A routine afternoon at a beloved Minneapolis neighborhood coffee shop turned deadly last month when what investigators say began as a vehicle break-in escalated into deadly violence during the theft of a backpack. Amos Ferrier, a 38-year-old Army veteran and community fixture, ran outside Rick’s Coffee Shop on May 15 to stop someone stealing from his car, and he never recovered from what happened next.
Ferrier had been inside the shop on the 5400 block of Third Avenue South when he spotted someone rifling through his vehicle. He did what many of us might instinctively do: he ran out to stop it. That decision put him in the path of a driver who, rather than flee, drove at him, sending Ferrier onto the hood of the car. Witnesses watched in horror as the driver swerved back and forth trying to shake him off. Ferrier was thrown from the vehicle, suffering a severe head injury that would ultimately prove fatal.
Now, a St. Paul couple is facing criminal charges in connection with the incident. Janaya and Jordan Frost have each been charged with aiding an offender in Hennepin County. Janaya faces an additional count of aiding an offender to avoid arrest. A third person, believed to be the driver of the vehicle, has not yet been identified or charged, though investigators say that process is ongoing…