North Dakota crime syndicate imploding

Rolette County police shooting occurs one day after Grand Forks States Attorney asked to turn over cam evidence from separate police shooting

by Timothy Charles Holmseth on January 19, 2017, 3:06 P.M. CST

The body-count in North Dakota continues to rise.

Today, Rolette County Sheriff Gerald Medrud announced Colt Eugene Allery, a deputy sheriff, was fatally shot and two other deputies are on paid administrative leave after a vehicle chase turned deadly Wednesday.

Yesterday, Write Into Action contacted the Grand Forks County States Attorney’s Office requesting police video evidence from the David James Elliott police shooting case.

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From: Timothy Charles Holmseth [mailto:tholmseth@wiktel.com] 
Sent: Wednesday, January 18, 2017 1:00 PM
To: ‘haley.wamstad@gfcounty.org’
Subject: Attn: Haley Wamstad

Timothy Charles Holmseth
320 17th Street N.W.
Unit# 17
East Grand Forks, MN
56721
218.773.1299
218.230.1597 (cell)
http://www.writeintoaction.com
tholmseth@wiktel.com
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009187154735

In Re: Public Records

January 18, 2017

Haley Wamstad
Assistant Grand Forks County States Attorney 
Grand Forks, North Dakota

Attorney [Wamstad],

I am requesting all of the police body-cam and dash-cam related to the 18-2015-CR-00632 (State of North Dakota vs. David James Elliott).

I am contacting your office because the records are digital data and was referred to you by the Grand Forks County Sheriff’s Office.

Respectfully,
Timothy Charles Holmseth
Investigative Journalist/Author/Publisher

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Wednesday’s police shooting also comes in the direct wake of Write Into Action’s expositive report that former Walsh County Sheriff Lauren Wild was allegedly involved in the pursuit of David James Elliott in 2015.

Elliott was deadly afraid of Wild and thought he was going to be harmed. However, Wild was retired at the time of the Elliott pursuit and would have no business being involved in a midnight pursuit, which ended in Elliott being shot.

BCI investigators found “thousands of pills” in Elliott’s truck. David Elliott’s wife, Jennifer Elliott, told BCI investigators the pills were all coming from Altru Hospital doctors.

Write Into Action has obtained dash-cam video from a Grand Forks County Sheriff’s vehicle that shows the shooting of David Elliott did not happen the way it was reported.

The shooting of David Elliott appears to have been a planned hit being carried out by rookie UND police officer Jerad Braaten.

Grand Forks County States Attorney David Jones, without a doubt, completely lied to the public about the David Elliott shooting when he deemed it justified.

CAITLIN JENNA ERICKSON HOMICIDE

Write Into Action obtained video of police-cam evidence regarding the death of Caitlin Jenna Erickson, who died at the same time the David Elliott was occurring. Erickson’s next door neighbor, Desiree Gomez, heard Erickson and Mario Parsons (the man she was with) shouting and arguing for about a half an hour amidst banging sounds in the bathroom.

Parson told police everything was fine when he left and when he returned Erickson was dead. Write Into Action believes the GFPD has engaged in a deliberate cover-up of Erickson’s death.

PEMBINA COUNTY SHOOTING

Write Into Action interviewed the only witness to the shooting scene of Clifford Edward Monteith III, who was shot by Pembina County Deputy Brad Bowman. Sara Letexier said she saw pulled up on the scene and saw Monteith lying on the highway although he was supposedly miles away at that point. She said she then heard another gunshot.

Visit WWW.WRITEINTOACTION.COM or FOCUS ONN THE FORKS ON FACEBOOK for full reports on these and other stories.

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The David James Elliott pursuit and shooting

• David James Elliott telephoned Grand Forks PSAP (911) almost immediately after GFPD Dan Harvala attempted to pull him over for running a red light. David Elliott had no meaningful criminal history and there is no known reason he would feel compelled to flee at very high speeds. He stayed on 911 with a police officer, GFPD officer Matthew Bullinger, for some two hours until he was shot while holding the phone.

• David Elliott made arrangements to meet GFPD officer Matthew Bullinger at Altru. After arriving in front of the E/R David Elliott is seen pointing in the direction where UND officer Jerad Braaten is approaching him. He fled again on four flat tires and was shot through his back window by Jerad Braaten.

• David Elliott was unarmed.

• David Elliott had thousands of prescription pills in his truck that BCI agent Michael Ness said where in “bags”.

• Jennifer Elliott, David Elliott’s wife, said all the pills her husband possessed were all coming from Altru doctors.

• Grand Forks PSAP deleted the 911 call.

• UND police officer Jerad Braaten was not scheduled to work on the night he interjected himself into a slow speed pursuit and shot David Elliott.

