Willmar man died after shock from deputy’s Taser in eviction attempt over late rent, officials say

A man who was shocked by a Taser fired by a sheriff’s deputy this week while wielding a knife in an apartment in Willmar, Minn., has died, officials said Wednesday.

Michael James Yanacheak, 75, was tased Monday morning while officers were attempting to evict him from his home in the 1600 block of SW. 5th Street, the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) said.

The BCA said in a statement that the cause of Yanacheak’s death, including whether tasing was a factor, “is undetermined pending further investigation” by the Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office.

Bonney Bowman, a BCA spokeswoman, said her agency doesn’t track deaths associated with law enforcement deploying Tasers.

One of the most authoritative investigations into deaths in the United States attributed at least in part to Tasers or other makes of stun guns is a 2017 investigation by the Reuters news agency, which put the tally at more than 1,000, nearly all of them since the early 2000s. Reuters listed 14 of those deaths as occurring in Minnesota.

Yanacheak’s niece Shani Gutknecht told the Star Tribune that her uncle had been having mental and physical issues recently.

“I was over there on Sunday, and he was not well,” she said. “We’ve been trying to get him help at the VA [hospital] in St. Cloud.”

Gutknecht said she knew her uncle was uncharacteristically behind on his rent, and the plan was for him to relocate to a mental health unit in Willmar.

“He has just fallen through the cracks,” she said. “This whole thing should not have happened.”

Yanacheak served for three years in the Army during the Vietnam War and worked at the Minnesota State Capitol for decades as a security guard until his retirement, Gutknecht said.

“We used to go there as kids and visit him,” Gutknecht recalled. “He lived in St. Paul most of his life and walked to work. He took that job very, very seriously.”

According to the BCA and court records:

Two Kandiyohi County sheriff’s deputies and two Willmar police officers went to Yanacheak’s apartment to enforce a court-ordered eviction that was filed on Jan. 23 for failing to pay $770 in monthly rent in November and December. They tried to get him to open the door, but he didn’t respond.

After about an hour, the Towne Oaks apartment building manager pried open the door, and the law enforcement officers entered. They found Yanacheak in a bedroom, where he picked up a kitchen knife and walked toward them.

The officers tried to retreat out of the apartment, but at one point, Deputy Riley Kampsendeployed his Taser and struck Yanacheak.

The officers provided medical care at the scene until he could be taken to St. Cloud Hospital, where he died that night. No officers shot their firearms.

A police officer recovered a knife at the scene, which was turned over to the BCA.

Kampsen and the two police officers all had on body-worn cameras. BCA agents are reviewing all available video as part of the active investigation.

Once the investigation is complete, the BCA will present its findings without a charging recommendation to the Kandiyohi County Attorney’s Office for review into whether Kampsen’s actions were legally justified.

The BCA said Kampsen has five years of law enforcement experience.