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Minneapolis police accused of not cooperating with Moturi shooting audit

Davis Moturi is still recovering from physical and mental wounds, after being shot in front of his house one year ago. 

It's the culmination of roughly 20 acts of aggression Moturi said he reported to police, but help never came. The harassment and threats were allegedly from John Sawchak, Moturi's next-door neighbor. 

Sawchak was arrested for shooting his neighbor but hasn't been fit to stand trial.

"It's unimaginable what was allowed to happen," said Moturi. "It felt like I was the only person trying to protect my life."

Now, Minneapolis City Auditor Robert Timmerman is saying the Minneapolis Police Department is not cooperating with the city's own audit into the shooting.

"It is incredibly frustrating that we are not getting participation from MPD," Timmerman said during Monday's audit committee meeting.

Timmerman said city auditors have reached out to MPD leaders more than a dozen times to meet without success. Individual officers have not been cooperating either, Timmerman said, with one officer allegedly saying quote, "Per my federation attorney I'm asking, could I be subject to discipline if you believe that any answer I provide is incomplete or untruthful?"

"This question itself was incredibly concerning to me, an officer asking if I can be untruthful with the office of city auditor," said Zimmerman. "This is coaching coming from the federation."

WCCO reached out to the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis but haven't heard back. 

In a statement late Wednesday, Public Safety Commissioner Todd Barnette said the police federation should not be involved in an independent review. He said "officer cooperation during the audit is mandatory," and he's working "to ensure outstanding interviews are scheduled."

Police Chief Brian O'Hara said in statement he "will ensure this department's full cooperation during any audit going forward."

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