• UND police officer Jerad Braaten, a rookie cop on his first job, was inexplicably training an intern (on a night he was not even supposed to work), Heather Hopkins, on the night of the shooting.

• David Elliott was nearly completely stopped atop the Columbia Road Bridge where he was trying to meet GFPD officer Matthew Bullinger. He continued inching forward as Jerad Braaten was pointing a gun at him.

• The audio portion of UND police officer Jerad Braaten’s body-cam captured him telling Hopkins he hoped to provoke David Elliott into ramming him.

• David James Elliott told Write Into Action (Timothy Charles Holmseth) that Jerad Braaten attempted to shoot him minutes before the actual shooting, while atop the Columbia Road Bridge, but his gun jammed.

• The audio portion of Jerad Braaten’s body-cam reveals a clicking sound on Braaten’s gun that sounds like a misfire atop the Columbia Road Bridge.

• Jerad Braaten’s dash-cam was never found and/or entered into BCI evidence.

• Jerad Braaten’s body-cam was found underneath his squad car where he tried to hide it.

• Jerad Braaten did not put his body-cam on his shirt until a few minutes before he joined the pursuit and shot David Elliott (although he had supposedly been on-duty for hours).

• Jerad Braaten had UNDPD intern Heather Hopkins put the body-cam on his shirt, which was placed on him improperly and captured no visual (except the moment it’s thrown under the car).

• After the shooting, the audio portion of Jerad Braaten’s body-cam reveals he asked Heather Hopkins if she saw David Elliott try to run a police officer over. Hopkins promptly replied yes. Braaten then told her he would need a witness statement confirming it and she said she would give it. However, when Hopkins was interviewed by the BCI she balked, and said she didn’t see what happened.

• GFPD Sgt. Mark Ellingson, the officer that Jerad Braaten said he was worried about, is captured on audio at the scene telling Jerad Braaten he was never in any danger.

• UNDPD chief Eric Plummer reprimanded Jerad Braaten in writing regarding issues with his police-cams.

• GFPD chief Mark Nelson subsequently hired Jerad Braaten onto his Department.

• Videos obtained by Write Into Action have been tampered with by someone using a video editor. For instance – dash-cam from the squad car of GFPD officer Dan Harvala is in clear crisp color on most of the footage. However, the portion that actually shows the shooting in the distance has been converted to black and white which obscures the details.

• Video showing what happened atop the Columbia Road Bridge has been redacted.

• Videos obtained by Write Into Action reveal the time-stamps on the dash-cams do not even remotely match the events taking place on the officer body-cams.

• David Elliot was shot three times in the head and his ear drum was blown out. Two of his fingers were shot off but re-attached.

• After being hired by the GFPD, Jerad Braaten was at the scene of a fireworks accident in Grand Forks where a man’s fingers were blown off. The fingers disappeared. They were found later on a picnic table in East Grand Forks.

The following is my investigative opinion.

• It is my investigative opinion that Jerad Braaten sounds like a psychopath when he is talking to Heather Hopkins.

• It is my opinion Jerad Braaten may have taken the fingers from the fireworks scene and kept them. He may have placed them in the Red River Valley Campground as a trophy of what he did to David Elliott and/or an ominous message to the drug trafficking underworld.

• It is my opinion GFPD chief Mark Nelson has violated his oath, betrayed the public, and is engaging in extensive efforts to cover up events that involve drug trafficking, shootings, and homicide(s).

VISIT WWW.WRITEINTOACTION.COM

Altru shooting 911 records: ‘Second person’ and ‘thousands of pills’ cast doubt upon official narrative of Altru police shooting

Did call to police by Wells Fargo cleaning lady interrupt drug activity involving law enforcement?

by Timothy Charles Holmseth on April 3, 2016, 1:22 P.M. CST

Was David James Elliott shot six times, including three times in the head, by a UND police officer, after a cleaning lady’s call to police interrupted drug activity in a vehicle that contained a law enforcement officer?

Evidence is emerging as Write Into Action investigates.

‘Thousands of pills’ and an ‘unidentified second person’ in the vehicle of the unarmed man shot by a UND police officer in February, 2015, is creating serious questions about the true events surrounding the Altru hospital parking lot shooting of David James Elliott.

Write Into Action has acquired a transcription of the call to police by Karen Yungen, the cleaning lady at Wells Fargo Bank, Grand Forks, who called police on February 27, 2015, reporting a suspicious vehicle in the parking lot.

In the transcription, which contains no “Time” for the call, Yungen said there’s “people in the truck”.

