Former Minneapolis cop pleads guilty in 2021 squad car crash that killed St. Paul man

Pioneer Press
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A former Minneapolis police officer pleaded guilty Thursday to criminal vehicular homicide in a 2021 traffic crash that killed a 40-year-old St. Paul man.

Brian Cummings was pursuing a suspect in his MPD squad car on July 6, 2021, when he ran a red light and struck another vehicle at high speed, killing Leneal Lamont Frazier, according to the criminal complaint against Cummings.

In exchange for his guilty plea, prosecutors dropped a charge of second-degree manslaughter, court documents say. Under the plea agreement, Cummings will be placed on probation and serve up to one year in the Hennepin County jail, according to the office of Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty.

A sentencing hearing is scheduled for June 22.

“My thoughts are with Leneal Frazier’s family as they process this admission of guilt and this step toward accountability,” Moriarty said in her office’s news release. “The reckless driving conduct admitted today is not representative of the many men and women in law enforcement who act and drive responsibly with respect for the safety of our community members.”

Frazier was the uncle of Darnella Frazier, whose cellphone video of George Floyd’s May 2020 murder at the hands of Minneapolis police sparked a wave of global protests against racial injustice.

On the night of the crash, Cummings attempted to stop a vehicle he believed was stolen in Morth Minneapolis, the criminal complaint said. The driver of the vehicle accelerated away from Cummings, who pursued for 20 blocks at speeds that reached roughly 100 mph through residential neighborhoods.

As Cummings pursued the vehicle up Lyndale Avenue with his squad car’s lights and sirens activated, he drove through a red light at 41st Avenue and struck an SUV driven by Frazier at roughly 78 mph, the complaint said. The posted speed limit on that stretch of Lyndale is 25 mph.

Frazier died at a hospital. Cummings was also treated for injuries suffered in the crash.

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