Charges will not be filed against law enforcement after a young Black man was found dead after drowning in Crystal Lake two days after he ran away from police during an attempted traffic stop.
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty on Monday announced her office found “no evidence of inappropriate behavior by law enforcement” in the death of Khalil Azad, 24, from Crystal Lake.
“My thoughts are with Khalil Azad’s family and loved ones in this difficult time,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a press release.
“Losing someone so young is devastating. Although this is not the result they hoped for, our victim support team remains available to help them through this extremely difficult time.”
Azad’s family and friends disagree with Moriarty’s decision.
“We feel there’s plenty of evidence that there’s plenty of evidence that’s contrary to that,” said Paul Bownik. “We did have a meeting with Mary Moriarty and we just head a lot of double speak. We had many questions and concerns.”
It was July 3, 2022 when police attempted to pull over Azad’s vehicle for suspected impaired driving. Azad drove away from the DWI stop and crashed the vehicle in the 3900 block of Lakeland Avenue North off of Highway 81 near Crystal Lake.
Following the crash, Azad fled and police at the scene were unable to locate him. His body was ultimately found in the lake on July 5.
Two months later, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office determined “freshwater drowning” was the cause of Azad’s death and ruled his death as an accident.
Azad’s family demanded more information after the medical examiner’s ruling, saying he knew how to swim and that autopsy photos appeared to show he was bitten by dogs and beaten by police.
Bownik maintains autopsy photos show Azad was beaten.
“I’ve shown photos to friends and different buddies and that’s the first reaction, ‘Oh my god, they beat him to death.’ And we still believe that,” added Bownik.
Robbinsdale police released body camera footage of the incident and asked the Minnesota BCA to investigate Azad’s death.
“The BCA uncovered no evidence that any member of law enforcement had any physical contact with Khalil after the initial traffic stop,” Moriarty said. “The investigation also did not reveal evidence that any member of law enforcement did anything other than seek in earnest to locate Khalil, utilizing multiple officers from multiple agencies, multiple K9s, a State Patrol helicopter, and thermal imaging, and trying to acquire information from the two others who had been in the same vehicle.”
Bownik telling WCCO Radio on Monday that Communities United Against Police Brutality is investigating the case.