The Family of Leneal Frazier Demands Justice; Asks AG To Take Case
By WCCO-TV Reporter Pafoua Yang
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) - The family of Leneal Frazier is calling for justice after Frazier died in a Minneapolis squad car collision.
Lenneal was struck by a Minneapolis squad car Tuesday morning while driving across the intersection of Lyndale and 41st Avenues. The squad car was pursuing a carjacking suspect, which police say had lights and sirens on.
Frazier's family says they want the officer of that squad car fired. The officer behind the wheel was Brian Cummings, who is now on administrative paid leave.
"They took the most important person from us," said Orlando Frazier, the brother of Frazier. "It hurts. My brother was the happiest man in the world. He didn't deserve what he got."
"We are not just on it because it's the cop," said Jamie Bradford, the daughter of Frazier. "If you saw the video, the first car would have hit him first if my dad was going any faster. We would have been out here wanting the same justice."
The family is not only demanding that Cummings be fired immediately, they also want Attorney General Keith Ellison to take over the case.
"There are people who want to be dismissive because there wasn't a knee to the neck or there wasn't a gunshot wound, yet what we see in this case is someone minding their own business and not even be able to make it safely to their destination because of the reckless conduct of the Minneapolis Police department," said Civil Rights Attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong.
Attorneys Ben Crump and Jeff Storms will represent Frazier's family in a lawsuit against the MPD. Crump also represented the family of George Floyd.
"The policy for the Minneapolis Police Department, it describes flagrantly reckless driving as a failure to stop at controlled intersections without slowing," said Attorney Storms.
According to MPD policy, police can begin a chase if they believe a suspect will commit or did commit a violent felony or gross misdemeanor.
The policy also states that police may not initiate pursuit or break off a pursuit if it possess an unreasonable risk to the officers, the public or passengers of the vehicle been pursued.
"Me and my family, we are going 10 times strong every day until we get justice," said Orlando.
Body-worn cameras and dashcam footage of the crash have not been released.
