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Mpls. Cop Credits Crisis Training In Restraining Naked Man

By Caroline Lowe, WCCO-TV

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Police officer Adam Grobove III has seen it all in his many years with the Minneapolis Police. On Tuesday, it was the first time he has ever tried to restrain a naked man.

Grobove credits his training as a member of the department's Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) for helping him handle a difficult and potentially very dangerous situation.

Grobove was on patrol when a report came in about a deranged, naked man attacking a staff member at the Unity Place assisted living apartments in northeast Minneapolis. The staff there includes licensed medical professionals and social workers.

He could hear screaming when he entered the building and then found the man circling a staff member on the second floor. Grobove first tried to talk with the man who is a resident of the facility. It didn't work.

"He came at me just like this and grabbed my vest. He grabbed my microphone and I couldn't grab my microphone and talk into it. And then, at that point, it was to force him away and keep him away from my gun belt," said the veteran officer.

Even with help, Grobove and another officer had difficulty dealing with him.

"He had some abnormal strength. He pushed and pulled and he was able to lift us up and move us around -- almost like we weren't there," he said.

Eventually, Grobove and the other officer were able to get the naked man under control and a paramedic sedated him for his trip in an ambulance to the Hennepin County Medical Center.

"He was very slippery. Almost like hanging on to someone with oil on them," said Grobove, who received a couple scrapes in the process.

The man was scheduled to get a medical evaluation at the hospital's ER and then a mental health evaluation to determine what care he needed next.

Grobove is one of more than 125 MPD officers who have had CIT training. The training is aimed at diffusing tense situations with people in crisis and having medical help available to deal with their problems, which was something that helped greatly for the veteran officer Tuesday.

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