Charges Filed Against Man Who Pointed Gun at Plymouth Cop
BY MN CRIME STAFF
A man is facing felony assault and burglary charges after police say he pointed a gun at a Plymouth police officer early Tuesday before being shot.
The charges were filed after a confrontation outside an apartment on Quinwood Lane North where the man’s former partner had called 911 fearing for her safety.
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According to the criminal complaint, a Plymouth officer drove into the parking lot around 4:45 a.m. Tuesday after the woman reported someone knocking on her window and trying to get in. She told dispatchers she believed it was her ex-husband, 44-year-old Atanas Trendafilov Hristev, and said she was terrified because of past threats.
Squad video captured the officer pulling up to the apartment before Hristev walked into view dressed in all black. The footage shows him raising a pistol with his arm fully extended toward the officer. The officer fired and Hristev fell to the ground. Hristev’s gun, later identified as a 9mm Smith and Wesson, dropped next to him. The complaint says he continued to resist from the ground until officers were able to restrain him and provide medical care.
PREVIOUSLY: Plymouth Officer Shoots Man Armed With Handgun
Investigators say the woman had recorded video from inside her apartment before police arrived. The recordings show a shadowed figure outside her window. She told officers she had been sleeping with her child when she heard someone outside and said she saw Hristev pacing before the squad arrived. She said she watched him pull a gun and point it at the officer, then heard the shots and saw him fall. She also recounted past threats, including statements that he would shoot police if she called and that if he ever killed himself he would take others with him.
Prosecutors charged Hristev with second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and first-degree burglary for attempting to enter the apartment while armed. He faces an additional second-degree assault charge and a domestic assault charge. A judge ordered him held on $500,000 bail with conditions that include a no-contact order, surrendering his passport, remaining law-abiding and not possessing weapons.
He remains in custody as the case moves forward. Authorities have not released additional information about his medical condition, though he was noted earlier to be in stable condition.
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