(via the Strib) Last August, after falling prey to a game of ding-dong ditch and hearing reports of teens breaking into vehicles in a Brooklyn Park neighborhood, off-duty Minneapolis police officer Tony Adams picked up two boys (12 and 13 years old), ordered them into his car, drove them to his home, sat them on the curb, and cuffed them in what he referred to as a citizen’s arrest. Now, after complaints from one of the boy’s disgruntled parents, who had called 911 and were frantically searching for their son, Adams is being charged with “felony false imprisonment and gross misdemeanor interfering with a 911 call.”
Was Adams just doing what any cop would do? Any citizen for that matter?
According to assistant Wright County attorney Lee Martie, “The issue was if he had the authority to make a citizen’s arrest,” and the following conditions must be met:
1. The crime must be committed in the presence of the person making the arrest (which this was not). [According to several websites, there are actually several conditions under which a citizen's arrest can be made, not all of which include the arresting party being witness to the crime, but this varies from state to state, and the City of Minneapolis includes only this one scenario.]
2. The arresting party must identify himself and tell the person(s) the reason for the arrest (which he did only after picking them up, transporting them, sitting them down, and cuffing them).
3. The arresting party must then take the person(s) to a law enforcement agency. [But what if you ARE law enforcement? What then? And why were these kids never taken to the station?]
37 Reader Comments
6:59 am
After reading the rest of the article in the Strib, my hat’s off to anyone who tries to teach a lesson to 11 & 12 year old’s who are out roaming around at 10:30 at night without wanting to officially involve the police and beginning their experience in the system and the new friends they might meet at juvie.
The article said that Tony Adams asked the kids for their address to take them home to their parents and the kids refused to give it to him.
This city is overrun by kids out getting into mischief and sometimes serious trouble and we could stand to have a community where adults call kids on their behavior before it gets worse.
I am one person who wishes there was a Tony Adams (the man, not the cop) living on my block.
JMHO
7:30 am
This sounds like a case of bad judgment. Why didn’t he take them to a police station? “Hello, I’m a cop. Where do you live? Not going to answer? Okay, I’m taking you to the police station.” All problems solved.
9:02 am
I agree with kimbers, I think he was probably trying to keep them out of the system and teach them a lesson at the same time.
The lawsuit seems frivolous.
Perhaps we don’t have all the facts but it certainly reads like someone who was trying to teach/scare some sense of repsect and personal responsibility into a couple of punks.
9:12 am
Richard is right. Taking the kids to his house instead of a police station just sounds weird. Imagine if they had been two teen girls handcuffed and taken to his home…Either way, it clearly wasn’t following the usual protocal, especially when minors are involved.
9:32 am
I had a similar thing happen to me when I was a kid in South Minneapolis. The only difference was I didn’t lie or withhold from the cop and told him where I lived. He brought me home and put the fear of god into me. I thought it was going on my “permanent record”…my mom gave me hell and apologized to the cop…years later my mom told me that the reason he didn’t hall me in was specifically to keep it out of said file.
There was a time when a parent would be ashamed to have their child hauled home for being a punk/hooligan…now it seems like instead of punishing their child, they punish the person trying to teach the child some respect.
9:34 am
Good point, justbob — although it’s just as questionable with boys really. Taking them to his home, even if he didn’t take them inside, is highly suspect. I mean, we have all the facts, couldn’t he have done just the same right where he picked them up? Not scary enough?
9:45 am
“The lawsuit seems frivolous.” Are you people crazy? He took somebody’s kids and they were “franticly looking for them” and for what, because they were possibly playing ding-dong-ditch, who freakin cares!!! NOBODY has the right to just grab somebody else’s kids off the street to “teach them a lesson.” I would sue the hell out of this crazy a$$ cop too! He should lose his job, obviously he doesn’t have very good judgment. And to those who say the kids should have told him where they lived, he was off duty right? How did they know who the hell he was, if he was really a copy, etc? HE was in the wrong, not them.
10:17 am
That’s a joke ryanl. We don’t live in the same world as when you were a kid. We try to teach our kids, without scaring them into constant suspician, that if someone who clearly doesn’t appear to be what they say they are tries to get you to do something such as GET INTO THEIR CAR, you should run like hell to the nearest house and scream. I’d be livid if this happened to my kids. And, don’t kid yourself; there have always been parents who believed their kids could do no wrong. I always wished my parents were like that.
