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Crime, Law and Justice
Feven Gerezgiher
Updated:

Minneapolis police arrest teens after carjacking of City Council member Jamal Osman

A man speaks into a mic
Ward 6 council member Jamal Osman speaks during a city council meeting in Minneapolis on Jan. 23, 2024. Osman represents the areas south and east of downtown Minneapolis, including the Cedar Riverside and Phillips West neighborhoods.
Ben Hovland | MPR News file

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Minneapolis police suspect two youth were behind a “crime spree” on Monday that included the carjacking of Minneapolis City Council member Jamal Osman.

In a statement posted to social media, Osman had said the incident took place around 8 p.m. near Lake Street and Portland Avenue, where he was parked and making a call to his sister. He was not harmed, he said.

Police believe the same suspects carjacked another person and their child earlier in the evening, according to Osman.

“My heart goes out to them - no one should have to experience this kind of trauma in our city,” wrote Osman.

Osman joined Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara at a press conference Tuesday to share more details — and express concern about juvenile crime.

O’Hara said officers in several precincts responded to a series of incidents involving three stolen vehicles starting 2 p.m. on Monday. In the first, someone had accidentally left their key fob in their red Subaru Outback.

O’Hara said the suspects — a 15-year-old and 16-year-old — then used that vehicle to commit multiple robberies and attempted carjackings across Minneapolis.

The two are currently in custody, according to O’Hara. Police are investigating if others were involved.

MPD also arrested two adults involved in an unrelated carjacking. O’Hara said overall crime in Minneapolis has declined, but there are still “a troubling number of violent incidents."

”Federal charges have been very effective over the last few years at dealing with the problem of violent carjackings, but that is only relevant when the carjackings are committed by adults, because the federal court doesn't have jurisdiction over juvenile offenders,” he said.