By Crime Watch MN
MINNEAPOLIS – A traffic stop last week turned dangerous when several family members, including small children, began interfering with a state trooper on the highway trying to make an arrest near downtown Minneapolis.
The incident took place on Sunday morning July 30 around 8:50 a.m. on I-94 near Chicago Avenue. Dispatch audio at the time indicated that a trooper had a vehicle pulled over and was dealing with about five parties outside of the vehicle and fighting with two of them. A call went out to Minneapolis police for help.
Further dispatch audio indicated that as the trooper finally got the party into custody, some of the other involved parties tried to flee off of the freeway, including adults and children. They were ultimately detained by Minneapolis police.
MNDOT traffic camera video captured part of the incident which appears to show the trooper physically detaining a male party when a female party begins clinging to the detained party. Four others also became involved, including another adult female, two children and a male of unknown age.
The trooper struggles with the suspect and the family members for nearly four minutes before other officers arrive, the video shows. At one point, the suspect slips out of the trooper’s grip and a further struggle ensues until the suspect and one of the females appear to be taken to the ground.
At that point, some of the family members leave the scene, and a suspect can still be seen struggling on the ground until two Minneapolis police officers arrive to help get the male and female parties into custody.
Raul Patricio Jaya Brito, 35, of Minneapolis was eventually arrested and charged with two gross misdemeanor DWI counts and a misdemeanor count of obstructing the legal process.
The charging document states that a trooper on patrol near the Lowry Tunnel observed a stopped vehicle slowly re-enter traffic from the shoulder of the interstate. The vehicle proceeded to travel below 40 mph despite having no traffic in front of it. The vehicle also wavered in the lane of traffic and crossed over the lane divider.
The trooper activated his lights, but the vehicle kept traveling in the right lane until the trooper activated his siren and the vehicle pulled over near Chicago Avenue.
The trooper made contact with the driver, later identified as Jaya Brito, and also observed five other passengers, two of whom were unbelted children ages five and nine, inside the vehicle. The trooper also observed several beer cans spread throughout both the front and back seats of the vehicle, the complaint says.
The trooper tried to speak to Jaya Brito, though the complaint says he did not speak much English. The trooper observed a strong odor of alcohol coming from Jaya Brito along with bloodshot and watery eyes.
The results of a preliminary breath test yielded a .212 BAC, which is nearly three times the legal limit in Minnesota.
When the trooper tried to place Jaya Brito under arrest at that time, two of the passengers tried to pull the suspect away from the trooper. One of the passengers (not identified in the complaint) grabbed the trooper’s taser and pulled it upward. At that moment, Jaya Brito pulled his body away from the trooper and joined the passenger in trying to push the trooper away. Minneapolis police officers arrived on the scene and assisted the trooper.
After Jaya Brito was transported to the Hennepin County Jail, he consulted with an attorney and submitted to a DataMaster breath test which yielded a BAC of .19 at about 10:49 a.m., the complaint says.
Jaya Brito made a court appearance on Tuesday and was granted a public defender and requested an interpreter.
Records show that Jaya Brito was subsequently conditionally released from custody with no bail required. He is scheduled to make his next court appearance on Aug. 17.
Jail records show at least one other female party was arrested by State Patrol and booked about the same time on a probable cause charge of obstructing the legal process, but she was released the following day without charges.
Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
This article originally appeared at Alpha News and was reprinted with permission.
