Mourners block streets where Minneapolis police car crashed into car during pursuit, killing innocent driver

Mourners on Wednesday night blocked off the intersection where a Minneapolis police squad had crashed into and killed an innocent driver during a police pursuit the day before.

Using their cars, they barricaded the intersection from all sides, rejecting police requests to open up the intersection. One irate driver confronted the crowd, sending people running in a panic, and then left.

Cheryl Frazier said family and friends would remain at the site all night. The victim was her brother, Leneal Frazier, 40, of St. Paul. She said he was a father of six children, who range in age from 6 months to 22 years.

"We're gonna get through this," she said.

After the intersection was blockaded and as darkness fell, police brought in road closure signs, allowing the crowd to gather safely.

Earlier Wednesday, the Minneapolis Police Department identified the officer who was driving the squad that crashed into Frazier's vehicle as Brian Cummings.

Police said Tuesday that Cummings was pursuing a robbery suspect in a carjacked vehicle northbound on Lyndale Avenue in the Camden neighborhood. The squad struck Frazier's vehicle at the busy intersection of Lyndale and 41st Ave. N. around 12:30 a.m. A third vehicle also was involved.

On Tuesday, family members identified Frazier as the innocent victim in the crash. His niece, Darnella Frazier, is the teenager who filmed the murder of George Floyd last year and won an honorary Pulitzer for bearing witness to the fatal arrest that sparked worldwide protest and monthslong unrest last summer in Minneapolis.

Darnella Frazier posted an update to her Facebook page Wednesday afternoon clarifying that she never said the officer, Cummings, intentionally killed her uncle.

"I never said the police killed him on purpose," she wrote. "I said it was the police's fault … The police car is the car that killed my uncle."

She wrote that the police made a bad decision by conducting a high-speed chase through a residential neighborhood, and that bad decision "cost my uncle his life."

The group of at least 40 mourners gathered on Wednesday evening in front of the Marathon gas station on N. Lyndale Avenue. Many people were dressed in red — Frazier's favorite color — and exchanged hugs. Some placed flowers, mostly red roses, balloons and photos under a tree near the crash site. R&B music played in the background.

Jamie Bradford, 20, said her father wasn't part of her life for 17 years, but he showed up on her 18th birthday and "that made up for everything."

"He was an amazing man," she said. "He apologized and he said he was gonna start doing better, and they took my dad away from me and I'll never get to experience that."

Sgt. Alice White, supervisor of the Fourth Precinct, spoke with Frazier's mother, Jacqueline, at the memorial. White also approached the crowd and told them she was sorry for their loss. "It's a very sad situation," she said.

The Police Department and State Patrol are investigating. An incident report released Wednesday indicates there is body camera, squad car and security footage of the wreck.

State Patrol spokesman Lt. Gordon Shank refused to comment on the investigation, citing it as "open and active."

In an interview Wednesday, police spokesman John Elder said the suspect police were pursuing was still at large. He said he couldn't comment further because the case is open and under internal review. He would not immediately disclose Cummings' age or how long he's been with MPD.

Elder said the pursuit "fit the criteria" of chases warranted per MPD policy because the suspect was a robbery suspect. Per MPD policy, officers can only engage in a chase if they believe a suspect has committed or is about to commit "a serious and violent felony or gross misdemeanor." No information about the identity of the suspect has been released.

Police identified the third driver as Mohamed Hussam Eldin Abdel Aziz, 49, of Columbia Heights.

Last December during a joint new conference, MPD and the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office announced they were teaming up with the State Patrol to crack down on carjackings by using helicopters. Elder said at the time the aerial surveillance would "support the ground troops" and help avoid police pursuits.

Cummings and another officer were sued in 2019 for using a Taser on a man when they responded to a mental health crisis call in August 2017. The incident involving Cliff Johnson on his front stoop in the 5500 block of 38th Avenue S. was recorded on body cameras.

Johnson, who had a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, sued the city of Minneapolis, Cummings and Officer Kevin Franek, who fired the Taser without warning. He was awarded $10,000.

Kim Hyatt • 612-673-4751

Maya Miller • 612-673-7086