Manitoba baseball fan severely beaten, robbed in targeted downtown Minneapolis violence Vicious attack by multiple assailants outside busy bar sends Portage man to ICU with brain bleed; second victim swarmed, robbed at gunpoint in same area next night By: Chris Kitching Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Friday, Aug. 19, 2022

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This article was published 18/08/2022 (858 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Todd Steeden has no memory of the moment he was violently attacked and robbed in downtown Minneapolis on a recent weekend when multiple tourists from Manitoba were brutally targeted.

When he awoke from sedation in an intensive-care unit about 10 hours later, he had a breathing tube down his throat, a minor brain bleed and no idea how he got there.

He soon learned he was beaten and robbed at about 2:30 a.m. Aug. 6, shortly after he and other Manitobans left a popular bar while visiting the city to watch the Toronto Blue Jays take on the Minnesota Twins.

“In the end, it was me on the ground being kicked in the head by three guys,” Steeden, 37, said Friday, while recovering at his Portage la Prairie home. “It was over the top. This was an assault for a cellphone and a wallet.”

The attack, which happened about a block from a police station, was so severe, the assailants’ shoe prints were on his face, neck and chest for some time afterward.

Assaults and robberies against several Manitoba baseball fans that weekend have sparked warnings about violent crime and concerns about the safety of tourists in downtown Minneapolis.

A Manitoba woman said a gun was pressed against her son’s chest when he was robbed in the same area the next night.

Still feeling the effects of a severe concussion, Steeden underwent surgery for a broken jaw at Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg on Wednesday.

His last memory before the attack is having a “great time” in the bar, Sneaky Pete’s, with friends who made the seven-plus hour drive from across Manitoba to watch the four-day series at nearby Target Field.

As the busy bar emptied at closing time, Steeden and his friends became separated. He suspects the group set out to rob visitors that night and targeted him because he was on his own.

Based on information from police and witnesses, a group of men tried to grab Steeden’s phone and knocked him down when he attempted to fight back.

Between three and five men were involved while he was being kicked in the head. There is video of the incident, including police bodycam footage, but he hasn’t viewed it yet.

Steeden said an officer, who was outnumbered, helped stop the attack and scatter the assailants. He doesn’t know if they were armed, and he’s not aware of any arrests.

“In the end, it was me on the ground being kicked in the head by three guys. It was over the top. This was an assault for a cellphone and a wallet.” – Todd Steeden

His brain bleed was brought under control about 12 hours after he arrived at nearby Hennepin County Medical Center, where he remained until Sunday afternoon.

Ryan Faith, one of two friends who were on the road trip with Steeden, turned the back of his car into a “makeshift hospital bed” for the drive home.

As the friends drove to their hotel in the suburb of Bloomington Aug. 4, they noticed a helicopter flying above the Mall of America.

Shortly afterward, they saw reports of a shooting, which sent people running for cover and led to a temporary lockdown at the largest shopping centre in the U.S. No one was injured.

“Right away, there was a bad tone to the trip,” said Faith.

He said Sneaky Pete’s was packed with Canadians the night Steeden was attacked.

“It was Blue Jays fans as far as the eye could see, so we felt pretty comfortable,” said Faith, who visited the area without incident in 2019.

He was standing with friends from Souris, near North Fifth Street and North First Avenue, when he saw a man, who looked like Steeden, on the ground.

When he ran over, Steeden was barely conscious and bleeding from the mouth.

A police officer explained what had happened and gave the Portage man a grim warning.

“He said, ‘You’ve got to go home before the bullets start flying,’ which is really a shock to the system,” said Faith, 31. “The officer said people were armed and we were at risk.”

He said the third member of their group was robbed of his wallet in the chaos; people were being assaulted and others were running around.

He took refuge between police cars while Steeden received medical care at the scene.

Steeden’s friends visited him in hospital Saturday afternoon.

“His first words when they removed the breathing tube were, ‘What the hell happened to me?’” said Faith. “His doctor said downtown Minneapolis is a place you don’t want to go after dark.”

Steeden, a wireless internet technician, hasn’t been able to go to work because of his injuries.

“The big thing out of all of this is my jaw. I can’t do anything. Everything is blender meals and soup,” he said. “I can’t open my mouth further than a quarter of an inch. I can barely talk.”

Reflecting on the attack, Steeden said he no longer feels safe in Minneapolis and doesn’t know if he will go back.

“It just doesn’t seem like a safe place to be,” he said.

“It shook us all pretty good,” said Faith. “If you’re going down there, stick with your group. Do not stay out at night.”

“He said, ‘You’ve got to go home before the bullets start flying,’ which is really a shock to the system. The officer said people were armed and we were at risk.” – Ryan Faith

Steeden doesn’t know if the group that attacked him is the same one that robbed a Manitoba man in the same area just after midnight the following night.

The victim of that incident declined to comment. He was targeted after leaving Sneaky Pete’s, his mother, Danielle Erickson, told the Free Press.

In a Facebook post shared by 2,500 people, Erickson wrote her son, Evan, was walking toward his friends when a group approached and claimed they were promoting their music.

They asked if they could put some music on his phone, and he handed it over “because there were about four or five of them.”

One of the men pulled out a gun, after they started yelling at him and he tried to grab the phone back.

The group pushed him into an alley and emptied his wallet.

“(He) said he thought the gun would go off because of how hard they were pushing the gun into his chest and because they were jumping around so much,” Erickson wrote.

She said her son was followed when he sought help at the nearby police station.

One of his friends was also held up that night, she said.

According to the post, a police officer told her son he was “lucky to be alive,” and that other tourists were held up that night.

Erickson said 10 people who read her post sent messages telling her they were also robbed that weekend.

“The reason I am posting this is to warn my fellow Canadians,” she wrote.

Minneapolis Police Department staff checked a database and found reports of three downtown incidents involving Canadian tourists between Aug. 4 and 7.

There were four victims in those incidents, said police spokesman Officer Garrett Parten.

Criminals are preying on intoxicated and vulnerable visitors in the area, where sporting events, concerts, bars and restaurants attract large crowds.

“Intoxicated people are being singled out, especially when they’re alone,” said Parten.

He said visitors should stay in groups and avoid areas where there are fewer people.

Parten said smartphone thieves who ask someone to hand over a device while promoting their music is a “common theme.”

“Don’t hand your cellphone to someone you don’t know,” he said. “The tips that we’re giving really (increase) the chance of your visit being crime-free.”

Violent crime in downtown Minneapolis is rising toward pre-pandemic levels, the local Star Tribune newspaper reported in July.

As of Friday in the downtown west neighbourhood where Steeden and Erickson were attacked, reports of assaults are up by 36 per cent and robberies by 39 per cent compared with the same time last year, according to the city’s online crime dashboard.

Reports of shootings have jumped by 34 per cent. There have been four homicides, which is three fewer than this time in 2021.

The number of Canadians visiting the Twin Cities is increasing after COVID-19 restrictions were eased.

Kathy McCarthy, a spokeswoman for the Meet Minneapolis tourism association, said she was sorry to hear some Manitobans have had “scary” experiences downtown.

She said millions of visitors “safely” enjoy the city every year.

“Local law enforcement works hard to ensure the safety and well-being of residents, workers and visitors to Minneapolis,” she wrote in an email. “As with any major city, we always encourage people to be aware of your surroundings and belongings.”

A spokesperson for Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey did not respond to a request for comment. Local city councillors declined or did not respond to interview requests.

A spokesperson for Sneaky Pete’s could not be reached for comment.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @chriskitching