A man arrested for having pushed another man onto the tracks of the Minneapolis Light Rail, leading to that individual being struck and killed by a train, was released from custody without charges on Wednesday. According to local officials, the shove onto the tracks followed a fight between the two men on the platform.
The announcement of the man being released without charges came on Wednesday, when a spokesperson for the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office said charges were deferred pending toxicology results, a final autopsy report and further investigation.
The spokesperson added that though there is a video of the fight between the two men, including the victim being shoved onto the tracks, “raises questions and legal issues that must be resolved to ensure any possible charges are supported by sufficient evidence to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt in court and that the state is able to overcome possible defenses that could be raised.”
The full statement on the matter was, “Charges related to the death of an individual who fell onto the light rail tracks at the Hennepin Avenue/Warehouse District Station early in the morning on May 20, 2023, are being deferred pending toxicology results, a final autopsy report, and additional law enforcement investigation. There is clear Metro Transit video of the interaction between the decedent and the subject of the investigation, which begins inside a light rail car and continues on the station platform after they exited the train. The video raises questions and legal issues that must be resolved to ensure any possible charges are supported by sufficient evidence to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt in court and that the state is able to overcome possible defenses that could be raised.”
Earlier, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner said Reginald Snelling, 41, of Minneapolis, died from “multiple blunt force injuries and traumatic asphyxia due to collision with and compression by light rail train following physical altercation.”
Minneapolis has a severe crime problem, particularly violent crime, compared to most other places in America, as Neighborhood Scout reports, saying:
With a crime rate of 58 per one thousand residents, Minneapolis has one of the highest crime rates in America compared to all communities of all sizes – from the smallest towns to the very largest cities. One’s chance of becoming a victim of either violent or property crime here is one in 17. Within Minnesota, more than 99% of the communities have a lower crime rate than Minneapolis. In fact, after researching dangerous places to live, NeighborhoodScout found Minneapolis to be one of the top 100 most dangerous cities in the U.S.A.
Separately, it is always interesting and important to compare a city’s crime rate with those of similarly sized communities – a fair comparison as larger cities tend to have more crime. NeighborhoodScout has done just that. With a population of 425,336, Minneapolis has a combined rate of violent and property crime that is very high compared to other places of similar population size. Regardless of whether Minneapolis does well or poorly compared to all other cities and towns in the US of all sizes, compared to places with a similar population, it fares badly. Few other communities of this size have a crime rate as high as Minneapolis.
Now let us turn to take a look at how Minneapolis does for violent crimes specifically, and then how it does for property crimes. This is important because the overall crime rate can be further illuminated by understanding if violent crime or property crimes (or both) are the major contributors to the general rate of crime in Minneapolis.
For Minneapolis, we found that the violent crime rate is one of the highest in the nation, across communities of all sizes (both large and small). Violent offenses tracked included rape, murder and non-negligent manslaughter, armed robbery, and aggravated assault, including assault with a deadly weapon. According to NeighborhoodScout’s analysis of FBI reported crime data, your chance of becoming a victim of one of these crimes in Minneapolis is one in 75.
Featured image credit: Hennepin County Sheriff
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