Minnesota county probes federal arrest as possible kidnapping

WASHINGTON — A Minnesota county is investigating an arrest by federal agents who allegedly broke into a St. Paul home with guns drawn, handcuffed a man and forced him outside in the snow in his underpants and sandals, only to discover they had the wrong man.

Ramsey County officials said in a statement on Monday that federal agents “may have committed the crimes of kidnapping, burglary, and false imprisonment” in the January incident.

The man mistakenly detained, ChongLy “Scott” Thao, has said the officers had no warrant.

The incident has drawn further scrutiny to how federal agents have operated in Minneapolis, a city at the center of debates over law enforcement tactics in President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement actions.

Minneapolis and St. Paul, situated side by side, are known as the Twin Cities. Ramsey County officials said they were seeking information from the Department of Homeland Security.

County Attorney John Choi and Sheriff Bob Fletcher said in the statement that Thao was handcuffed, removed from his home without consent and driven around and questioned while in custody for about an hour before being returned home.

The two “criminal illegal aliens” who DHS said it was seeking in that raid turned out to be elsewhere, one of them behind bars in a Minneapolis-area prison serving a four-year sentence.

Asked about the investigation, DHS said in a statement that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement does not kidnap people.