Pubdate: Fri, 01 Dec 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: Phillip Pina
Note: Lisa Donovan contributed to this report.

MAN SHOT IN DRUG STING FAULTS ACTIONS OF MINNEAPOLIS POLICE

Police Dispute His Account About St. Paul Incident

More than a week after one man was killed and he was shot by Minneapolis 
police, Michael Ivory said Thursday that officers had no cause to fire 
their weapons and have misled the public about it ever since.

In his first public statements since the Nov. 21 shooting in downtown St. 
Paul, Ivory said the Minneapolis officers started shooting without warning. 
The officers were not in uniform. They did not show a badge. And they did 
not identify themselves, he said.

"I feel what they did was wrong," Ivory said at a news conference in the 
offices of Minneapolis attorney Douglas E. Schmidt.

Ivory was hit three times by the officers' bullets, once in the shoulder 
and twice in the head. He was riding in a car driven by James Fye, who was 
killed in the shootings. The incident began in the parking lot of Mickey's 
Diner after undercover narcotics officers surrounded the pair's car. The 
officers shot as Fye drove away.

The confrontation continues to be investigated by both St. Paul and 
Minneapolis police. As far as any drug accusations, Ivory was jailed for 
several days before being released without being charged.

Minneapolis police spokeswoman Cyndi Montgomery disputed Ivory's claims, 
saying the officers identified themselves while trying to arrest the two 
men, and that the officers fired their weapons after one was hit and 
another was dragged by Fye's car as he attempted to flee. The officers were 
there after Ivory tried to set up a drug buy with undercover investigators, 
she added.

Witnesses at the diner the night of the shootings told the Pioneer Press 
that the police officers did identify themselves while ordering Fye to stop 
his car. And at least one witness said the officers lifted their shirts to 
show what he thought were police badges, and that the driver of the car 
attempted to run down the officers. No officers were injured in the incident.

The 39-year-old Ivory, of St. Paul, said he and Fye, 29, also of St. Paul, 
were just hanging out and were in Mickey's parking lot, on West Seventh 
Street, for just a few minutes before deciding to leave. Ivory had to get 
to work, he said. As they were leaving, he spotted a man firing a pistol at 
the side of the car, and then another stepped in front of the car and began 
to shoot at him and Fye. Ivory said he didn't know then that they were 
undercover Minneapolis officers.

"I just thought they were thugs or something," he said.

Ivory said he hadn't been in Minneapolis since July. And he noted there 
were no drugs in the car, and no weapons. His attorney said there would be 
no comment about police accusations of a drug transaction.

Ivory's family contacted Schmidt after a sister, Denise Lucas, wasn't 
allowed to visit Ivory for several days after the shooting. They spoke out 
Thursday so they could tell their side of the story about the shooting 
incident, Ivory said, and because the family doesn't want it to happen to 
anyone else.

Fye was the fifth person shot to death by Minneapolis police in the past 12 
months, and the third after allegedly driving a vehicle toward officers. 
The unusually high number has prompted Police Chief Robert Olson to review 
the cases and any possible training issues.

"People are coming up dead with no answers," said Lucas, Ivory's sister.

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.

St. Paul police investigators have interviewed 10 of the 12 Minneapolis 
officers involved in the drug sting. That includes two of the three 
officers who shot at the men in the car, said St. Paul police spokesman 
Michael Jordan. It was unclear when the last two would be interviewed.

Once police finish interviewing the officers, the case will be referred to 
the Ramsey County attorney for possible charges against the officers and Ivory.

"I don't know what we've got on Mr. Ivory right now," Jordan said. "If you 
set up a deal to give somebody something you don't have, I don't know if 
that's a crime," in reference to the fact no drugs were found in Fye's vehicle.

Minneapolis police also will turn over information from their drug 
investigation, which may affect Ivory, to prosecutors in Minneapolis, 
Montgomery said.
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