BCA identifies officers, provides more details in fatal shooting of North Branch woman

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Authorities have disclosed more details about the June 27 fatal shooting of a woman by police in North Branch, Minn.

The Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office has identified the woman as Jamie Ann Crabtree, 36, of North Branch. She died of multiple gunshot wounds.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension has also identified two North Branch police officers who used force during the incident. They are both on paid administrative leave.

According to the BCA, Kyle Miller used non-lethal force. He has a year-and-a-half of law enforcement experience. Duane Southworth fired his department rifle. He has two years of law enforcement experience.

The agency said that the officers responded to an evening report of a woman, later identified as Crabtree, walking down the street with a bottle of alcohol and a handgun in a case.

The officers ordered her to drop the gun case, which she did not acknowledge. Miller deployed PepperBall rounds. Crabtree can be seen on squad car camera appearing to point an object at the officers. That’s when Southworth fired his rifle multiple times, striking Crabtree.

She was pronounced dead at Lakes Region Emergency Medical Services, the BCA said.

BCA investigators recovered a handgun, a gun case and rifle cartridge casings at the scene.

Officer body camera and squad car camera video captured portions of the incident.

The BCA is reviewing the video and investigating the incident. Once the investigation is complete, the agency will present its findings without a charging recommendation to the Washington County Attorney’s Office for review. Washington County is handling the case to avoid a conflict of interest with the Chisago County Attorney’s Office.

According to KSTP-TV, Crabtree’s husband called 911 and reported that his wife was intoxicated and suicidal. He also told KSTP that his wife had suffered from mental illness and was known to North Branch police.

The BCA didn’t address any of those details in its announcement on Wednesday.

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Twins’ Royce Lewis ‘open to anything’ to avoid injuries

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Royce Lewis is so desperate, so eager to stay on the field, that the Twins’ third baseman is willing to try anything that might help.

Anything.

“If someone said, ‘Hey, if you smoke cigarettes like Babe Ruth and that’ll work,’ then I’ll do that too,” Lewis joked. “I’ll do whatever. I’m open to anything.”

Just a day earlier, Lewis received news that he had suffered a Grade 2 strain in his right adductor, an injury that happened as he was running the bases on Tuesday night.

Lewis is expected to be out at least through the all-star break, at which point the Twins will reassess his injury. He said he first felt some tightness in his adductor during the Twins’ trip to Oakland about 10 days ago and he communicated it with the staff, but it was something he was able to manage.

It worsened Tuesday.

The injury, he was told, stems in part from the first injury he had this year — a severe quad strain that cost him the first two months of the season.

“What I was told, it’s a lot of compensation for the lack of strength I have in my quad because of that injury,” Lewis said. “Not that we rushed back. It’s just that it takes eight months of time and if someone is ready — I mean clearly I was able to perform at a high level. … But because there is a deficit there, the adductor kind of overcompensated.”

It’s the latest in a long line of injuries for Lewis and he said it’s particularly frustrating for him because of all the work he puts in to get himself ready for games.

“I’m getting here six hours before the game, five or six hours before the game, home and road, being away from family, taking time away from communicating with family or friends and basically not living a life to eventually just get hurt,” he said.

He has twice torn the ACL in his knee, requiring a surgery that took a year to rehab and return each time. Last year, he also dealt with oblique and hamstring injuries. This year, it’s been his quad and adductor.

This one, at the very least, is not as severe as some of his past injuries and the Twins have said they believe he will not miss as much time as he missed with the quad strain (58 games).

“We’re running out of muscles to get broken or whatever, so this is all good,” Lewis said. “Hopefully I’ll cross off the next one and be done.”

Aronson gets call up

Sean Aronson, the longtime voice of the St. Paul Saints, will make his major league debut on the Twins’ upcoming road trip, filling in for radio broadcaster Kris Atteberry.

Aronson, who has called 1,920 Saints games since the 2007 season, will work the series in Chicago and San Francisco, calling games between July 8-14, with Dan Gladden.

“I’ve dreamt about this moment my entire broadcasting career and to finally get the chance to broadcast major league games is something I won’t soon forget,” Aronson said in a release.

Briefly

Pablo López, Joe Ryan and Simeon Woods Richardson are set to take the mound over the weekend when the Twins welcome the Houston Astros into town. … The Twins will wear their City Connect uniforms on both July 5 and 6.

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Jose Miranda leads charge in Twins’ rain-shortened victory over Tigers

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Kenta Maeda was a valued, popular member of the Twins for four years. But his former teammates had no welcome back gifts for him on Thursday, instead spoiling his return to Target Field.

The Twins knocked around the veteran starter for nine runs in just 3 2/3 innings, beating the Tigers 12-3 in the seven-inning, rain-shortened series finale.

“We love him here, but when we’re playing against him, obviously we want to win and we’re going to try to go out there and do just that,” fellow starter Bailey Ober said.

Jose Miranda was the chief tormentor of both Maeda and the rest of the Tigers’ pitching staff on Thursday, collecting a career-high five hits. Three of them were doubles, including one to lead off the second inning that helped kickstart the Twins’ (49-38) first rally after they had fallen behind by three runs early.

“It feels awesome. It feels great,” Miranda said. “One of the best days so far.”

Miranda drove in three runs in the win and scored four of them, raising his batting average on the season to .312 in the process. He became the second Twin to accomplish the feat this season after teammate Carlos Correa did so last month. After Miranda got the fourth hit, he said Correa started holding up four fingers at him in the dugout.

