Today’s forecast

Woman illegally detained by Anoka County jail details ‘traumatizing’ experience

A Ham Lake woman held for six hours at the Anoka County Jail, as deputies delayed release until immigration officials arrived, says she’s still traumatized by the 2017 experience.

A federal appeals court upheld a district court ruling last week, finding that Myriam Parada’s constitutional rights were violated when deputies kept her in custody even after she was deemed “ready for release.”

Parada, who was 20 years old at the time, was driving siblings home from a family birthday party at a water park when she was rear-ended. When police arrived at scene, the other driver was released but when Parada couldn’t produce a valid driver’s license she was taken to the Anoka County Jail.

“I have known other people in my community any time they stepped foot in jail – especially Anoka County Jail – they would get deported right away,” said Parada. “Knowing that made me overthink what would happen to me… I didn’t know if I would see my family again.”

A ruling from the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals wrote that the delay in Parada’s release was due to Anoka County’s unwritten policy requiring its employees to contact ICE every time a foreign-born individual is detained, and wait to start the release procedures until it hears back. A judge found the policy to be a violation of the Equal Protection Clause.

Parada also recounts asking repeatedly to call her family and contact an attorney, yet it wasn’t until hours later that she was given a phone call. She also claims deputies never told her that her family, along with an attorney, were waiting in the lobby and repeatedly asked to see her but were denied.

“It is still very traumatizing to think about what happened,” said Parada who is now 26 years old and recently married. “My life completely changed after that.”

As a result of the case, Anoka County has changed its process and no longer informs ICE about persons detained at the jail – instead requiring that ICE does its own checks on detainees.

“I hope it sends a message to other people that no matter what your nationality or your status that every person has to be treated equally,” said Parada.

In a statement, Anoka County spokesperson Tierney Peters said in part: “It is important for us to repeat, as we have all along, that the jail did not hold Ms. Parada one minute longer than necessary for ICE than it otherwise would have held her or anyone… We wish Ms. Parada well and are glad that this case could bring more clarity to an area of constitutional law that had not previously been considered.”

Burnsville mayor vows to make ‘dangerous’ intersection safer after multiple pedestrians killed

Days after yet another pedestrian is killed crossing a busy Burnsville intersection, the city’s mayor says she’s had enough.

The corner of Highway 13 and Nicollet Avenue has been a problem for years. There were more than 100 crashes between 2016 and 2020, and that is far too many for Burnsville’s mayor.

For more than two decades, Burnsville’s top city official has been fighting to make the stretch of state highway safer.

“It is a dangerous highway,” Mayor Elizabeth Kautz said. “Highway 13 has something like 36,000 cars a day, and then, it also has a lot of truck traffic because it is a commercial corridor.”

It’s an intersection people like Itiolair Gates walk across daily as they catch the bus to St. Paul or Minneapolis.

“There isn’t really a way to get by on the other side without another crosswalk. Another crosswalk would be better. And with all the cars making the right turns, it’s kind of dangerous,” Gates said.

Since June 2022, two pedestrians were killed and another was seriously hurt. The most recent crash was this week.

The Minnesota State Patrol says the road was wet on Monday when 39-year-old Jacob John Witt from Burnsville walked north. He was hit and killed by a truck headed westbound on Highway 13.

FOX 9 spoke with Witt’s stepfather, who said Witt didn’t drive so he likely would have been crossing the intersection after using public transportation. Witt grew up in Illinois and he was loved. His family is asking for privacy at this time.

“For me, it’s personal. It is my community. It is the crashes that occur there. But it’s also the lives that are taken in that intersection,” Kautz said.

There are plans to build a divided highway with a pedestrian bridge component with a total price tag of $44 million.

Kautz said the Transportation Advisory Board approved $10 million. The county has pledged $1.6 million and the city is pledging $1 million. Congresswoman Angie Craig also appropriated $3 million, and that money still has to go through Congress. 

She said construction will hopefully start by 2027 and vowed to see the project through.

“I won’t stop. I won’t stop doing what is necessary to keep the people of Burnsville safe,” Kautz said.

Catch Up Quick 

🏀 Russia freed WNBA star Brittney Griner in a dramatic high-level prisoner exchange, with the U.S. releasing notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, American officials said. 

🏛️ They may have full control of the state Capitol and a $17.6 billion projected budget surplus to work with, but Minnesota Democrats have differences over how to spend the money. Wednesday, after Gov. Tim Walz was noncommittal about fully exempting Social Security income from state taxes, four incoming DFL senators said the issue was their top budget priority.

👮 A year after his drunk driving crash, the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners will vote tomorrow to censure Sheriff Dave Hutchinson after an outside investigation found he engaged in a pattern of harassment and workplace bullying.

Break-in leaves hair extension supply store owner in New Brighton devastated

This is usually the busiest time of the year at Pampered Hair Haven in New Brighton.

But the hair extension supply business is temporarily closed and owner Joyce Iyawe is still cleaning up after a brazen burglary earlier this week.

Iyawe says on Monday night, thieves broke into her shop and stole between $15,000 to $20,000 worth of custom hair extensions and wigs.

Surveillance video shows 3 people busting through the front door and grabbing handfuls of extensions from the wall and stuffing them into bags before running out the back of the store.

“Really bad. Really angry because when people do things like this they don’t really know who they are hurting,” said Iyawe.

Iyawe says the timing of the crime is what makes it so painful.

She was already dealing with the death of her brother a month ago and had just stocked up for Christmas but the suspects cleaned out nearly all her merchandise, making it almost impossible to re-open for the holidays.

“I’m grateful that this was at night and no one was here, but the brazen way makes me wonder what would have happened if we were here,”  said Iyawe.

Iyawe, who moved to Minnesota from Nigeria 30 years ago, says a similar theft when her store was in Columbia Heights 4 years ago prompted her to move to her current location because she thought it would be safer.

But now she hopes someone can identify the people in the video and call New Brighton police.

“There is more I can do, but this derails me. There’s more I can do,” said Iyawe.

If you have information about this crime, call New Brighton Police at 651-288-4100.

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