Grand jury clears officers who shot couple on Hwy. 212
Four law enforcement officers who shot and killed two people on Highway 212 in February will not face criminal charges, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announced Friday.
A Hennepin County grand jury did not indict the officers who shot Matthew Serbus, 36, and Dawn Pfister, 34 after a police chase in Eden Prairie the morning of Feb. 7.
Authorities had warrants out for Serbus and Pfister after they failed to appear at a hearing to face motor vehicle theft charges. The two had been dating for about a month before the shooting, according to Pfister's Facebook page.
The four officers involved in the shooting were Chaska Police Sgt. Brady Juell, Chaska Officer Trent Wurtz, Carver County Sheriff's Corporal Nate Mueller and Minnesota State Patrol Trooper Mark Lund. Spokespeople for those agencies could not immediately be reached for comment.
Create a More Connected Minnesota
MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.
Minneapolis attorney Bob Bennett, who represents the Pfister family, said he was surprised that the grand jury returned no indictments.
"If you can do what the police did there ... then the Constitution really doesn't mean that much," Bennett said.
Serbus and Pfister, both from Elkhorn, Wisconsin, were in a car stolen in Colorado, the Hennepin County Attorney's Office said.
Police chased them after a hit-and-run until they crashed in Eden Prairie.
Serbus came out of the red Saab carrying a knife, and police shot him when he refused to drop it, the county attorney's office said. Officers shot Pfister when she picked up the knife.
Bennett said Pfister was on the ground when police shot her.
"You can't shoot people sitting on the ground," he said. "Every police officer in the world knows you can't do that."