An employee in Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s administration will pay the owners of Tesla vehicles that police say he vandalized to avoid criminal charges, an attorney and prosecutor’s office announced Monday.
The office of Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said it will pursue “pre-charge diversion” instead of felony charges against Dylan Adams, a fiscal policy analyst for Walz’s Department of Human Services, Fox 9 reported. Video footage shared by police appeared to show Adams keying six Tesla vehicles around town, marking a trend of attacks stemming from outrage against Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s politics, Minneapolis police said Thursday.
Minneapolis Police on Thursday claimed that Adams caused more than $21,000 in damages to the Teslas. Moriarty’s office warned that “criminal prosecution remains a possibility should [Adams’s] unlawful behavior continue.”
“Our main priorities are to secure restitution for the victims and hold Mr. Adams accountable,” the attorney’s office told Fox 9. The statement said pre-charge diversion “is an approach taken in many property crime cases and helps to ensure the individual keeps their job and can pay restitution, as well as reducing the likelihood of repeat offenses.”
“My client is very remorseful for his actions and is beginning the process of making sure the victims are made whole financially,” Robert Paule, Adams’s attorney, told Fox 9. “We are grateful for the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office exercise of prosecutorial discretion, and apologize to the victims and law enforcement.”
The department that employed Adams told the Daily Caller News Foundation after publication, “We are reviewing the matter at this time.”
“State employees are expected to follow our code of conduct and hold themselves to the highest ethical standards through their words and actions,” the agency said.
Paule did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Minnesota county attorneys run on nonpartisan tickets, though Moriarty is considered a left-leaning prosecutor who advocates for punitive alternatives in the criminal justice system.
Critics have called her soft on crime, particularly after she spoke out against the bipartisan Laken Riley Act that President Donald Trump signed into law, which prioritizes deporting illegal immigrants with criminal records.
“This bill could also lead to more violence in our communities,” Moriarty said in January, referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests.
Moriarty’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to include a quote from the Minnesota Department of Human Services.
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