Didn’t ALPD speak to man?

I am writing this letter as a concerned neighbor and friend. On Sept. 30 at around 6 p.m. my wife was leaving our house to meet a friend. When she got outside she could hear a lot of yelling coming from our neighbor, Jim Bronson’s house. She drove away from our house, then decided to call me to tell me about what she heard. She also said she saw a young man standing in the alley by Jim’s house.

I stepped out our back door and saw deputy Kurt Freitag walking to his truck with a blue sign in his hands. I decided I would go up to Jim’s house to see what was happening. When I got to Jim’s house he was outside, really shook up. I asked Jim what was going on. Jim told me his side of what happened.

Deputy Freitag and his wife had stopped to pick up a yard sign of deputy Freitag’s. Jim told me that deputy Freitag had chest-bumped him to get at the sign. Jim pushed back and again was pushed by deputy Freitag. Again Jim pushed back and got a hold of the sign. Jim said he turned to walk away from both deputy Freitag and his wife. Jim said he was tackled by Cheryl Freitag to the ground. Deputy Freitag then got on top of Jim while he was on the ground, pulling the sign away from Jim.

Words were exchanged and Freitag told Jim that he would be back after the election was over. Two Albert Lea police officers arrived. One of them talked to Jim. Jim told the officer about being pushed by deputy Freitag and being tackled by Mrs. Freitag. This account was told to me by Jim Bronson no more than five minutes after deputy Freitag drove away.

Jim Bronson moved to this neighborhood 20-plus years ago. My wife and I have lived here since 1979. Jim has always been a good neighbor. He is a friend and will do anything to help his neighbors.

What I don’t understand is, after this incident occurred, no one from the Albert Lea Police Department has interviewed Jim Bronson or talked to the man standing in the alley, or has talked to neighbors to see if they witnessed this incident. Why?

John R. Frydenlund

Albert Lea