Darnella Frazier says her uncle was innocent driver killed in Mpls. police chase crash

People clean up debris at the site of a crash.
One man died after a crash involving a Minneapolis police squad car in the Camden neighborhood. Here, a Metro Transit employee removes a destroyed bus shelter on Lyndale Avenue North near 41st Avenue North Tuesday in north Minneapolis,
David Joles | Star Tribune

Updated: 5:12 p.m.

Darnella Frazier, the teen who recorded the police killing of George Floyd, said her uncle was the innocent driver killed in a crash during a police chase early Tuesday in Minneapolis. His car was struck as police pursued a robbery suspect in another vehicle. 

The city identified the officer driving the squad car as Brian Cummings. According to city records, Cummings has been the subject of 13 complaint investigations since 2008. No discipline was issued and details about the nature of the complaints is not public.

"Another black man lost his life in the hands of the police!" Frazier wrote in a Facebook post identifying Leneal Lamont Frazier, 40. "Minneapolis police has cost my whole family a big loss ... today has been a day full of heartbreak and sadness."

Frazier clarified in a follow-up post that while her uncle’s death was not intentional, “the police made a bad decision” to pursue a suspect in a high-speed chase down a residential road. “That bad decision cost my uncle his life.”

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Police said that shortly after midnight Tuesday, an officer spotted a vehicle near Sixth Street and Lowry Avenue North believed to be connected to multiple business robberies. The driver fled after the officer attempted a traffic stop.

Police spokesperson John Elder said that about 12 blocks away, the pursuing officer crashed into a westbound vehicle at the intersection of Lyndale Avenue North and 41st Avenue North.

Leneal Frazier was badly hurt and died later at North Memorial Health Hospital, according to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner.

The officer was treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

Elder said that both body cameras and dash cameras are set to automatically start recording when officers in squad cars turn on their lights and siren.

The Minnesota State Patrol is investigating.