Minneapolis, MN
‘No one is helping:’ residents living near a Minneapolis encampment at their wits end
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — Residents living in a condominium building in Minneapolis say they’re living in fear. Over the past month, a homeless encampment has been steadily growing on the 2900 block of Blaisdell avenue.
“This is causing us a lot of problems. At night when you sleep, these people are doing drugs, and you don’t know what’s going to happen, if they’re going to break your window,” said a resident named Hani.
She lives in an apartment unit close to the encampment and says she hears people banging on her window and walls at night. To protect the integrity of the window, her family stacked up household items to act as a barrier from the inside. She says someone in her family feels they need to be there at all times to make sure nothing happens to their home.
“We’ve called 311, 911, no one is helping at all,” she said.
On Tuesday, there was a shooting at the encampment that left one man injured. Over the past month, Minneapolis Police say five people have been shot in the area including a deadly shooting on May 16.
“We’re lucky not yet a shot has come through that wall, because there are families literally on the other side of that wall,” Park Square Condominium President Raymond Hoffman said.
The management team at the condominiums are at their wits end.
“How much more do we have to put up with?” Hoffman said.
He says they’ve been asking the city, council members and mayor for help to clear the encampment for weeks. They thought they had a date set last week, but it fell through.
“I did get a security company with ten officers, all that good stuff, but after that coordination the city fell through on their end. We were here that Thursday,” Westport Properties Portfolio Manager Abas Mohamed said.
They say the sleepless nights are taking a mental and financial toll on the residents and condo owners.
“A lot of the families are more or less middle or low income families, and they just want a safe space, and now they have to deal with all these issues and now a lot of the owners who rent their units are feeling like they’re losing money because a lot of the renters want to move out,” Mohamed said.
Last week, the City of Minneapolis told WCCO the closure of the encampment was ‘imminent.’ On Tuesday, a city spokesperson said it’s working with the property owners for an ‘imminent closure’, adding, “Encampment closure operations are fluid and dependent on resources, capacity, and external factors. Closure dates can shift as a result.”
“I don’t want words from them. I want action,” Hoffman said.
A Minneapolis grocery store owner faces felony charges in what investigators say was a million-dollar food assistance fraud scheme.
Abdid-Wahid Mohamed is accused of using other people’s EBT cards to get more than a million dollars to buy items from wholesale stores that he later sold at his own store.
EBT cards work like debit cards for low-income families who receive government-paid benefits.
Investigators said Mohamed owned Minnesota Food Grocery LLC near West Lake Street in Minneapolis and was seen buying items such as energy drinks and baby formula with EBT cards that did not belong to him.
Investigators said Mohamed then loaded the goods into his vehicles and took them to Minnesota Food Grocery, where they were unloaded and placed on store shelves for resale.
The court filing says one woman identified as F.F. told investigators she had not paid for groceries at Minnesota Food Grocery for more than 1.5 years after agreeing to let Mohamed use her EBT card.
The charging document says that between March 8, 2021 and Aug. 10, 2021, Mohamed received $1,141,082 in EBT payments.
If convicted, Mohamed could face up to 20 years in prison.
Food insecurity in Minnesota: SNAP cuts and rising demand
Minnesota food shelves are facing growing pressure as potential federal SNAP cuts, rising grocery prices and increased demand strain already limited resources. Some providers also report impacts tied to recent immigration enforcement activity, with families hesitant to seek assistance. Wendy Behm of ACBC Food Shelf joins to discuss how organizations are responding, efforts to combat food insecurity across the state, and what’s at stake during the current legislative session. Learn more at acbcfoodshelf.com.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – A Minneapolis grocery store owner is facing a felony charge after investigators say he trafficked more than $1.1 million in SNAP benefits using other people’s EBT cards.
SNAP benefits trafficking investigation leads to felony charge
What we know:
According to criminal charges filed in Hennepin County Court, Abdidwahid Mohamed, owner of Minnesota Food Grocery LLC, is accused of using EBT cards registered to other people to purchase items like energy drinks and baby formula at Sam’s Club and Costco between March 8, 2021 and August 10, 2021. The goods were then resold at his store.
The complaint states law enforcement says they watched Mohamed make the purchases and tracked him returning directly to his store with the items. Video surveillance and GPS data confirmed the trips, and investigators say many of the EBT cardholders were out of the country or denied shopping at the stores Mohamed visited.
The complaint states, “Mohamed received $1,141,082 in EBT payments” during the period in question. The federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is designed to help low-income households buy food, with benefits issued through EBT cards that work like debit cards.
Wal-Mart team sparks investigation
The backstory:
The investigation began when Wal-Mart’s Global Investigation Team flagged suspicious EBT transactions at Sam’s Club locations in Minneapolis. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) was contacted in May 2021, and surveillance of Mohamed followed.
The complaint states on Aug. 10, 2021, law enforcement executed search warrants at Mohamed’s store and vehicles. He was arrested at a Sam’s Club in Bloomington with an EBT card and a handwritten note containing a PIN number. Interviews with more than two dozen EBT cardholders revealed that many claimed their cards were lost or had never been used at the stores in question.
One woman admitted she had not shopped at Minnesota Food Grocery for more than a year-and-a-half after agreeing to let Mohamed use her EBT card.
The complaint states the offense “involved a high degree of sophistication or planning or occurred over a lengthy period of time.”
What’s next:
If convicted, Mohamed faces up to 20 years in prison or a $100,000 fine.
The Source: Information from a criminal complaint filed in Hennepin County District Court.
Minneapolis, MN
Truck driver dead after crash sends Metro Transit bus into home in south Minneapolis
It happened early Monday morning in Minneapolis.
One person is dead and another is hospitalized after an early-morning crash in south Minneapolis on Monday that sent a Metro Transit bus into a home.
It happened at around 4 a.m. at 10th Avenue South and East 38th Street, just a few blocks east of George Floyd Square.
A spokesperson for Metro Transit police tells 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS that a truck was speeding down 10th Avenue when it hit the back of the bus, ripping a tire off the bus and sending it into the front of a home.
The driver of that truck died, according to Metro Transit police, while the driver of the bus was taken to a hospital but is expected to be OK.
Officials say nobody besides the driver was on the bus at the time, and the home the bus hit was also empty at the time.
Investigators are still at the scene, working to clean up all of the debris and determine exactly what led up to the crash.
5 EYEWITNESS NEWS is at the scene and working to learn more. Download the KSTP app and follow 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS on social media for the latest updates.
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