MINNEAPOLIS— One day after the announcement she will drop the charges A Minnesota state trooper who killed a man during a traffic stop last summer, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty will explain her decision at a news conference.
Moriarty filed a complaint dismissing charges against Ryan Londregan in the shooting death of 33-year-old Ricky Cobb II due to “several new pieces of evidence that would make it impossible for the State to prove that Mr. Londregan’s actions did not constitute an authorized use of violence by a peace officer,” she said Sunday.
The new evidence, Moriarty said, is that Londregan planned to testify that he saw Cobb reach for his firearm and that a State Patrol trainer said he never instructed officers not to shoot into a moving vehicle during an extraction, even though this is best practice. .
London was accused And pleaded not guilty to second-degree unintentional murder, first-degree assault and second-degree manslaughter.
The district attorney’s office is expected to provide more details about the move at 8:30 a.m. Monday. You can watch the press conference live on CBS News Minnesota in the video player above, via the CBS News app or on Pluto TV.
Details of the shooting
On the morning of July 31, 2023, two troopers pulled Cobb, who was black, because he did not have his taillights on. They soon discovered he was wanted by Ramsey County police for violating a no-contact order in a domestic case.
Body camera footage captured by the troops showed them Cobb leaving his vehicle. He refused and began to drive away when an officer tried to unfasten his seat belt. That’s when Londregan, who is White, fired two bullets into Cobb’s torso.
Cobb’s vehicle continued to move, causing two of the troopers to fall to the ground. The vehicle eventually came to a stop and Cobb was found dead inside.
A federal lawsuit filed by Cobb’s family alleges that Londregan and Brett Seide unreasonably seized Cobb by ordering him out of the car without explaining whether he was under arrest, and by reaching into the car and grabbing him in an attempt ‘ to remove him by force’. The soldiers also used “unnecessary, excessive and deadly force” against Cobb, the lawsuit said.
WCCO personnel
