A Minneapolis police officer has been fired for unspecified misconduct — the second dismissal of a Minneapolis officer in a week — officials said Wednesday.
Minneapolis police officer fired for unspecified misconduct
Blayne Lehner is an 18-year veteran of the department. It was the second such dismissal in a week.
January 29, 2016 at 3:31AM
Blayne Lehner, an 18-year veteran, was fired after a complaint, authorities said. The police department released a statement citing data privacy laws, saying it could not comment on the case. Officials did confirm that the police union would appeal Lehner's firing.
The union was unavailable for comment. Minneapolis City Council Member Blong Yang, who heads the Public Safety Committee, also declined to comment.
Lehner, who is on the board for the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis, received a department award of merit in 2013.
He was named in a 2012 lawsuit alleging that he was among several officers who entered a home without a warrant in September 2011, where a 19-year-old was repeatedly stomped on, according to City Pages. Lehner was accused of knocking the man unconscious from kicks to the head and torso.
City Pages reported that the City Council approved an $85,000 settlement in the case, where the city did not admit guilt. Earlier in 2012, the weekly publication identified Lehner as the officer who allegedly assaulted a KSTP cameraman during an Occupy rally downtown.
Lehner has previously worked in 911 response as well as in the Third and Fifth precincts.
Officer Rod Webber was fired last week, nearly a year after a profanity-laced video surfaced online of him berating a 17-year-old Somali boy, saying, "Plain and simple, if you [expletive] with me, I'm gonna break your legs before you get a chance to run."
Lt. Bob Kroll, president of the police union, said that the union was weighing an appeal of Webber's dismissal, believed to be the seventh of Chief Janeé Harteau's tenure. Lehner's discharge would mark the eighth.
liz.sawyer@startribune.com 612-673-4648 libor.jany@startribune.com 612-673-4064
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