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ST. CLOUD A 45-pound golden retriever with a love for snuggles, belly rubs and pancakes is one of the latest additions at the Stearns County Attorney s Office.
Nova, a 4-year-old trained facility dog, provides comfort to people during stressful criminal justice-related interactions.
During the day, Nova comes to work with her handler Keli Trautman, a paralegal and victim witness coordinator. Nova and Trautman meet with victims and witnesses of domestic violence, sexual abuse, trafficking and homicide cases. She is crazy-awesome at her job, Trautman said. Trautman and Nova have worked together for more than a year preparing to become certified for public interactions. Trautman said Nova passed her public access trial last month.
Charges Dropped Against Man Accused in Robbery Of A Woman
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According to court documents, the Stearns County Attorney s Office dismissed the charges against 22-year-old Vincent Tran.
The woman said she recognized Tran from high school. Court records show Tran called the woman by her sister s name and began asking her questions.
As she continued to walk past the group, one of the men grabbed her. She told police one of the men, a black man she did not know pointed a handgun at her while one of the other two men began rummaging through her purse.
Whoever fired that gun used deadly force, Tvedten said.
Tvedten said Priebe s gun was loaded, but it was not fired. Priebe s gun was moved from the scene, he said, but the first person to move it was someone who was not involved in the incident. It was picked up and handed to officers before being placed in the back of a squad car.
Priebe admitted to threatening to shoot Boose during the incident, but he did not shoot, Tvedten said.
Tvedten also emphasized that the trigger and guard on the handgun that was fired did not have much space to have multiple people s fingers in it.