The Grand Forks Police Department (GFPD) has never named any second person being in Elliott’s vehicle or involved in the events that unfolded, which involved:

• High speed chase
• Slow speed chase
• One hour and fifteen minute cell phone call to 911 by David Elliott after the chase began where Elliott talked to GFPD officer Matt Bullinger
• Shooting of David Elliott in the Altru hospital parking lot by UND police officer Jared Braaten
• Thousands of pills in Elliott’s  vehicle

According to records obtained by Write Into Action from the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI), Special Agent Quam reported, “Also, located during the search of the vehicle were thousands of prescription pills.”

Oddly, no criminal charges involving drugs were ever brought in the case, which is now concluded.

Statements by the GFPD appear to support Yungen’s reference to multiple persons in Elliott’s vehicle. During a press conference on March 3, 2015, Lt Dwight Love, GFPD, referred to more than one person being in the vehicle.

Reporter (Steve Wagner/Grand Forks Herald): So did an officer actually get out of the vehicle at Wells Fargo to communicate with him or was it something less than that? Lt. Dwight Love: I don’t believe he did. I think as soon as the officer arrived on scene, they left.

BCI documents also reveal very strange discrepancies between the time of Yungen’s 10:41 P.M. call to police, and the time of the (Yungen) call stated in the BCI interview of the responding officer, Dan Harvala.

“The cleaning woman inside the bank called in the complaint around 11:30 p.m., to 11:40 p.m.”  the BCI report said.

Grand Forks Police Department Officer Dan Harvala and Grand Forks Police Department Officer Matt Bullinger responded to a low party complaint. Grand Forks Police Department Officer Dan Harvala indicated there was a suspicious vehicle complaint from the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) pending and that once he cleared the loud party complaint he responded to the suspicious vehicle complaint. Grand Forks Police Department Officer Dan Harvala said that the suspicious vehicle was for a black pickup in the parking lot of the Wells Fargo Bank, Grand Forks, North Dakota. The cleaning woman inside the bank called in the complaint around 11:30 p.m., to 11:40 p.m. -ND BCI

The significantly later, 11:30 – 11:40 P.M. time-window, stated in the BCI report, receives support in another statement made by Lt. Love where he refers to the call being made in the “morning hours”.

Reporter (female): What did the caller say was suspicious about the vehicle? Lt. Dwight Love: Ummm, I guess I haven’t r… I can’t recall the report what was suspicious about that vehicle. I think it was in the Wells uhhh, Fargo bank parking lot – and it was at, in the morning hours so I think that in itself probably caused somebody to report that. That’s kind of odd at that time you know when the banks not open.

Questions also exist about how many officers initially responded to the Wells Fargo Bank suspicious vehicle call. Statements by Lt. Love during the March 3, 2015 press conference indicate multiple officers responded.

“On Friday night, February 27, officers responded to the Wells Fargo parking lot in reference to a suspicious person. When they arrived they saw a vehicle leaving the area. They saw that vehicle commit a traffic violation. They attempted to stop that vehicle. And that led to a high speed pursuit,” said GFPD officer Lt. Dwight Love.

The reference to multiple officers is odd, because there is no indication that any other officer except Harvala was involved in the initial attempted traffic stop of Elliott; and the BCI report does not state any other officer being with Harvala in his squad car.

Another example of Lt. Love referring to multiple police officers being involved in the very first attempt to pull Elliott over for running s atop sign is when he said, “They initiated a traffic stop.”  

Reporter (female): Yesterday Chief Nelson said that Grand Forks officer’s initiated a chase – where did it actually begin? Lt. Dwight Love: Which one? Reporter (female): The first one. Lt. Dwight Love: The first one – it began just outside the Wells Fargo parking lot – I think it was at an intersection around that area where he violated a traffic stop sign – uh they initiated a traffic stop – he didn’t stop.

 

GFPD Chief Mark Nelson

 

Write Into Action is investigating several other official statements that don’t seem to fit the official narrative given to the public by law enforcement.

One BCI entry is very odd when viewed in the chronological timeline “Trooper (Brittany) Schmidt stated at 11:30 p.m., the vehicle from the earlier pursuit was located in Grand Forks. There was no pursuit at this time,” said the BCI report.

Another BCI entry is odd and involves the possible second person.

Right before getting to the Oslo exit, Trooper Peschong turned his emergency lights off because of DAVID ELLIOTT’s prior actions, and Trooper Peschong did not want to spook him and cause another pursuit. As Trooper Peschong went over the overpass he saw ELLIOTT parked on the southbound ramp nearly on the interstate. ELLIOTT was standing by the driver’s side door of the pickup. Trooper Peschong went past the exit and turned around. -ND BCIWhen Peschong got to the Oslo exit he headed southbound on the ramp. Trooper Peschong stated he was nervous while approaching the on-ramp because ELLIOTT was suicidal and he did not know if ELLIOTT had any weapons. As Trooper Peschong approached the on-ramp, he noticed that ELLIOTT and his vehicle were no longer there. -ND BCI

It is not yet known if Elliott dropped someone off by the side of I-29 for Peschong to pick up.

