The St. Paul City Council has approved a $350,000 settlement for Joseph Javonte Washington, a man who was shot four times by a St. Paul police officer in November 2020 while he was unarmed. The payout closes out a federal civil rights lawsuit even as Washington himself sits in prison, now serving decades behind bars for a separate and brutal sexual assault he committed just before the shooting.
The case dates back to late November 2020, when Washington broke into his ex-girlfriend’s Lakeville home, according to 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS. Once inside, he used her phone, punched her in the face, and sexually assaulted her. Court filings cited by CityNews Ottawa show Washington livestreamed the assault and death threats against the victim on her own Facebook and Snapchat accounts after breaking in and stealing her phone.
Washington then forced the victim to drive at knifepoint, per 5 Eyewitness News, until the vehicle crashed in St. Paul. She flagged down a motorist for help while Washington fled the scene on foot. Police tracked him to the area of Rice Street and Maryland Avenue, where he was found hiding inside a dumpster behind a funeral home.
A Chaotic Capture Behind a Funeral Home
Five officers responded to the crash scene, and the confrontation that followed escalated through multiple levels of force before ending in gunfire. According to MPR News, Officer Flavio Becerra deployed a PepperBall gun and Sergeant Kathleen Brown used a Taser before Officer Anthony Dean fired the shots that struck Washington. Police also used a K-9 during the attempt to apprehend him, the station's report on the incident notes.
Washington emerged from the dumpster and ran toward officers, at which point Dean opened fire, striking him four times. Washington was unarmed and, according to court filings referenced in the lawsuit reported by FOX 9, was naked at the time and has claimed he was attempting to surrender rather than attack.
Chief Fired the Officer Within Days
Then-St. Paul Police Chief Todd Axtell moved quickly, firing Dean in connection with the shooting and stating that the force Dean used was not reasonable or necessary, per 5 Eyewitness News. Dean, identified by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension as the officer who fired the shots, had been a six-year veteran of the department who served on its gang unit and had previously been named Officer of the Year in 2016 by the Minnesota American Legion, according to the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder. He was also an eight-year Marine Corps veteran who had received a departmental life-saving award.
Axtell's swift termination did not sit well with the department's union. The St. Paul Police Federation publicly defended Dean, saying he had led an exemplary career and acted to protect himself and fellow officers against a suspect reported to be armed — Dean's attorney maintained Washington had claimed to have a gun, per the Spokesman-Recorder's reporting.
The shooting also drew immediate community backlash. More than 100 people organized by Families Supporting Families Against Police Violence marched through St. Paul in December 2020, briefly shutting down the Metro Transit Green Line to demand criminal charges against Dean — protests that came just six months after George Floyd's murder in neighboring Minneapolis.
No Charges, Then a Lawsuit, Then a Settlement
To avoid conflicts of interest within Ramsey County, County Attorney John Choi referred the investigation to Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who reviewed the case alongside Washington County prosecutors and an independent use-of-force expert, MPR News reported at the time. In August 2021, Ellison's office announced Dean would not face criminal charges, concluding he reasonably believed Washington was capable of inflicting great bodily harm or death when he emerged from the dumpster and rushed officers, as reported by AP News. Ellison's office said the state could not disprove Dean's affirmative defense of authorized use of force beyond a reasonable doubt.
Washington later filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in November 2022 against the City of St. Paul and officers Anthony Dean and Colleen Rooney, alleging excessive force, Fourth Amendment violations, battery, and negligence, according to FOX 9's report on the case. That lawsuit is what ultimately led to the $350,000 settlement now approved by the city council.
Washington's Own Criminal Case Concluded Separately
Washington was convicted of first-degree criminal sexual conduct for the Lakeville assault, according to 5 Eyewitness News. In May 2025, Dakota County District Judge Dannia Edwards sentenced him to nearly 35 years in prison following his conviction on five felony counts, specifically citing his broadcasting of the assault online for the world to see, per a report from Power Line. That sentence ensures Washington will remain incarcerated for decades, separate from and unaffected by the city's decision to settle his civil claims.
The $350,000 payout adds to a broader pattern of costly police misconduct settlements in St. Paul. It follows a record $2 million settlement the city council approved in 2017 for Frank Baker, who spent two weeks hospitalized after being severely injured by a police K-9 unit, according to MPR News's earlier reporting on that case.