10:27 am
I am only 32, things haven’t changed all that much.
Bad things are more likely to be reported and communicated to the masses, but I am not sure that more bad things are actually happening to children.
Show me some evidence.
10:28 am
@Jennifer, first you’d have to find an attorney to take the case with no $ damages against a cop with a stellar record. He is not going to lose his job. It will be interesting to see what local civ rights atty (if any) takes the case.
If I read the article correctly, didn’t this whole event take place of 10 minutes? And it wasn’t just ding-dong ditch. Neighbors thought the kids were breaking into cars to.
10:29 am
“over 10 minutes?” sorry
10:43 am
ryan, was the cop in your case in uniform, or known to you previously as being a cop?
Because in this case, it appears that neither was the case. This was an off duty cop (not even in his official jurisdiction), and not known to the kids involved. All they had is his “I AM THE $%^% police!” when confronted by other adults.
@NrdeastB: The Wright County attorney has filed felony false imprisonment charges. If convicted, he most certainly will lose his job.
As for their being “punks/hooligans” unless I missed something, the said cop was pissed about them playing ding-dong ditch. A nuisance, for sure, but hooliganism? Who among us didn’t do that as a kid?
10:46 am
THe real question is, if RT wins the Gov. race next year, will he import the MPD hooliganism to the State Patrol?
10:55 am
No he wasn’t, I didn’t know he was a cop but I didn’t get into his car…he “walked” me (stiff hand around the upper arm deal), i was at a park just basically a block away.
If I recall right we were just playing basketball at the time but had been inside (via an open window) a closed community center to get a drink of water/get a basketball.
I was in the wrong, I did something illegal…I was scared…and he showed leniency by not bringing me in. (mostly I suspect to get out of doing the paperwork)
The punks/holiganism is my assertion I don’t believe it was reported/confirmed.
10:59 am
I also got a very similar treatment via a neighbor after shooting a water balloon via a waterwinger about 300 feet straight up in the air, before he pulled his lexus (with the sunroof wide open) right underneath it. My parents weren’t home and another neighbor basically had to tell the Lexus owner to cool it, quit yelling at and shaking us…and that it was just a car.
11:02 am
@Mnblrmkr Yes, if he pleads to a felony. Which, if I were a betting lady, will not happen. What you get charged with and what you plead to are 2 different things. Adams will have a heavy-hitter to represent him so by the time all is said and done I’d take someone like Earl Grey, Chris Madel or Paul Engh over the Wright Cty Attorney any day.
To offer an answer for the real question… as if RT has any real control over the MPD.
11:05 am
In other words NrdEastB, your suggesting the cops are above the law.
11:09 am
No. This happens with any Joe-citizen that is charged with an offense or several offenses. 9 times out of 10 it is plead down to a lesser charge(s).
11:18 am
The whole breaking into cars thing is a little sketchy. “…Tony Adams, whose doorbell had been rung earlier by someone who fled and who had heard from neighbors that teens might be breaking into vehicles in the area.” Please. These two apparently weren’t even playing ding dong ditch. So what lesson were they learning? It seems a little counter productive to me.
Do we live in a culture of unnecessary fear? Maybe there hasn’t been a significant increase in bad things happening, but we’re more aware and have an obligation to act accordingly. I’m 45. When I was a kid we were taught never to talk to strangers, never take candy from strangers, run away if some one threatens you, etc. We teach our kids the same things now. My kids don’t live in a cage, but they damn well know they shouldn’t trust anyone who tells them he’s a cop and makes them get in his personal car.
11:33 am
This officer obviously needs some anger management counseling. Should he lose his job over this minor lapse in judgement? Probably not. Also he might need to go back to the academy and learn the law again. He obviously has a poor grasp of what a citizens arrest entails.
11:38 am
Ok I missed this part….
Tara Farrell called 911 and sought to have Adams explain to the dispatcher why he had children in his back seat. Adams said, “I am the [expletive] police. I don’t need to talk to them,” the document said. He grabbed Tara Farrell’s wrist, causing her to drop the phone, the document said.
Clear abuse of power and battery on the woman. Jail time for this asshole.
11:43 am
Michael I think that teaching that lesson to your kids is definitely smart parenting.
