Minneapolis police on Friday identified the officer who was driving the police vehicle that went through a red light and was struck by a motorcyclist in Minneapolis' Uptown neighborhood on May 10. The motorcycle driver was killed.
The officer was Joshua Young, who joined the department in March 2006, Police Chief Janeé Harteau said in a news release.
The SUV Young was driving was struck by a motorcycle driven by Ivan Romero, who was killed. His passenger, Joselin Torrejon-Villamil, was injured. The crash happened that Friday afternoon after burglary suspect Terrance Franklin, 22, took police on a wild chase through a crowded Uptown neighborhood. He was eventually found in the basement of a house and killed by gunshots after a scuffle with police officers, two of whom were shot and wounded.
Young, who is assigned to the Third Precinct, has served with the National Guard in Somalia and Iraq, Harteau said.
In 2012, Young was awarded the Medal of Commendation for his work in apprehending a suspect who was assaulting a woman in the hallway of an apartment building, as well as a Life Saving Award for saving a babby who was choking on a grape, Harteau said.
In the release, entitled "Chief Harteau continues her transparency as the investigations progress," she said that police are continuing to investigate both the crash and the shootings and awaiting the results of forensics and other tests.
She reiterated statements she made at a tense news conference on Wednesday during which she was questioned about why more information about those events has not been made public.
