Two teenagers were arrested for the death of an Army veteran after they tried to steal in pickup truck in Minneapolis, Minn. (Gustavo Castillo/U.S. Air Force)
(Tribune News Service) — A man was fatally injured during a confrontation with two young women trying to steal his vehicle near a coffee shop in Minneapolis, Minn., where he was working at the time, officials said.
The incident occurred on May 15, and police said the 38-year-old man, Amos Barrett Ferrier of Spring Lake Park, died two days later. Two women, ages 18 and 19, were later arrested in St. Paul, police said Tuesday night.
They remain jailed without bail, while charges against them could come as soon as Wednesday. The Minnesota Star Tribune generally does not identify suspects before they are charged.
Court records show that the 19-year-old was charged with aiding and abetting a drive-by shooting in Maplewood on April 15, when gunfire from her SUV targeted another vehicle but claimed no victims.
The woman was jailed in lieu of $60,000, appeared before Ramsey County District Judge Elena Ostby and released two days later on her own recognizance ahead of a June 16 court appearance.
Rick’s Coffee Bar, a nonprofit located in the block where the confrontation occurred, and its affiliated military veterans outreach organization announced that it is “with profound sadness that we have lost our Internship Director, Amos Ferrier.”
The statement, posted on social media by Rick’s Coffee Bar and by veterans support provider Every Third Saturday (ETS), noted that Ferrier was “decorated for bravery due to actions he took while serving as an Army medic in Afghanistan and was credited with saving multiple lives.”
ETS founder Tom McKenna, who rushed to his fallen staff member’s side after the suspects fled, said Ferrier’s role over the past two years was to help veterans looking to get back to full-time work through the organization’s Warriors Return program.
“He had a way with connecting with each and every one of them,” McKenna said, “even if their backgrounds or personalities were different. He could cut through that.”
McKenna added that Ferrier “was that guy you were always happy to see, even if he was delivering bad news. He was a loud and big guy with an infectious laugh.”
Police said evidence points to Ferrier interrupting the two women as they tried to steal his pickup truck.
“The suspects abandoned the attempted theft and ran to the vehicle they had arrived in,” a police statement read.
It was at that time, the statement continued, that Ferrier “was either struck by the suspects’ vehicle or jumped onto the hood.”
The women drove “evasively, causing the victim to be thrown from the hood of the vehicle and sustain a serious head injury,” the statement added.
McKenna said Ferrier was attending a Warriors Return ceremony that afternoon when he looked out the window and saw people across the street trying to steal his pickup and dashed out to challenge the suspects.
McKenna, a Marine veteran who served in Iraq, said he saw Ferrier down on the pavement and was one of two people who rushed to his aid.
“I was holding pressure on his head wound,” McKenna said. “And another employee was holding his hand. ... We did what we could. He was breathing but unconscious.”
In the wake of Ferrier’s death, Rick’s owners closed the coffee bar on Monday and will resume business next week.
Police Chief Brian O’Hara released a statement the day after Ferrier’s death that read, “The reckless disregard for the value of human life shown in this case is horrifying, and those responsible should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Police have classified Ferrier’s death as a homicide. There have been 21 homicides in Minneapolis this year, according to a Minnesota Star Tribune data base. That compares with 22 at this time in 2025.
Auto thefts in Minneapolis increased 25% in the first three months of the year compared with the same period last year. That follows two years of reductions in vehicle thefts after the crime peaking in 2023. The trend has been driven by thieves using modern key-programming technology that can be easily acquired on websites such as Facebook Marketplace.
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