Write Into Action presently has multiple outstanding requests for public records to the GFPD and UND Police Departments.

UND Police Chief Eric Plummer has not responded whatsoever to Write Into Action’s request for public records.

Karen Yungen was contacted but did not reply.

VISIT WWW.WRITEINTOACTION.COM

ND Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem asked for status of BCI investigation of police shooting

Questions now exist whether the referenced BCI investigation actually pre-dated the Elliott shooting and may have been the catalyst for the attempted murder of Elliott by rogue police.

by Timothy Charles Holmseth on February 29, 2016 at 8:11 A.M.

ND Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem is being asked to explain why his office has not made any statements regarding the pursuit and shooting of David James Elliott in 2015.

ND AG Wayne Stenehjem

In February, 2015, law enforcement in North Dakota refused to inform the public through the media about the basic facts surrounding an officer involved shooting in a hospital parking lot in Grand Forks.

The shooting involved the University of North Dakota Police Department (UNDPD), Grand Forks Police Department (GFPD), Grand Forks Sheriff’s Office (GFSO), and North Dakota Highway Patrol (NDHP).

Law enforcement continuously deferred reporters to the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) saying the BCI was the “lead agency”.

On March 3, 2015, the Grand Forks Herald said in an Opinion:

Reached by phone Saturday morning, police Lt. Dwight Love told the Herald there was no danger to the public. He refused to elaborate, and passed off further questions to the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation.

Despite numerous requests from the Herald, the BCI did not comment. Adding to the confusion, the attorney general’s office — which oversees the BCI — said it was a local responsibility, i.e. our local police force.

Want to breed public distrust of the police and law-enforcement in general? Here’s a checklist on how to do it:

• Withhold basic information and let rumors run rampant in coffee shops and on social media sites.
• Appear unorganized and ignorant of basic protocols, such as which agency is actually in charge of public information.
• Adopt a “nothing to see here” approach when the whole darn town knows (and sees) otherwise.
• Disregard state law, which states that agencies are required to provide information in these types of incidents, including a chronology of events as well as initial offense report information showing the offense, date, time, general location, officer and a brief summary of what happened.

Over a year later there has been no known press release from the BCI regarding the ‘investigation’ that was continuously referenced by law enforcement spokesmen in the wake of the Elliott shooting.

Questions now exist whether the referenced BCI investigation actually pre-dated the Elliott shooting and may have been the catalyst for the attempted murder of Elliott by rogue police.

If so – that would mean all police efforts to withhold information from the public, from day one, was an attempt to hide the truth about an attempted murder that involved the GFPD, GFSO, UNDPD, and NDHP.

Stenehjem is running for the position of Governor.

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Timothy Charles Holmseth
320 17th Street N.W.
Unit # 17
East Grand Forks, MN
56721
218.773.1299218.773.1299
218.230.1597218.230.1597 (cell)
tholmseth@wiktel.com
http://www.writeintoaction.com

February 28, 2016

In Re: BCI Investigation / David James Elliott / Multiple County Pursuit

Wayne Stenehjem
Office of the Attorney General
State Capitol
600 E. Boulevard Ave.
Dept. 125
Bismarck, ND 58505
701.328.2210701.328.2210
ndag@state.nd.us

Attorney General Stenehjem,

I am contacting you in regards to the BCI investigation referenced by North Dakota law enforcement spokesmen following the pursuit and shooting of David James Elliott in February, 2015, in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

As you know, immediately following the pursuit and shooting, law enforcement refused to provide the media with any information regarding the event that began in the Wells Fargo Bank parking lot and ended hours later at Altru Hospital in front of the Emergency Room.

When UND Police Chief Eric Plummer, GFPD Chief Mark Nelson, and Grand Forks Sheriff Bob Rost, finally addressed the public in a press conference days later, they said they were not at liberty to provide the public with information or discuss it because it was a BCI investigation.

I am contacting you in regards to the SUBJECT of that BCI investigation; and the present STATUS of said investigation, which was repeatedly referenced by law enforcement.

According to UND Police Chief Eric Plummer during a press conference, the pursuit of David James Elliott involved “multiple counties” and the voting public needs to know what those counties were.

Respectfully yours,
Timothy Charles Holmseth

Investigative Journalist/Author/Publisher

VISIT WWW.WRITEINTOACTION.COM