WILLMAR -- Abass Warsame Mumin, 21, of Willmar, made his first appearance Wednesday on a felony theft charge for motor vehicle theft - liability for crimes of another for his role in stealing and crashing a pickup Monday evening in downtown Willmar.
According to the complaint against Mumin, he was arrested a short time after the crash after shoplifting two bottles of liquor from a store along U.S. Highway 12 East.
Along with the felony charge, Mumin faces a misdemeanor charge of motor vehicle tampering and a misdemeanor theft charge for allegedly taking the liquor. His next appearance is Nov. 28 in Kandiyohi County District Court.
According to the complaint, Willmar police were called around 7 p.m. Monday to the downtown area on a report that someone had stolen a vehicle and crashed it into a building. The owner reported he had parked the vehicle and went inside a business, leaving the keys in the vehicle.
The vehicle owner saw someone drive his vehicle away, and when he went outside, they had crashed the pickup. The two young men, both described as Somali, were running away from the vehicle in opposite directions.
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One of the officers called to investigate the incident was called later that evening to Westside Liquor to investigate a shoplifting incident. The suspect, Mumin, was caught by a Minnesota State Trooper along Lakeland Drive, with two bottles of liquor and injuries to his face and hands. He claimed the injuries were from a fight, but the vehicle owner identified him as the passenger of the stolen and crashed pickup. Police had suspected the passenger was injured based on blood and broken glass at the crash scene. They had also found a bomber-style hat that an officer recognized as Mumin's in an alley near the scene.
Mumin was taken to Rice Hospital for treatment of his wounds. He was then taken to the Law Enforcement Center, where he told investigators questioning him about the theft and crash that he didn't know what they were talking about. He later told the officer that he would reveal who was driving the vehicle if he was released from jail.
