Police Reject Family's Claim Fleeing Man Was Shot
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The family of a West St. Paul man who died while running from police says the officers aren't telling the whole story.
Police say they tried to track down 29-year-old Jason Yang on Nov. 13 after he got into a fight at Epic Nightclub in downtown Minneapolis.
Jason Yang died after jumping from the North 4th Street ramp in Minneapolis onto a freeway exit.
When the family looked at his body at the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's office last week, they claim they saw a bullet wound in Jason Yang's body.
"This fall doesn't make sense at all to me and I'm hoping to get some answers, that's all," said Mee Yang, Jason Yang's wife.
The family became upset when the medical examiner allowed them to see his body, but would not let them bring a camera. The family brought Michelle Gross, who heads Communities Against Police Brutality.
Mee Yang and Gross claim they saw a bullet wound near Jason Yang's shoulder. Gross filed an affidavit to have Jason Yang's body preserved as evidence.
"They said that, 'no photographer' and we won't agree to that, so consequently we will see them in court," said Gross last week.
But police claim that at no point during the pursuit did they physically contact Yang or were gunshots ever fired.
"It is irresponsible for some individuals to lead a grieving family into believing these false accusations. These individuals have long been self-serving charlatans for the truth," said Police Chief Tim Dolan in a statement released Tuesday.
That response wasn't good enough for Jason Yang's brother, John Yang, who he said he still believes there may be more to his brothers' death.
"I think we are just really puzzled and question about everything. I think really right now we are just searching for answers," he said.
At a press conference Tuesday evening, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner reiterated that Jason Yang was never shot.
"Clearly the only knowledge she had of the body was what she saw through a glass window. She did not review autopsy photos, she didn't review the report, she didn't confer with me or the pathologist who did the autopsy, she didn't consider the internal examination and why that would rule out a gunshot wound," he said.
Gross claimed to be a Registered Nurse in Minnesota, but WCCO-TV did not find her name listed in the Minnesota Board of Nursing.
