Daunte Wright Allegedly Choked and Robbed a Woman in December 2019, Warrant Was Issued

Daunte Wright, the 20-year-old Black man shot by a police officer in a Minneapolis suburb Sunday afternoon, had an open warrant for his arrest related to an aggravated armed robbery attempt when he was killed, according to court records.

Wright and another man, identified as Emajay Maurice Driver, a high school acquaintance, had both been charged with first-degree aggravated robbery in a December 2019 incident in Osseso, Minn., Hennepin County District Court documents show.

According to the documents, Wright and Driver went to a party at an apartment in the 600 block of North Oaks Drive in Osseo – about 5 miles from Brooklyn Center, where Wright was fatally shot.

Around 2:30 a.m., two women at the home told Wright and Driver they needed to leave, but the two men said they did not have a ride, the documents say. The women reportedly allowed the Wright and Driver to spend the night.

In the morning, one of the two women left the apartment to get $820 in cash to pay the other for rent. After paying the rent, she left for work.

As Wright and Driver were waiting for their rides, the other woman who stayed behind said Wright allegedly blocked the door, preventing her from leaving. Wright then allegedly pulled a black handgun "with silver trim out from either his right waistband or his right coat pocket," pointed it at the woman and demanded the $820, the court documents say.

The victim asked him, "Are you serious?" to which he allegedly responded, "Give me the f---ing money, I know you have it," according to the court documents.

When she asked again if he was serious, he allegedly told her, "I’m not playing around."  

Wright then allegedly choked the woman while trying to pull the cash out from under her bra, where she had tucked it away.

Quite a bit of false information has been circulating online regarding Daunte Wright's death..

This includes the false narrative that he was pulled over for having air fresheners hanging from his rearview mirror.

Daunte Wright choked a woman and threatened to shoot her if she did not hand over $820 she had stuffed in her bra, court papers obtained by DailyMail.com allege.

That is the case that led to a warrant for his arrest at the time he was shot and killed by police officer Kimberly Potter in Minnesota on Sunday, leading to days of unrest.

And online speculation that he did not know there was a warrant out for his arrest is false, DailyMail.com has learned. A letter returned to the court for having a wrong address was giving notice of a court date in August and had nothing to do with the warrant.

Wright, 20, was shot dead in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota on Sunday by Potter, 48, a 26-year veteran in the Brooklyn Center Police Department.

She says she mistakenly grabbed her gun instead of her taser. After the gun fired, she is heard on body camera saying: 'Holy s**t I shot him.' Potter and Brooklyn Center police chief Tim Gannon both resigned on Tuesday.

Wright was allegedly pulled over for having expired license plate tags, although he called his mother and told her it was for having an air freshener hanging on his rear-view mirror. While checking his details, Potter and other officers learned of the warrant.

When they tried to handcuff him, Wright got back into his car and at that point Potter shot him in the chest after warning fellow officers to get out of the way by shouting, 'Taser, taser, taser.'

Wright was due to face trial on a charge of attempted aggravated robbery - with a possible maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

Charging papers say he and a second man, Emajay Driver went to a home shared by two women in Osseo, Minnesota 'to party' in December 2019. At the time, Wright was 19 and Driver was 18.

The women asked them to leave around 2.30 am on December 1, but they said they didn't have a ride and the women - who are not identified in the court documents - allowed them to sleep on the floor.

In the morning, one of the women went to the bank to get her $820 rent money which she gave to the other woman and then left for work. As Wright, Driver and the second woman were leaving, Wright allegedly tried to hold up the woman.

'The three of them were walking to the door to exit the apartment and defendant Wright turned around and blocked the door preventing victim from leaving,' says the report, written by Osseo Police Officer Shane Mikkelson.

'Defendant Wright then pulled a black handgun with silver trim out from either his right waistband or his right coat pocket and pointed it at victim and demanded the rent money,' continued Mikkelson.

'Victim said "Are you serious?" Defendant Wright replied: "Give me the f**king money, I know you have it."

When the woman again asked him if he was serious, Wright is said to have replied: 'I'm not playing around.'

Mikkelson's report said: 'The $820 cash was tucked in the victim's bra and defendant Wright placed his hand around victim's neck and choked her while trying to pull the cash from under her bra.

'Victim was able to get loose from defendant Wright and started to kneel down and scream.'

After more yelling, Wright allegedly told the woman that he was going to shoot her unless he got the money.

'Give me the money and we will leave,' he allegedly said. 'Give me the money and we will go.'

Mikkelson added: 'Defendant Wright then tried to choke victim a second time and tried to take her money. Defendant Driver was telling her to give defendant Wright the money.

'Defendant Driver then said: "Let's go," and the two defendants left and got into a white Cadillac and left the scene,' wrote Mikkelson.

'Afterwards, victim found that the cash was still in her bra.'

Mikkelson said the woman identified both Wright and Driver through photo line-ups.

Wright's bail was originally set at $100,000 with orders that he should not contact the victim or any witnesses, refrain from drugs and alcohol and not have any weapons. A bond bailsman paid $40,000 for his release.

But his bail was revoked in July last year due to his 'failure to not possess a firearm or ammunition' and not keeping in touch with his probation officer, court papers show.

At that time a judge issued a warrant for his arrest, that was still outstanding on the day he died.

In recent days several people have claimed on the Internet that Wright may not even have known about the warrant because it was sent to the wrong address and returned to the court by the US Postal Service.

But that letter, sent out on February 2 and returned to the court three days later was just to advise Wright of a change of date for his court hearing.

It was sent to an address in Minneapolis and marked 'Return to Sender. No such number. Unable to forward' by the USPS.

Wright's killing, just 10 miles from the scene of George Floyd's death in Minneapolis last May, has led to unrest in Minnesota and nationwide.

Meanwhile, the nationwide calls to end the police can only lead to more violence and death.