Police seeking man who spray-painted camera shortly before fatal Uptown crash
Credit: Minneapolis Police Department
Minneapolis police are urging the public to come forward with information to help identify a man who investigators say "climbed a pole and spray painted" a city-owned camera in the area of West Lake Street and Girard Avenue in Uptown.
Police say the individual pictured above spray painted the camera at 8:34 p.m. Sunday, June 13. Hours later, a man drove into a crowd of protesters, killing 31-year-old Deona Marie Erickson and injuring three others.
MPD claims that this camera "would have caught the fatal crash Sunday evening, providing law enforcement and the County Attorney’s Office with critical evidence in the prosecution of the suspect had it not been disabled by the paint."
The driver of the vehicle that fatally struck Erickson was detained at the scene and arrested Sunday night. He is now awaiting charges.
Erickson was protesting the June 3 law enforcement killing of Winston Boogie Smith when she was fatally struck by the motorist.
Anyone with information about the person in the photo is urged to call CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-8477, or submit a tip at CrimeStoppersMN.org.
Note: The details provided in this story are based on the police’s latest version of events, and may be subject to change.
