Maple Grove Officer Recovering After Being Dragged Behind Vehicle at Traffic Stop
A Maple Grove police officer continues to recover from injuries suffered on the job during a traffic stop last month.
Officer Brandon Gross was allegedly dragged 40 yards after a man suspected of drunk driving fled the scene and pinned the officer’s arm inside the vehicle.
The driver was eventually charged, but the police association says the charges don’t go far enough.
The incident happened at midnight on Nov. 13. The criminal complaint says officers pulled over 40-year-old Daniel Rudolph on Weaver Lake Road and 83rd Way for having tinted windows and failing to signal.
Officers learned that Rudolph had a suspended license and saw an open container of alcohol inside his Ford Escape.
Police had Rudolph exit the vehicle to perform a field sobriety test, but Rudolph ran back to his car and tried to drive away.
Daniel Rudolph, 40, of St. Louis Park was charged with obstruction of the legal process and fleeing a police officer.
Officer Brandon Gross grabbed onto Rudolph. Rudolph then allegedly pinned the officer’s arm inside the vehicle and drove away, dragging him beside the vehicle.
After being dragged 40 yards, Gross freed himself and the vehicle sped away.
Rudolph, however, was captured the next day in a joint effort between Maple Grove Police, Anoka-Hennepin Narcotics and Violent Crime Task Force, and the Plymouth Police Department.
Meanwhile, the Hennepin County Attorney’s office charged Rudolph with obstructing the legal process and fleeing a peace officer. Both are felonies.
He faces a maximum sentence of eight years if convicted of both counts.
MPPOA Wants Assault Charges
However, the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association (MPPOA) wanted Rudolph charged with assault.
In a release today, the MPPOA said “this charging decision represents an alarming trend from the HCAO (Hennepin County Attorney’s Office) where violent offenders are not being charged, or under charged, with crimes.”
Gross, meanwhile, has since returned to duty. Maple Grove Police Commander Jon Wetternach said Gross was unable to return to work for over two weeks after the incident. The MPPOA says Gross “has lingering pain and swollen, inflamed ligaments in his shoulder from being dragged.”
Maple Grove Police Chief Eric Werner issued this statement:
“I am troubled and alarmed felony assault charges against Mr. Rudolph were declined by the Hennepin County Attorney’s office. Today, offenders are emboldened and frequently resist or flee police officers – exposing the public and public safety officials to their dangerous behavior.” Chief Werner added, “our dedicated, professional, and compassionate officers risk their lives each day to keep our community safe. I am relieved and grateful that Officer Gross was not gravely injured or killed during this incident.”
Meanwhile, a spokesperson from the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office provided this statement:
“We are grateful the officer in this case escaped the incident with minor injuries. We fully recognize and appreciate the potential danger of the defendant’s actions and that is why we charged him with two felonies for his conduct.
“As any prosecutor or defense attorney understands, we need evidence to support charges and prove a case beyond a reasonable doubt. Unfortunately we are unable to rely on false characterizations of the facts by individuals from interest groups (i.e. the MPPOA) who don’t have access to all the evidence in the case. The evidence here is the defendant fled from officers in a motor vehicle and caused injuries while interfering with the officer’s duties. And we charged him with the most serious charges we were ethically able to charge based on the evidence.”
The spokesperson went on to say that to prove assault, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office would need to prove he intentionally used the car specifically with the purpose of intentionally inflicting bodily harm. Not simply that bodily harm was caused by his actions or that he should have known the officer would be injured. Evidence that his purpose was to use the vehicle in that way isn’t there.
