MINNEAPOLIS — Among the many revelations from the investigation of Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd, it ranks a relatively low.
But back in January, authorities were scratching their heads after a Taser issued to the ex-Minneapolis police officer was recovered during a traffic stop in suburban Burnsville — more than seven months after Chauvin was fired for his role in the death of George Floyd.
The specifics of how and when the device was taken have not been disclosed publicly. Neither was the identity of the person found with the stolen device or the circumstances that led to his or her being arrested.
"At this point we are unsure when this Taser was taken, or where it was located when it was taken," Minneapolis police Cmdr. Travis Glampe wrote in a report several days after its recovery. He wrote that after determining that the Taser was one of theirs, the department's Taser training coordinating officer confirmed that the device belonged to Chauvin. The head of the department's Internal Affairs then contacted BCA agent James Reyerson, who oversaw the agency's investigation of Floyd's death, to arrange the device's retrieval.
Inquiries to the Burnsville and Minneapolis police departments weren't immediately returned, and a spokeswoman for the Dakota County Attorney's office said she was unaware of the case and that it wasn't immediately clear whether anyone has been charged with a crime.
Far from a central question of the case, the Taser's disappearance has baffled investigators. It's possible the device was taken in the chaos that followed the torching and looting of the Third Precinct police station during last summer's civil unrest — a defining moment in the protests and riots that erupted after Floyd's death. Authorities say that suspected looters stole various police equipment and files from the burning building. Some were later recovered, authorities, including a vest belonging to Tou Thao, another of the officers on trial in Floyd's death.
Several people, of seemingly different motivations, have been charged with storming the precinct and started fires that eventually consumed parts of the building.
Last November, a central Minnesota man pleaded guilty to breaching the fence that enclosed the precinct and helping light a Molotov cocktail, which another man brought into the building and used to set it on fire, according to prosecutors. The man, Bryce Michael Williams, was indicted by a federal grand jury for conspiracy to commit arson, along with three alleged co-conspirators: Dylan Robinson, of Brainerd; Davon De-Andre Turner, of St. Paul; and Brandon Michael Wolfe, also of St. Paul.
The charges say Turner helped Williams light the Molotov cocktail and carried it into the precinct. Robinson also threw an incendiary device into the building, and Wolfe rolled a barrel into the flames "with the intent to accelerate the existing fire," according to the indictment. A member of the Boogaloo Bois, a right-wing group intent on capitalizing on chaos and starting the next American civil war, has also been charged with assisting in the damage to the precinct that night. Ivan Harrison Hunter, a 26-year-old from Boerne, Texas, is accused of shooting 13 rounds from an AK-47-style rifle into the precinct while people were inside the building.
As part of their investigation, federal agents studied videos posted on social media and from nearby city-owned surveillance cameras to try to identify others who helped burn the building. They gave suspects monikers to help differentiate them on video, according to court documents; one suspect, for instance, was dubbed "Striped Shirt Man" because he appeared in the footage wearing a white shirt with a black stripe down the middle.
Nearly three weeks of testimony in the murder trial of Chauvin ended Thursday; closing arguments are set for Monday.
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(Star Tribune staff writer Andy Mannix contributed to this report.)
