Minnesota State Patrol investigation exonerates trooper Ryan Londregan in killing of Ricky Cobb II
MINNEAPOLIS — An investigation by the Minnesota State Patrol has exonerated a White state trooper who shot and killed a Black man during a traffic stop on Interstate 94 last summer.
Ryan Londregan was charged with second-degree unintentional murder, first-degree assault and second-degree manslaughter for fatally shooting Ricky Cobb II on the morning of July 31, 2023, during a traffic stop for inactive taillights. He pleaded not guilty to those charges in May.
Charges against Londregan were dropped in early June after the Hennepin County Attorney's Office determined it could no longer meet its burden of proof.
Despite the charges being dropped, Londregan remained on paid leave while the Minnesota State Patrol conducted a critical incident review.
On Thursday, Lonregan's attorney Chris Madel said the Minnesota State Patrol provided a memorandum that stated, "Internal Affairs has completed the investigation into allegations brought against you. The findings of the investigation have exonerated you of the allegations."
The Minnesota State Patrol confirmed that the complaint is closed but there has been no change in work status for Londregan. Madel says it could be a matter of weeks before Londregan returns to work.
On July 18, Madel says Londregan sat down with a Minnesota Department of Public Safety investigator and answered questions regarding the incident with Cobb.
"I said it after he got charged, I said it when the charges were dismissed, and I'll say it again: Trooper Londregan is a hero," Madel said.
Special prosecutors hired for the Londregan case also developed a report that includes an analysis of the impact of the new evidence and recommendations for the state patrol, including requiring "prompt and complete" cooperation by law enforcement personnel during in-custody death investigations, a state patrol investigation to determine if policy and training changes are needed, an increase in deescalation training for troopers and an amendment to its use of force policy.
Last month, the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association filed a formal complaint against Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, alleging she acted unethically in prosecuting Londregan.
The complaint came one day after the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension released case files in Londregan's case which included over a thousand pages of documents, more than 400 pictures and hundreds of hours of video.
The police association's complaint alleges Moriarty and her office "repeatedly courted pretrial publicity that they knew would be substantially likely to materially prejudice a jury"; "knowingly [made] false statements of fact while representing the State against Trooper Londregan"; and engaged in "conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice."
Cobb's family expressed frustration after the charges were dropped against Londregan.
"Justice, I knew that wasn't going to happen," said Ricky Cobb Sr., Cobb's father. "The truth came out. Our taxpayer dollars pay for untrained officers, armed, to run these streets to protect us. I don't want my taxpayer dollars to go that way."
In a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice, attorneys for Cobb's family called for an investigation into the killing as well as "disturbing failures in both training and procedure at the Minnesota State Patrol outlined in a report released by the Hennepin County Attorney's Office."
In April, Cobb's family filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Londregan and Brett Seide, another trooper involved in the traffic stop. The lawsuit accuses the state troopers of unreasonable seizure and excessive use of force in violation of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments.
