Todd Anthony Prokop, 65, faces two felony charges in Ramsey County after an October 28 incident at an apartment building in North Saint Paul. The charges are second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and fourth-degree assault of a peace officer resulting in demonstrable bodily harm. According to the criminal complaint, an officer was injured during Prokop’s arrest after an encounter involving a rifle he called a “ghost gun.”
The complaint, as reported by MN Crime, says police were called at about 7:40 a.m. on October 28 after a resident reported harassment by her neighbor. She told officers she feared for herself and her children. Her interactions with Prokop had been normal until a few weeks earlier, she said, when she declined his offer of a bunk bed for her children.
The complaint also says Prokop threatened to shoot a man during a verbal altercation on October 24. He was cited for disorderly conduct that day, according to the complaint.
Hallway Sprayed, Building Evacuated for Ventilation
The resident told officers she found a mattress outside her door and an unknown substance sprayed in the hallway, according to the complaint. Officers reported difficulty breathing when they arrived, and the substance reportedly affected residents elsewhere in the building. The fire department was called to ventilate the building.
Officers initially told Prokop he would be cited for disorderly conduct and for intentionally releasing a harmful substance, the complaint says. As they spoke with him, an officer reported seeing him reach for the stock of a green rifle on the floor. Prokop described it as a “ghost gun,” according to the complaint. The complaint also says clothing, used cat litter and broken furniture had been thrown into the hallway.
Standoff Ends With Box Cutter Injury
Officers obtained a search warrant to enter the apartment and arrest Prokop, according to the complaint. When they announced they were entering, he ran into the bathroom and tried to close the door. Officers reported seeing a box cutter with an exposed blade attached to his hand with a rubber band.
During the ensuing struggle, Prokop allegedly tried to grab sharp items near the sink and cut an officer’s hand with the box cutter. Officers disarmed and arrested him; the complaint described the officer’s injury as not serious. Prokop was reportedly placed on a mental health hold at a hospital after the incident.
What a Minnesota emergency hold means
Minnesota law provides for an emergency hold when an examiner states in writing that a person has a qualifying condition and is in danger of causing harm to self or others if not immediately detained, according to the Minnesota Revisor of Statutes. Qualifying conditions under the statute include mental illness, developmental disability or chemical dependency. An emergency hold is separate from criminal charges and does not establish criminal guilt. The complaint’s description of Prokop being placed on a hold does not establish whether the statutory process was used in his case or that he was found to have a mental illness.
Charges Filed in Ramsey County
Ramsey County District Court received the charges on October 28, the day of the incident. The felony case is in the Second Judicial District, and the Ramsey County Courthouse is in downtown Saint Paul.
Minnesota’s statute on assault with a dangerous weapon is codified at Minn. Stat. § 609.222, according to the Minnesota Revisor of Statutes topic index on bodily harm, though the available excerpt does not detail the statute’s full text. Separately, an excerpt from Minn. Stat. § 609.2231, also published by the Minnesota Revisor of Statutes, indicates the law covers physically assaulting a peace officer when the assault results in demonstrable bodily harm, though the excerpt likewise does not lay out every element of the charge.
Because the case remains pending with no conviction, it will not surface in a search of Minnesota Court Records Online by Prokop’s name; the Minnesota Judicial Branch's hearing-search system notes that pending criminal, traffic and petty misdemeanor cases without a conviction only appear when searched by case number. A case number was not available in the complaint details reported.
