Minneapolis’s auto theft problem reached a new level this week with the death of Amos Ferrier, 38.
Ferrier was seriously injured on Friday afternoon, May 16th when he attempted to prevent two suspects from stealing his car which was parked outside the coffee shop he worked at. When confronted, the suspects abandoned their effort to steal Ferrier’s car, but after returning to the car they had arrived in they either struck Ferrier or drove away as he held on to the car, causing him to be thrown to the street. Ferrier sustained serious injuries and was transported to the hospital where he died Sunday May 18th.
The incident took place outside Rick’s Coffee Bar at 5400 43rd Ave South, Minneapolis, at 1:30 in the afternoon. The business is owned by a nonprofit called “Every Third Saturday,” which, according to its website, “…exists to assist Veterans in finding new purpose after military service. Our mission focuses on fostering hope and supporting post-traumatic growth for Veterans.” Ferrier, who had served as an Army medic in Afghanistan, was employed as an Internship Director with Every Third Saturday and was based at the coffee shop.
Every Third Saturday released this message on their Facebook page:
The neighborhood around Rick’s Coffee Bar has traditionally been a quiet, blue-collar neighborhood located just west of the Veterans Administration Hospital. But in recent years the neighborhood has experienced a decline, like so much of South Minneapolis. The business just next door, Minnesota’s oldest jujitsu school, has been vandalized repeatedly in recent years, leading the owner to seriously question remaining in the area after 53 years in business. We wrote about those issues recently in an article entitled, “When law and order disappear: the perspective of a small business owner in Minneapolis.”
Residents and visitors to the neighborhood should feel comfortable parking their cars without concern they’ll be stolen in broad daylight. But that level of comfort has all but disappeared in Minneapolis in 2026.
As of May 19th, the Minneapolis Crime Data Portal reported 2292 auto thefts, or 1.5/hour, so far in 2026 – a 24% increase over the same period in 2025. Reports indicate that an alarming number involve juvenile offenders who face little or no consequences for their actions. These offenders have become so brazen as to taunt Minneapolis Police Officers by driving recklessly around squad cars in an attempt to generate a high-speed chase. Officers are generally directed not to chase auto theft suspects due to their status as a property crime, and the downside of injuring or killing innocent motorists during a chase.
Thankfully, on Tuesday May 19th, the Minneapolis Police announced that they had arrested two teenaged females on probable cause murder related to Ferrier’s death. Riniyah Allen, 19, and Janaya Frost, 18, were booked into the Hennepin County Adult Detention Center where they await a charging decision by the Hennepin County Attorney.
Allen
Frost
While these arrests are welcome news, it’s too little too late for Ferrier, his family, and his friends. The anti-police atmosphere that dominates too many areas in Minneapolis, coupled with the decriminalization of so much behavior by our prosecutors and courts has served to embolden criminal offenders and demoralize our law enforcement officers. The results are painfully obvious to so many Minnesotans, yet social justice policies that fail to incapacitate offenders continue to reign supreme in Minneapolis.
