Man killed by St. Paul cops had raped young relative, charges say

The man who fatally stabbed a police dog and then was killed by officers in St. Paul on Tuesday had allegedly raped a female relative repeatedly, beginning when she was 7 and continuing until she became pregnant at 14.

The North Star Fugitive Task Force -- which includes St. Paul police, U.S. deputy marshals and Ramsey County sheriff's deputies -- was trying to arrest Alden P. Anderson, 32, on charges of first-degree criminal sexual conduct when he was fatally shot about 1:40 p.m. Tuesday in the basement of a house in the 700 block of Aurora Avenue .

The charges were filed Monday in Ramsey County District Court.

According to the complaint, the girl told a St. Paul investigator in 2006 when she was 14 that she was pregnant with Anderson's baby. She told police he was the only person with whom she had had sex. The girl's mother said Anderson had lived with her family in Minnesota. The girl was living with her father in Illinois when the allegations were first reported to police. She gave birth in August 2006.

Anderson had moved to Missouri by that time, and the girl's mother did not have contact information for him.

An investigator met with the girl in July 2012 when she moved back to St. Paul. She told police that Anderson started abusing her when she was 7 and that they had sexual contact more than 100 times. She became pregnant in October 2005, one month after her first menstrual period, while living in St. Paul, the complaint said.

The St. Paul investigator spoke with a detective in St. Louis in July 2012 regarding Anderson, who was a suspect in a criminal sexual conduct case there. St. Louis authorities collected a DNA sample from Anderson.

Authorities were trying to arrest Anderson Tuesday when they found him armed with a knife in a basement. Anderson stabbed K-9 officer Kody several times. The 9-year-old dog, who was slated for retirement soon, died while being transported to a veterinary hospital.

"Officers, recognizing the threat to the officers themselves, then fatally shot the suspect," a police news release said.

Police have not released details of the incident, citing the ongoing investigation. St. Paul police identified officer Jeffrey Thissen, a 10-year-veteran, as one of the law enforcement officials who fired their weapons. He is on administrative leave, which is standard practice in such cases.

Thissen was one of two officers who fired his weapon in December at Melvin D. Fletcher Jr., who was fatally wounded. Fletcher had allegedly robbed Kowalski's Market on Grand Avenue and fled police. That case has not been presented to a grand jury to assess the officers' actions.

St. Paul police said two deputy U.S. marshals also fired their weapons Tuesday. Sharon Lubinski, U.S. marshal for the District of Minnesota, declined to name the deputies, saying the agency does not have to release them. "I need to follow policy," she said.

Kody and officer Dave Longbehn were partners for seven years. Longbehn earned the department's Medal of Valor and the Minnesota Peace Officers Association's award for Police Officer of the Year in 2011 for fatally shooting a man who had killed a Maplewood police officer. Longbehn confronted Jason J. Jones, 21, in 2011. Jones had carjacked a civilian and then fatally shot Sgt. Joe Bergeron. Jones hit Longbehn in the face with a metal object wrapped in cloth. The two struggled, and Longbehn fatally shot Jones.

St. Paul police spokesman Sgt. Paul Paulos said that services for Kody are being planned and that K-9 officers are typically cremated and buried in a cemetery at the department's K-9 training facility in Maplewood. The department has lost four other dogs in the line of duty.

Tuesday's incident is the fourth time in five months that St. Paul police have been involved in a fatal officer-involved shooting.

In addition to Anderson and Fletcher, officers fatally shot Victor T. Gaddy in October during a narcotics investigation. Chue Xiong was killed later that same day when he stole a shotgun and compound bow from his parents' house and, across the street from the department's Eastern District office, fired upon and badly wounded officer Daniel King.