Richard “Rick” Crittenden Sr. was Joe Allen’s boss when he joined North St. Paul police as a reserve officer, a volunteer job that he worked for five years.
The two became close friends, despite a large age difference. And in 2007, when Allen was hired by the police department to become a full-time officer, Crittenden trained him in the field.
North St. Paul Officer Rick Crittenden (Courtesy of Minnesota Department of Public Safety)
“He told me, ‘I understand we’re friends, but not anymore.’ Rick was all business when it came to stuff like that,” Allen recalled Thursday. “Right away, he said, ‘I’m going to criticize you. I’m going to grill you. I’m going to teach you. I’m going to mold you.’ He gave me the basis of what was going to happen.”
But nothing could have prepared Allen for what happened on Labor Day 2009. Crittenden, a 57-year-old husband, father, grandfather and nine-year veteran of the department, was shot and killed while on a domestic call.
Allen was driving on Minnesota 36 near U.S. 61 in Maplewood after a shift working the State Fair when his now-mother-in-law called and said there was a shooting in North St. Paul. He drove to the scene, not knowing his friend was dead.
“I had no idea what I was walking into,” he said. “We went to the door and I saw Rick on the ground.”
Now, 15 years later, Allen is the coordinator of a remembrance ceremony to mark the anniversary of Crittenden’s ultimate sacrifice. Saturday’s public ceremony will be held from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. outside City Hall, near the life-size bronze memorial statue of the city’s sole officer to be killed in the line of duty.
It will include a presentation of colors by retired and active law enforcement officers who worked closely with Crittenden, as well as attendance by several members of his family.
Allen, 43, is the only officer left who was with the department at the time of the murder.
“It’s our way to kind of help the younger guys know that there’s some history here, and you have to be careful,” he said.
Ambushed, shot with his own gun
Crittenden lost his life Sept. 7, 2009, when he and Maplewood police officer Julie Olson responded to a call reporting a violation of an order for protection at Aspen Village apartments in North St. Paul around 8:30 a.m.
A woman had asked for a police escort for herself and her teenage daughter in case her estranged husband, 34-year-old Devon Dockery, was inside the building. Crittenden was working the day shift alone but happened to be in contact with Maplewood officers at the time.
The apartment building at 2253 Skillman Ave where North St. Paul Officer Rick Crittenden was fatally shot on Sept. 7, 2009. (John Doman / Pioneer Press)
“What had happened, which not a lot of people know about, was that Rick was taking a break with Maplewood (police officers) right around the corner from where the call happened,” Allen said. “So when dispatch asked him about the call and if he needed help, he said, ‘Yeah, I’ll take a Maplewood car,’ while looking in the eyes of Julie Olson, who ended up helping him at the scene.”
When the foursome entered the apartment, Dockery ambushed the group with a flaming rag. Crittenden pushed Stacey Terry and her daughter out of harm’s way and a struggle ensued. Dockery burned Crittenden’s head with the cloth, grabbed his holstered gun and shot him in the head.
Dockery and Olson fired at each other six times each. Dockery was hit with five bullets and died. Olson was injured when fragments hit her right arm.
When Crittenden’s body was taken out the back entrance of the apartment building and put into a hearse, about 40 officers and paramedics saluted.
‘It never leaves me’
A statue honoring Officer Richard Crittenden was unveiled at a ceremony in front of North St. Paul City Hall on Sept. 7, 2010. (John Doman / Pioneer Press)
A year after Crittenden’s death, the city unveiled the 6-foot-2 statue depicting him walking hand in hand with his granddaughter Meghan. He’s wearing his police uniform with his badge number, 933, prominently displayed.
“I know he was a family guy, loved his grandkids, loved his family time,” said North St. Paul Police Chief Raymond Rozales III, who started with the department as a reserve officer two months after Crittenden’s death. “He loved being a police officer, from what I’ve heard, and he had a dry sense of humor that everyone very much enjoyed.”
Three weeks after Crittenden’s funeral, Allen got a tattoo on his left forearm of the fallen officer’s badge with a mourning band and his end-of-tour date. Allen put it in the same spot where Crittenden had an Army tattoo representing his time in Vietnam.
“It never leaves me,” Allen said. “He was such an integral part of who I became and who I am, and I just got that feeling that I need to realize what this job can give you and what it can take from you.”
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