Minneapolis police investigate hit-and-run at a mosque as a potential bias crime as search for suspect continues

The Minneapolis Police Department is investigating a hit-and-run pedestrian crash at a mosque as a potentially targeted, biased crime as it searches for the suspect who fled the area, Police Chief Brian O’Hara said Wednesday.

The Minneapolis Police Department is investigating a hit-and-run pedestrian crash at a mosque as a potentially targeted, biased crime as it searches for the suspect who fled the area, Police Chief Brian O’Hara said Wednesday. The 36-year-old victim sustained non-life-threatening injuries and was transported to a local hospital, a news release from the police department said. Just before noon on Wednesday, the man was in the parking lot of the Alhikma Islamic Center in south Minneapolis retrieving items from his car when a minivan drove toward him at a high speed, police said. He attempted to run when the driver of the minivan swerved and struck him, according to police. “Based on the information gathered by our investigators so far, I am concerned that this crime may have been motivated by bias,” O’Hara said. “We won’t tolerate any crime in our city. But hate crimes and crimes against our houses of worship are particularly troubling because of the very real widespread fear they generate and the potential division they create among our residents.” Officers are working to locate the suspect and the van, according to the release. Police patrols have also been enhanced in the area to protect those who enter and leave from the house of worship. Police department leadership is in communication with the imam and staff at the mosque, as well as community leaders, according to O’Hara. Investigators are familiar with the suspect, O’Hara said, as he has a “history of trespassing and acting erratically at the mosque and in the neighborhood.”