MINNEAPOLIS — A shooting that followed months of alleged harassment from one neighbor to another has escalated to a public sparring session between the Minneapolis Police Department and City Council.
According to court documents, MPD was called to a hospital in the city for reports of a gunshot victim on Oct. 23. Upon arrival, the officers learned a man, identified as Davis Maturi, had been shot and was transported to the hospital from his home on Grand Avenue in Minneapolis.
The criminal complaint in the case said Maturi's wife told officers that their neighbor, identified as 54-year-old John Sawchak, "almost certainly" was the person who shot her husband, alleging that Sawchak had harassed and threatened the couple for months.
Mrs. Maturi allegedly told officers that her husband was pruning a tree near their property line on that day.
"Touch my tree again and I'll kill you," the suspect allegedly told the victim, according to the complaint.
The charging documents lists seven prior police records of incidents between the neighbors before the October shooting, including several allegations of threats and racism by Sawchak against Maturi.
Maturi remains hospitalized with a fractured spine. Sawchak is not currently in police custody.
A letter from ranking members of the Minneapolis City Council to Mayor Jacob Frey shows anger and blame being directed at the MPD for allegedly failing to act on Maturi's numerous complaints against Sawchak before the shooting, and failing to arrest him immediately after the shooting.
"MPD still has not arrested the suspect despite charges from the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office for Attempted Murder, 1st Degree Assault, Stalking, and Harassment and a request from the HCAO for a warrant with $1 million bail. MPD told the HCAO they do not intend to execute the warrant 'for reasons of officer safety,'” said the letter from the Minneapolis City Council.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara defended his department in a charged press conference Friday evening.
"Anyone who suggests that the cops don't want to arrest this person, is simply wrong," said the chief.
O'Hara said Sawchak is mentally ill and the MPD has been waiting for him to leave his home to avoid a "high-risk" situation where the probability of officers potentially using deadly force were "high."
O'Hara also said the recent attention brought to the matter has made his officers less safe.
"If we wound up in a deadly situation, the headlines would read 'MPD shot mentally a ill person'," said O'Hara.
The chief added that his officers, were-in-fact scared. "Scared of being prosecuted for making a mistake."
Speaking to the press shortly after O'Hara's press conference, Minneapolis City Council member Andrea Jenkins said “We pay the police a lot of money to do their job.”
The Hennepin County Attorney's Office confirmed Friday that it filed charges against Sawchak.
"After Mr. Sawchak shot Mr. Moturi on Oct. 23, the case was submitted to our office on Oct. 24. We immediately charged Mr. Sawchak with attempted murder, first-degree assault, and felony harassment and stalking, enhanced for racial bias," said a statement from the office.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
