Nearly a year after a couple were fatally shot by police on Hwy. 212 in Eden Prairie, their families and friends are increasingly frustrated as they await answers while the case remains under review — an unusually long time for an officer-involved shooting case.
In other recent such shootings, investigators and grand juries wrapped up their work within five months or so, according to a review of local cases over the past two years. But the Feb. 7 shooting that killed Matthew Serbus, 36, originally of Maple Grove, and Dawn Pfister, 34, of Elkhorn, Wis., remains under review by the Hennepin County attorney's office 10 months later.
"The family's frustrated," said Robert Bennett, a Minneapolis attorney representing Pfister's family. "There's been no new news. The body of evidence hasn't increased."
The exact point the process is at is not public information. But sources say a grand jury decision could be reached as soon as this month. Bennett has his own theories as to why the case hasn't been resolved yet.
"I'm very sure there is problematic evidence — more problematic than [Eric] Garner or Ferguson, [Mo.]," he said. "This is a harder case than either of those. This is something that should be watched nationally."
Serbus and Pfister were in a stolen car from Colorado when they rear-ended a car on Feb. 7, taking off and leading officers on a chase from Chaska to Eden Prairie. After stop sticks punctured the car's tires, it crashed between Hwy. 101 and Dell Road.
According to an investigation by the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, Serbus emerged from the car and "produced a knife," ignoring repeated commands to drop it. After officers fired at him, the BCA said, Pfister "took possession" of the knife, and was shot.
The BCA investigation didn't say how far away the couple were from officers. But police are trained that a knife-wielding person less than 21 feet away can stab an officer before he or she can get a gun out of a holster, law enforcement experts say.
