Daunte Wright allegedly had a warrant out for his arrest at the time he was shot and killed by a Brooklyn Center police officer near Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Sunday, court papers obtained by the British Daily Mail newspaper suggest.
“Wright was due to face trial on a charge of attempted aggravated robbery – with a possible maximum sentence of 20 years in prison,” the newspaper reported on April 13.
The charge stems from an incident in December 2019 when Wright, then 19 years old, and a second man named Emajay Driver, then 18 years old, allegedly visited a residence shared by two women in Osseo, Minnesota. Wright allegedly tried to hold up one of the women to steal a sum of $820 in cash she had stashed inside her bra. Wright allegedly pointed a gun at the woman, choked her, and threatened to shoot her if she did not hand over the money.
“The $820 cash was tucked in the victim’s bra and defendant Wright placed his hand around victim’s neck and choked her while trying to pull the cash from under her bra,” according to Officer Mikkelson. “Victim was able to get loose from defendant Wright and started to kneel down and scream.”
“After more yelling, Wright allegedly told the woman that he was going to shoot her unless he got the money,” according to the Daily Mail.
Wright’s bail for the charge was originally set at $100,000, “with orders that he should not contact the victim or any witnesses, refrain from drugs and alcohol and not have any weapons. A bond bailsman paid $40,000 for his release,” the Daily Mail reports.
Wright’s bail was revoked in July 2020, however, “due to his ‘failure to not possess a firearm or ammunition’ and not keeping in touch with his probation officer,” according to court papers seen by the Daily Mail. A judge issued a warrant for Wright’s arrest at that time. The arrest warrant was still outstanding on April 11, the day he died.
The Daily Mail addressed claims made in recent days on the internet alleging “Wright may not even have known about the warrant because it was sent to the wrong address and returned to the court by the U.S. Postal Service.” According to the newspaper, “that letter, sent out on February 2 and returned to the court three days later, was just to advise Wright of a change of date for his court hearing.”
Wright was pulled over by members of the Brooklyn Center Police Department near Minneapolis, Minnesota, on April 11 for having expired license plate tags. The police officers learned of Wright’s outstanding arrest warrant while verifying his personal information during the traffic stop and tried to arrest him. Wright resisted the arrest and got back into his car as officers attempted to handcuff him. An officer named Kimberly Potter accidentally shot Wright with a gun during the altercation, apparently believing she was firing her Taser, and he subsequently died.
Potter’s bodycam footage of the incident captures her shouting, “Taser, taser, taser,” before she shoots Wright, seeming to indicate she intended to use a taser against him.
Potter resigned from the Brooklyn Center Police Department on April 13. Wright’s death sparked protests, riots, and looting in Minneapolis on the evening of April 11. The unrest continued in the city for a second night on April 12.
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