Pubdate: Thu, 23 Nov 2000
Source: Saint Paul Pioneer Press (MN)
Copyright: 2000 St. Paul Pioneer Press
Contact:  345 Cedar St., St. Paul, MN 55101
Website: http://www.pioneerplanet.com/
Forum: http://www.pioneerplanet.com/watercooler/
Author: Lisa Donovan

POLICE INVESTIGATING DRUG-STING SHOOTING

Man Killed After Car Hit Officers

Undercover Minneapolis police officers got the call from a suspected
drug dealer ready to do business.

The man reportedly agreed to sell marijuana to the buyer -- an
undercover Minneapolis officer -- on one condition: It had to be in a
public place in St. Paul on Tuesday night.

The deal unraveled almost as soon as plainclothes officers met the
suspect and a second man, described as a drug supplier, about 6:45
p.m. outside Mickey's Diner on West Seventh Street in downtown St.
Paul.

In the end, James Charles Fye, a convicted killer, was dead and
Michael Wayne Ivory was critically wounded after the officers fired an
estimated 20 shots at the men as they tried to flee in their car. As
Fye, the driver of the blue Pontiac Sunbird, attempted to leave, he
struck two officers, prompting the gunfire.

"I understand a couple of the officers got struck by the car," said
Minneapolis Police Chief Robert Olson. "One went over the hood, and
another's coat got caught in a rear-view mirror."

The fleeing suspects then crashed into the side of a Seventh Street
church several blocks west of the diner.

Fye, 29, of 903 Randolph Ave. in St. Paul, suffered at least one
gunshot wound to the head. The Ramsey County medical examiner began an
autopsy Wednesday afternoon. In 1991, Fye was sentenced to nine years
in prison after pleading guilty to unintentional second-degree murder
for his role in the death of a St. Paul man beaten with an empty beer
keg.

Had Tuesday's undercover operation not soured, it might have gone
virtually unnoticed. Minneapolis and St. Paul police say they
routinely work on cases in other jurisdictions.

Minneapolis police plan to examine all aspects of the case to
determine whether proper procedure was followed. In the last 12
months, Minneapolis police fatally shot four other people, including
two motorists authorities said were trying to hit officers.

Olson said he is very concerned about the number of police shootings
and will work with the department's training unit.

"We dissect these things, we need to know what happened here," Olson
said. "We have to find out: Was procedure followed there? And how do
we minimize injuries to suspects or bystanders or our officers?"

For now, St. Paul homicide investigators are handling the criminal
investigation resulting from Tuesday night's shootings and eventually
will turn the case over to the Ramsey County attorney to consider charges.

As many as 12 Minneapolis officers were working on the undercover drug
operation and those officers were asking for representation from their
union before sitting down with St. Paul investigators; a meeting
between several of those Minneapolis officers and investigators is
expected Friday.

"It is standard, no matter what side of the river it happens," said
Sgt. John Delmonico, president of the Police Officers Federation of
Minneapolis.

The three Minneapolis officers who fired their weapons -- Aaron
Morrison, Scott Ramsdell and Michael Kaneko -- were put on paid
administrative leave following the shooting, standard procedure in
such cases. No officers were injured.

In addition, investigators will look at the role of the surviving
suspect.

Ivory, 39, of 219 Arch St. in St. Paul, faces charges of conspiracy to
distribute narcotics, said St. Paul police spokesman Michael Jordan.
Regions Hospital upgraded his condition Wednesday from critical to
fair.

Minneapolis authorities say it was Ivory who proposed Tuesday's drug
buy.

Both Ivory and Fye have lengthy criminal histories, according to court
records. Ivory was recently convicted of assault and has been arrested
for robbery and sale of a non-controlled substance, according to
Ramsey County District Court records.

The suspects were the focus of an ongoing investigation by the
Minneapolis Police Department's 3rd Precinct Community Response Team.

Team members patrol neighborhoods in undercover cars to gather
information about what types of crimes are occurring most frequently
in their precinct.

About a month ago, Ivory approached an undercover officer in
Minneapolis' Phillips neighborhood boasting that he could get
marijuana anytime, Olson said.

"This individual (Ivory) had a number for one of our officers and
called him last night or late yesterday afternoon," Olson said
Wednesday. "He did not want to come into Minneapolis, (he) said he was
afraid to, that there was too much heat."

Undercover officers from the South Minneapolis precinct then set up a
drug deal near Mickey's Diner in St. Paul and had intended on buying
up to a pound of marijuana, said Minneapolis Police Department
spokeswoman Cyndi Montgomery.

Jordan said that Minneapolis police then notified St. Paul police of
their plans Tuesday evening.

Two St. Paul officers, one in uniform and the other in street clothes,
met with the Minneapolis officers about 6:45 p.m. The St. Paul
officers were given a cellular phone that allowed them to listen and
monitor the exchange between the Minneapolis officers and the alleged
drug dealers.

The St. Paul officers then sat as "backup" about two blocks away in a
marked squad car at Seventh and St. Peter streets.

Meanwhile, the suspects met up with five or six undercover Minneapolis
officers in the parking lot of Mickey's Diner, 36 W. Seventh St. It
was there that the two suspects began talking about finding a more
secluded area to conclude the drug deal.

But the officers balked at that idea because they were concerned for
their safety, Olson said.

Because the suspects confirmed they had brought the marijuana, the
officers decided to make an arrest, Olson said. At that point, Fye put
the car in reverse, striking an officer who was standing behind the
car and clipping an officer standing on one side of the car.

Police and an eyewitness said three officers then drew their weapons
and began firing. The driver sped west on Seventh Street for about
four blocks, striking several vehicles and slamming into the side of
the Free at Last Church of God in Christ, 200 West Seventh St.

On Wednesday, police searched the car, but found no drugs or weapons.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake