEN HEUS was charged with criminal vehicular homicide, click here for the criminal complaint. She has already been convicted, click here for news coverage. Her residence was in Northeast, at 1839 Monroe St. NE, #1.

WILLIAM LEON LANE, a.k.a. "BIT-BIT," is accused of shooting and killing a man in the alley behind 1411 Plymouth Ave. N. (The victim and car turned up at 1416 11th Ave. N.) Luckily, "Bit-Bit" had a unique nickname, and officers managed to find him and charge him with the murder, click here for the criminal complaint. Also, "Bit-Bit" is not from North Minneapolis, even though he shot a man here. (Allegedly) "Bit-Bit" came to North Minneapolis from his residence in Plymouth, Minnesota to do his nasty deeds. (Allegedly)

RICHARD LOFTUS was allegedly involved in some kind of elaborate theft-by-swindle against his own wife and friends, click here for the criminal complaint, and his address is listed as 3711 Washburn Ave., but the swindle apparently didn't take place in North or Northeast Minneapolis.

SOBHY MEHRAT is charged with "going Lennie Chism" while operating a motor vehicle, driving aggressively and erratically while a female identified as "M.M." was trying to exit the vehicle, managing to damage 9 cars and a shopping cart coral. Allegedly. Click here for the criminal complaint. The alleged bumper car spree happened at the Cub Foods in Crystal, Minnesota, but Mehrat's residence is 4047 Bryant Ave. N.

BRIAN JEFFREY MILLER is accused of getting into some kind of stupid altercation and killing another guy with a knife, click here for the criminal complaint. Miller's residence is 2946 Ulysses Street, which the indictment misspells as "Ulyssess." For some reason, the indictment says the murder happened at the "1000 Block of Lowry Ave. NE" instead of giving a specific address.

PIERRE ROMEL MILLER was allegedly involved in the September 28, 2009 shooting which happened at a car wash in Northeast, click here for a link about that. Here is Miller's criminal complaint, click here. Miller is listed as "homeless" on the indictment, the only instance I saw of that. Kelvin Roberts was also allegedly involved in the murder, according to an account in the media, but no copy of the Kelvin Roberts indictment is currently on the Hennepin Country Attorney website.

EMILY ANN ROITENBERG lives in the North Loop Neighborhood--in a very expensive loft building, as a matter of fact, at 730 North 4th Street, No. 607--and wanted to inherit a large sum of money by having her mother-in-law whacked, click here for the criminal complaint.

CONNIE ANN STROUD was involved in a high-profile drunk driving crash in North Minneapolis--near the 49th Avenue North ramp--which caused a pregnant woman to lose her baby. Here is media coverage of the incident. Click here for a copy of the criminal complaint.

GARY VUE was indicted and ultimately convicted in a cold case; the July 10, 2001 "mistaken identity" gang shooting of a guy named Za Xiong, who was found dead in a vehicle at 3610 Humboldt Avenue North. Here is a media account about Vue's conviction, click here. Here is the criminal complaint document, click here.

RICARDO RYDALE WALKER was allegedly involved in the thuggish shooting of another thug at an apartment building located on the 3700 block of Girard Avenue North, click here for the criminal complaint. Walker's address was 2954 Oliver Avenue North, Apartment 1. The building is owned by a Jorge Morales Heyser of Rochester, Minnesota.

It should be noted only a small percent of the criminal complaints handled by the Hennepin County Attorney are posted on this website.

If you want to look up criminal records, a great source is http://www.mncourts.gov.