Ramsey County deputy Chadd Muellner is facing two felony counts of engaging in electronic communication relating to or describing sexual conduct with a child after sending explicit messages and photos to people he believed were children, according to court documents filed Thursday and cited by WCCO-TV.
In March, officers in the East Metro Human Trafficking Task Force began chatting with a user going by “midwestguy0303” on two separate accounts on the app Kik, receiving explicit photos and messages from the user even after identifying themselves as a 15-year-old girl and 15-year-old boy, according to a criminal complaint filed in Washington County District Court and cited by FOX 9 News. Task force investigators later traced the account to Muellner, 34, who allegedly sent more than 500 messages and 78 media files on Kik from March 24 to 26.
Related: State Fair assistant police chief sues fair, Ramsey County sheriff over alleged retaliation
Authorities with the FBI are searching for a Minnesota man they say evaded arrest by jumping from a fourth-story balcony Thursday, according to KARE 11. Muhammad Abdulqadir Omar, one of 15 defendants charged in connection with sweeping fraud indictments tied to state programs, was shown appearing to limp past surveillance cameras in video played by authorities at an FBI press conference announcing the charges.
Omar, along with Ibrahim Bashir Abdi, face charges of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and four counts of health care fraud after a federal grand jury indicted the pair for allegedly defrauding Minnesota’s Housing Stabilization Services program and receiving more than $3.2 million in fraudulent payments, FOX 9 reported Thursday.
Gregory Morgan Jr., an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer charged with two counts of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon for allegedly pointing a gun at drivers on a Minneapolis highway Feb. 5, is expected to turn himself in to Minnesota authorities Thursday, KSTP reported.
Related: Hennepin County charges an ICE officer in a nonfatal shooting during Trump’s immigration crackdown
The Minneapolis City Council is expected to vote on a proposed new police training center located in south Minneapolis’ Windom neighborhood Thursday, MPR News reported. The training center project sparked fierce debate earlier in the week with opponents voicing their concerns.
“We have higher priorities than a police department that refused to spend within its budget this year — as well as the year before — that is asking for money and resources that they do not deserve,” civil rights attorney and founder of the Racial Justice Network, Nekima Levy Armstrong told MPR.
Two Minnesota canoeists stranded in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area after their canoe capsized in cold water were hoisted into a helicopter by the Minnesota Air Rescue Team, the Star Tribune reported Wednesday. The Boundary Waters operation marks only the second nighttime rescue by MART in 2026 and the first time rescuers “hoisted people into a helicopter in order to save them,” according to the Star Tribune.
The nonprofit Trust for Public Land has ranked the Twin Cities parks systems among the top 5 in the country, WCCO-TV reported Wednesday. Minneapolis and St. Paul parks systems came in third and fourth place respectively.