I am sure that were just missing key facts here. I am just speculating based on the types of shenanigans that I got into as a kid.
I just feel like the kids didn’t get abused, they weren’t unnecessarily harmed, the parents had a right to be worried and they have a right to be upset. But I think dragging a good person who may have made a poor decision into a lawsuit is frivolous. Hell I can’t believe more parents aren’t suing other people for disciplining their children.
What it comes down to is this; the village is no longer allowed to educate/discipline the children.
Now that’s fine and dandy as long as the parents are responsible and present enough to properly educate their own…unfortunately that’s not always the case.
11:45 am
ryanl, the real issue is that this guy never saw the kids involved and seems to have grabbed the first two kids he saw in the street in a blind rage. Then proceeded to swear at and attack the mother when she called 911. This isn’t really the same as catching a few kids in the act and walking them home.
11:47 am
Oh and how much are we paying cops if they are driving Escalades?
I guess that OT is fairly lucrative.
11:51 am
Dougie, that’s why the charges also include obstruction of a 911 call. I am curious why there was no assault charge included though.
11:55 am
Maybe all that OT he was pulling to pay for his Cadillac was affecting his mood.
11:56 am
ryan, there is no lawsuit (or at least none mentioned in the Strib, so far). It’s criminal charges that were brought by the Wright County attorney.
Other than filing the complaint, the family had no control over whether charges were actually brought. The County could have declined to pursue charges (as is usually the case in officer involved incidents).
12:45 pm
alright change suing to filing a criminal complaint.
Better file one the next time your child is restrained at school by the principal/admin/teacher after a fight after school as well too huh?
12:49 pm
I don’t think it would take any overtime to purchase an escalade, the first one I found on craigslist was 13K. Thats probably less than $300 per month payment.
Isn’t that about what they pay you to live in Brooklyn Park?
1:05 pm
I give up. It’s moronic to try and enlighten trolls on the internet.
1:07 pm
We’d sure miss your enlightened commentary on local law enforcement. It’s so original.
1:10 pm
Let’s compare: a stranger in an unmarked car, claiming to be the police, holding kids over a possible “crime” he didn’t witness.
Vs. a known authority figure holding students directly under his supervision for (assuming you’re referring to a fight on the school grounds, broken up by school staff) witnessed violations of law/school conduct codes.
As Dougie pointed out, probably the biggest problem is that the guy did not witness the alleged criminal act.
1:16 pm
Dougie you should make some comment about my receding hairline…that was fun?
1:22 pm
Mnblrmkr yeah I was just stirring the pot or “trolling” with that one…it was a cheapshot.
1:25 pm
Unsurprisingly, THIS officer was NOT MPD.
http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/2009/11/off-duty_cop_ta.php
(although, the headline is inaccurate. The cop did not TALK the person out of jumping.)
10:43 am
Rage. That is what this was. Hence the irrational behavior from a veteran officer who definitely knew better were he in his right mind.
Taking the boys to his house amounts to an abduction. They boys only learned after that time that he CLAIMED to be a cop. This was surely terrifying for the kids and this goes way beyond a Norman Rockwell cutsie \putting the fear of God into them\ type situation.
When my wife told me about this, my first thought is that the kids are lucky to be alive. Rational people do not behave that way.
On top of this he knocks a cell phone out of a woman’s hand who is on the phone with 911. The \I am the @!%&$% police\ line tells me all i need to know. Why not tell the parents right away that he’s a cop and the kids are fine?
By not identifying himself as a cop the INSTANT he saw the parents he was baiting them. To what end?
The breaking into cars thing sounds like a MAJOR CYA. Where’s the call to the cops? Show me a statement from the person who said that to him. I think he made it up after the fact to help justify his actions after he calmed down and realized what he had done in his fit of rage.
This is just dirty. I hope he gets what he deserves, which will be decided in court. Great job parents!
7:49 pm
Leave it to the MPD to once again provide cheap entertainment. It never ends.
Although the St. Paul cop who feed the poptarts to the gorilla ranks up there.(the gorilla looked happy).
I don’t think it rises to false imprisionment; although its a sign of middle age when kids playing ding dong ditch ditch irk you.
Maybe a verbal warning and having him have to take some homeless kids on an outing to show his community spirit.
On the plus side, whole lotta of less kids playing ditch ding dong in this town!