A Faribault man who set off a five-hour standoff with police last week has been charged with second-degree assault and making terroristic threats.
Juan Jose Zamarripa, 39, has also been charged with fifth-degree possession of methamphetamine.
A criminal complaint filed on Friday morning states that a Faribault police officer was flagged down in downtown Faribault Wednesday evening by two men who said Zamarripa had approached them, began yelling and swearing and then pulled a handgun on them before going back into the building he had just exited.
The officer reported he then heard someone in the same building yelling and cursing. He then asked that man, identified as Zamarripa, to come out and talk to him, but Zamarripa refused.
Additional officers were called to assist, including Rice County Sheriff’s deputies.
Zamarripa yelled at the officers to shoot him. He then broke a window in the building and allegedly waved a handgun toward the building across the street.
After officers tried for several hours to de-escalate the situation, members of the South Metro SWAT team shot gas canisters into the apartment forcing Zamarripa out of the building. He allegedly removed his handgun from his waistband and tossed it on the ground, then asked officers to shoot him before walking toward the gun.
The SWAT team then shot Zamarripa in the legs, and he was arrested.
During a search, officers reportedly found a 9mm bullet and a small bag containing methamphetamine in his pocket.
Rice County Attorney John Fossum praised the law enforcement groups involved in the incident, saying they responded to a dangerous decision with “restraint and a high degree of professionalism.”
After a hearing on Friday, Zamarippa posted $75,000 on Saturday. He has been released on conditional bail.
Council passes Conversion Therapy ban, sets fines
At last Tuesday’s City Council meeting, The Council approved a new ordinance that bans the widely discredited practice of conversion
therapy for minors and vulnerable adults by a vote of five to one.
Mayor Rhonda Pownell was the lone dissenting vote, arguing that this issue would be better addressed at county and state levels.
The new ordinance was proposed by the Northfield Human Rights Commision and was inspired by the City of Red Wing banning conversion therapy in 2020. Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Duluth have also banned the practice for minors.
Conversion therapy is a practice discredited by most major medical institutions in the United States that attempts to force an LGBTQ+ person to change their gender identity or sexual orientation. This is not to be confused with therapy that some transgender people may seek to help them during their transition.
Conversion therapy is not banned at the federal level and is not banned in Minnesota, which is why some cities are taking it upon themselves to protect their citizens at a local level. In July 2021, Governor Tim Walz did sign an executive order restricting conversion therapy in Minnesota.
Walz said, “Our kids deserve to grow up in a state that values them for who they are – not one that tries to change them.”
His executive order compels government agencies to work to protect Minnesotans, particularly minors and vulnerable adults, from conversion therapy, but it does not explicitly ban it.
The Northfield City Council also voted to apply the highest possible administrative fine of $1,000 to violations of this ordinance.
The ban will take effect in mid-August.
Malecha optimistic about Coordinator program, but says ‘time will tell’
The newly instated Rice County Community-Based Coordinator program is going well so far, according to Rice County Commissioner Galen Malecha.
The program is part of a multi-pronged effort by the county called Project Intercept that works to ensure people who need mental health and drug abuse support are not unnecessarily caught up in the county’s criminal system. This problem was so serious in Rice County that virtually all detainees in the county jail suffered from mental and chemical health issues when Project Intercept launched in 2018.
In June the program was expanded to include three social workers who are embedded into local law enforcement, the Northfield Police Department, the Faribault Police Department, and the Rice County Sheriff’s Office respectively.
According to a statement by Rice County, community-based coordinators can co-respond to an incident with law enforcement or follow up afterward, offering services that may include assistance with mental and/or chemical health issues, housing and food insecurity. Officers can also refer residents they are concerned about to the coordinators who can then build relationships with people who are struggling and hopefully get them the support they need before they experience a crisis or commit a crime.
Malecha explained that in his view, it is especially important for the county to provide mental health and substance abuse resources to keep people out of jail who shouldn’t be there because the State of Minnesota has not been able to provide enough resources or enough beds for those experiencing crises.
“There’s a lot of people that go to jail that shouldn’t be in jail. People who have mental health issues do not belong in jail and they don’t belong in an emergency room. But unfortunately, here in Minnesota, that’s where they end up. A lot of times they’re taken to Missouri, Indiana and North Dakota. Unfortunately, because we don’t have enough mental health beds. And every legislative year they throw a few dollars here and a few dollars there, but the State of Minnesota’s not doing their job.”
Malecha added it will be interesting to see the data on the success of the community-based coordinators in six months and again in a year.
So far, the program seems to be helping, but he suggested that it’s hard data that will be able to show how successful or unsuccessful the program really is.
Rich Larson’s full conversation with Rice County Commissioner Galen Malecha can be heard here
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
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