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Crime, Law and Justice
Matt Sepic
Minneapolis

Black man's request for jump start in Minneapolis escalates to arrest, civil rights lawsuit

officer pushes man to street
Minneapolis police officer Sergio Villegas pushes Said Abdullahi to the ground before arresting him on April 22, 2022 in this body camera image included in a federal civil rights lawsuit.
Courtesy video

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A Minneapolis man alleges in a civil rights lawsuit filed Tuesday that two police officers assaulted him after he asked another driver for a jump start.

Said Abdullahi, who’s of Ethiopian descent, said that his car broke down early last year on a side street near Franklin and Cedar Avenues and he asked a white man in another vehicle for help.

The other driver, who’s not named in the lawsuit, allegedly threatened Abdullahi with a knife and baseball bat and before calling 911.

As Abdullahi explained the situation to the responding officers, the driver “remained extremely agitated and hostile,” and the officers threatened to jail Abdullahi if he approached the other vehicle.

At the same time, officer Daniel Barlow “acknowledged that Abdullahi was engaged in zero unlawful behavior” and had not threatened the other man.

As Abdullahi recorded video of his interaction with police, officer Sergio Villegas allegedly pushed Abdullahi to the ground before Villegas and Barlow arrested him for disorderly conduct. Abdullahi said he suffered a cut to his elbow after falling backwards onto the street.

Abdullahi spent three nights in the Hennepin County Jail, but the charges of misdemeanor disorderly conduct were dismissed.

Attorney Jeff Storms filed the suit in federal court along with body camera video from the incident.

City spokesperson Casper Hill said in an email to MPR News on Tuesday that the city had not been served with the complaint.