The infielder would not have a chance at a sixth hit. After his third double, the next batter, Ryan Jeffers, was hit by a pitch on the helmet, leading both teams to be waved off the field — which had started forming puddles.

“Obviously, you don’t want to see anybody get hit like RJ got hit at the end. When is the right moment to call it? There’s never really a clean answer for it,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “But when we got off, it was the right time to get off.”

Jeffers, who had three hits Thursday, also played a big role in the Twins’ offensive attack, knocking in four runs. Two came as part of a four-run fourth in which he hit his 14th home run of the season, matching a career high for him.

That homer also marked the 22nd straight game that the Twins have hit a home run as they continue to extend their club record.

It came with two outs in the fourth inning, as much of the Twins’ offense did. They scored seven of their nine runs off Maeda with two outs in the inning and added an eighth two-out run later in the game.

“It’s difference-making,” Baldelli said. “You don’t know when those two-out hits are coming. Our guys found a way to put the ball in play.”

All the offense came in support of Ober, who gave up a solo home run in the first and allowed two unearned runs to score after a passed ball on strike three extended the second.

But after that, he settled in nicely, striking out eight Tigers (39-48) in his six innings of work and helping send the Twins to their fourth-straight series win.

“We’ve been competitive in every ballgame for about a month, and that’s not easy to do, and the only way to do that is for the entire team to contribute, the entire pitching staff to contribute, the entire bullpen to be out there and pitching and winning games at different times,” Baldelli said. “You need everybody. The guys are really kind of gluing together and playing good baseball.”

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Photos: Forest Lake toasts to 100 years of Independence Day celebrations

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A family passes out candy and pinwheels as it drives its dressed up John Deere tractor in the Forest Lake Independence Day Parade on Thursday, July 4, 2024. The popular parade celebrated its 100th anniversary Thursday. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

The VFW Color Guard march down Broadway Avenue at the head of the Forest Lake Independence Day Parade on Thursday, July 4, 2024. The popular parade celebrated its 100th anniversary Thursday. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

Mentzer Mattson, 6, from Lindstrom, sports patriotic colored hair as he readies his bag for candy at the Forest Lake Independence Day Parade on Thursday, July 4, 2024. The popular parade celebrated its 100th anniversary Thursday. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

A trombonist with the Forest Lake Marching Band performs during the Forest Lake Independence Day Parade on Thursday, July 4, 2024. The popular parade celebrated its 100th anniversary Thursday. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

Members of the Forest Lake High School Marching Band Flag Team perform during the Forest Lake Independence Day Parade on Thursday, July 4, 2024. The popular parade celebrated its 100th anniversary Thursday. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

Wearing flags and patriotic sunglasses Brayden Bresnahan plays the saxophone as a part of the Chisago Lakes High School Marching Band during the Forest Lake Independence Day Parade on Thursday, July 4, 2024. The popular parade celebrated its 100th anniversary Thursday. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

Lillian Martinson, 1, sits atop her dad Joe’s shoulders as she watches her very first Forest Lake Independence Day Parade on Thursday, July 4, 2024. The popular parade celebrated its 100th anniversary Thursday. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

Forest Lake residents Amy Helmueller, left, her daughter, Annabelle Bruss, 16, center, and neighbor Leslie Dalbec wear matching sequined USA jackets to the Forest Lake Independence Day Parade on Thursday, July 4, 2024. The popular parade celebrated its 100th anniversary Thursday. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

A Farmall tractor is dressed up to pull a wagon during the Forest Lake Independence Day Parade on Thursday, July 4, 2024. The popular parade celebrated its 100th anniversary Thursday. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

Chisago Lakes Ambassadors ride their float during the Forest Lake Independence Day Parade on Thursday, July 4, 2024. The popular parade celebrated its 100th anniversary Thursday. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

A flutist with the Forest Lake High School Marching Band wears her patriotism proudly as the band performs during the Forest Lake Independence Day Parade on Thursday, July 4, 2024. The popular parade celebrated its 100th anniversary Thursday. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

A women shoots bubbles at the crowd as she marches in the Forest Lake Independence Day Parade on Thursday, July 4, 2024. The popular parade celebrated its 100th anniversary Thursday. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

Dressed in the finest patriotic accessories cousins Hailey Moredock, 12, left, and Aiyana Mordock, 14, enjoy a laugh during the Forest Lake Independence Day Parade on Thursday, July 4, 2024. The popular parade celebrated its 100th anniversary Thursday. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

Aircraft with the South St. Paul based Commemorative Air Force Minnesota Wing start the open the festivities with flyover at the Forest Lake Independence Day Parade on Thursday, July 4, 2024. The popular parade celebrated its 100th anniversary Thursday. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

People line Broadway Avenue to watch the Forest Lake Independence Day Parade on Thursday, July 4, 2024. The popular parade celebrated its 100th anniversary Thursday. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

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Despite scattered showers in the forecast, residents of Forest Lake showed up Thursday in their best red, white and blue to celebrate the Fourth of July and mark the city’s 100th  Independence Day celebration.

Hosted by the American Legion Post 225, the “Cheers to 100 years” event kicked off earlier this week with a carnival that runs through Sunday.

The annual fireworks display scheduled for Thursday night has been canceled. A new date is expected to be announced later this summer.

Related: Where to find Fourth of July fireworks and events in the St. Paul area

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