Decision to not file charges in Tesla vandalism case in Minneapolis draws criticism
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A recent decision by the Hennepin County attorney to not file criminal charges against a Minneapolis man accused of vandalizing a half-dozen Teslas has sparked criticism from local police and at the State Capitol.
Minneapolis police last week announced the arrest of the 33-year-old man, and released videos — captured by the Teslas’ cameras — allegedly showing him using a key to scratch and write on the vehicles while walking his dog in downtown Minneapolis.
Teslas have been the target of vandals nationwide after President Donald Trump put the automaker’s CEO, Elon Musk, in charge of slashing government spending.
At the time of the man’s arrest, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said the suspect caused an estimated $21,000 in damage to the six vehicles.
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“It is hurting the individual victims in these cases. It’s hurting the people in this city that own these cars. And it is certainly at least an inconvenience and it’s a significant loss of money to them,” O’Hara said on April 17.
But Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty declined to file charges against the suspect, instead putting him in a diversion program so he can keep his job and pay restitution to the victims. Prosecutors said charges remain on the table should the vandalism continue.
That decision drew a rebuke from O’Hara, who in a statement said his department “did its job. It identified and investigated a crime trend, identified, and arrested a suspect, and presented a case file to the Hennepin County Attorney Office for consideration of charges.”
“Our investigators are always frustrated when the cases they poured their hearts into are declined. In my experience, the victims in these cases often feel the same,” O’Hara wrote.
The decision to not file charges also has drawn derision from Republicans and scrutiny from conservative media outlets — with the attention heightened, in part, because the suspect has been a Minnesota Department of Human Services employee since 2018. He has no disciplinary record at DHS; the agency said in a statement that the situation is under review.
MPR News is not naming the man because he has not been charged with a crime. MPR News does not typically name suspects until they are charged.
Among those weighing in on the situation, Republican state Rep. Kristin Robbins of Maple Grove — whose district includes parts of Hennepin County — issued a statement calling Moriarty’s decision “both troubling and unacceptable.”
“The public deserves and expects accountability for crime and the continued failure of Hennepin County Attorney Moriarty to prosecute crime and uphold the rule of law is a violation of her oath of office,” Robbins wrote.
Moriarty on Wednesday defended her decision, saying it’s how her office handles first-time, low-level property crime cases. She said the suspect will be required to pay for the damage along with completing the diversion program.
“We try to make decisions without really looking at the political consequences,” Moriarty said. “Can we always predict how a story will be portrayed in the media or what other people are going to say? No. Should we make decisions based on what we might think will happen? No. We will continue to make decisions without regard for the political consequences, because they are the right decisions to be made for public safety.”
