The St. Anthony police officer who fatally shot Philando Castile earlier this month helped book Castile into jail after a 2011 traffic stop that started with a defective brake light, newly released records show.
Officer Jeronimo Yanez was also one of the two officers assigned to work the July 2 armed robbery of a Lauderdale convenience store — scanner audio and Yanez's attorney said he pulled over Castile's white Oldsmobile the night he was killed because he matched the description of a suspect from a previous robbery.
The new details are contained in records that the city of St. Anthony released late Thursday in response to media requests.
The 2011 traffic stop, in which Castile was arrested and cited for driving with a revoked license, was the only previous incident the city of St. Anthony had recorded with Castile before he was killed July 6, according to City Attorney Jay Lindgren.
Castile was driving a Chevrolet south on Hamline Avenue near Larpenteur Avenue in Falcon Heights on Nov. 23, 2011, when officer Mark Dokken pulled him over for a defective brake light, according to the incident report. Dokken then discovered Castile had a revoked license and an outstanding misdemeanor warrant in Hennepin County for driving after revocation.
Yanez was one of the two officers who took Castile to the Hennepin County jail for booking.
More than four years later, on July 2, 2016, Yanez and another officer were assigned to the armed robbery of a convenience store in Lauderdale. Employees of the Super USA at 2424 Larpenteur Av. W. near Hwy. 280 described the suspects and said they had taken $700 in cash and cigarettes, the incident report said.
Officers cleared the scene around 10 o'clock that night. Officer Tressa Sunde, and not Yanez, is listed at the primary officer on the case.
