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Leneal Lamont Frazier

Age : 40

Gender : Male

Race : Black

Date : 07/06/2021

Location : N Lyndale Avenue and 41st Avenue North

City : Minneapolis

County : Hennepin

State : Minnesota

Agency : Minneapolis Police Department

Officer(s) :Officer Brian Cummings

Cause of Death : Vehicle

Event : Bystander killed by police chase crash

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

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REASON FOR POLICE CHASE:
Stolen vehicle suspected in several nonviolent business thefts. Minneapolis Police Officer Brian Cummings saw a Kia Sportage matching the description of a stolen vehicle police believed had been used in several business thefts. Cummings attempted a traffic stop, but the driver continued driving away and Cummings pursued through North Minneapolis.
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EVENT NARRATIVE:
On 07/06/2021, 40-year-old Leneal Lamont Frazier of St. Paul was killed when Minneapolis Police Officer Brian Cummings ran a red light at high speed during a police pursuit and crashed his marked squad car into the driver’s side of Frazier’s Jeep at North Lyndale Avenue and 41st Avenue North. Frazier was an uninvolved motorist and had no connection to the stolen Kia or the theft investigation.
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The pursuit began shortly after midnight when Cummings saw the Kia Sportage and attempted to stop it. The Kia continued north and Cummings pursued with his emergency lights and siren activated. The chase continued for more than 20 blocks through North Minneapolis, including residential streets with a posted speed limit of 25 mph.
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Cummings pursued at speeds approaching 100 mph through numerous stop signs, red lights and intersections where buildings and other obstructions restricted visibility. Immediately before reaching 41st Avenue North, Cummings was traveling approximately 90 mph. Investigators calculated that at that speed his squad car required approximately 337 feet to stop.
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Frazier was traveling west on 41st Avenue North and entered the intersection on a green traffic signal. The pursued Kia entered against a red light at nearly 100 mph and narrowly passed in front of Frazier’s Jeep. Cummings entered the same intersection against the red light immediately afterward.
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Cummings struck the driver’s side of Frazier’s Jeep at approximately 78 mph. Crash reconstruction based on data from the squad car and surveillance video estimated that Frazier was traveling approximately 25 mph. Investigators concluded that Cummings failed to operate his police vehicle with due regard for the safety of other motorists.
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The collision forced Frazier’s Jeep from the intersection. Cummings’ squad vehicle also struck another uninvolved vehicle. Frazier suffered multiple blunt-force injuries and died from the crash. Cummings and another motorist were injured.
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Frazier was a father of six and a grandfather. He was also the uncle of Darnella Frazier, whose cellphone recording of Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin killing George Floyd in 2020 became central evidence in Chauvin’s murder prosecution. Frazier’s family described another fatal encounter with Minneapolis police only a little more than a year after Darnella witnessed and recorded Floyd’s death as another profound trauma for the family.
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Frazier’s family immediately questioned why police had conducted a pursuit approaching 100 mph through residential streets. His relatives and attorneys called for both a criminal investigation of Cummings and civil accountability from the City of Minneapolis.
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The Minnesota State Patrol investigated the fatal collision. On 10/22/2021, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office charged Cummings with second-degree manslaughter and criminal vehicular homicide. Prosecutors alleged that Cummings drove with gross negligence by continuing a near-100-mph pursuit through residential neighborhoods and entering the intersection against a red light.
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Cummings pleaded guilty on 04/27/2023 to criminal vehicular homicide. The second-degree manslaughter charge was dismissed as part of the plea agreement. On 07/12/2023, Cummings was sentenced to 270 days in the Hennepin County Adult Correctional Facility and three years of probation.
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The man prosecutors later accused of driving the pursued Kia, James Jeremiah Jones-Drain, was charged with fleeing police resulting in death and vehicle theft. On 08/25/2023, prosecutors dismissed those charges, stating that they could not prove all of the charges beyond a reasonable doubt.
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Frazier’s family filed a federal wrongful-death and civil-rights lawsuit against Minneapolis in 2024. The lawsuit alleged that dangerous MPD pursuits were disproportionately conducted in Black neighborhoods and that the city had failed to control a pattern of hazardous pursuits, including Cummings’ repeated high-speed chases. In November 2025, the Minneapolis City Council approved a $475,000 settlement with Frazier’s family.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND:
Brian Cummings had an extensive history of high-speed police pursuits before killing Frazier. The Frazier family’s federal lawsuit alleged that Cummings participated in at least 12 high-speed pursuits during 2021 alone, including the fatal July pursuit, accounting for approximately 10% of all Minneapolis police chases that year. The lawsuit alleged that he had not been disciplined for those pursuits.
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One month before Frazier’s death, Cummings conducted another pursuit on North Second Street in which he reached approximately 102 mph. Court filings later showed that Cummings received no negative supervisory feedback or discipline for that chase. His defense later cited the lack of prior discipline to argue that he believed his pursuit practices complied with department policy.
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The Frazier lawsuit also alleged that during another approximately three-mile pursuit Cummings ran eight stop signs, exceeded 100 mph and reported a substantially lower speed to his supervisor. The lawsuit argued that Minneapolis police supervisors knew of Cummings’ repeated high-speed pursuits but failed to intervene before Frazier was killed. These allegations were raised in civil litigation and were not separate criminal convictions against Cummings.
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Cummings’ employment with the Minneapolis Police Department ended after he was criminally charged in connection with Frazier’s death. He subsequently pleaded guilty to felony criminal vehicular homicide.
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DISPOSITION:
Former Minneapolis Police Officer Brian Cummings pleaded guilty to criminal vehicular homicide and was sentenced to 270 days in the Hennepin County Adult Correctional Facility followed by three years of probation. The manslaughter charge was dismissed under the plea agreement. Charges accusing James Jeremiah Jones-Drain of fleeing police resulting in Frazier’s death and vehicle theft were later dismissed because prosecutors said they could not prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. Minneapolis subsequently agreed to pay Frazier’s family $475,000 to settle the federal civil lawsuit arising from his death.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Leneal_Frazier
https://apnews.com/article/death-of-george-floyd-george-floyd-minneapolis-homicide-darnella-frazier-32799b3d2569acef76372d812ac1b573
https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/charges-dropped-against-man-accused-of-fleeing-police-in-a-high-speed-chase-that-killed-leneal-frazier/
https://www.startribune.com/charges-dropped-against-man-accused-of-being-driver-in-police-chase-that-killed-bystander/600299794/
https://patch.com/minnesota/southwestminneapolis/minneapolis-cop-charged-vehicular-homicide-fatal-crash
https://kstp.com/kstp-news/local-news/family-of-leneal-frazier-sues-minneapolis-for-his-death-in-2021-police-chase/