Community Corner
Edina Honors Iowa Veteran Who Stopped Carjacking In December
The New Brighton native helped stop a carjacking Dec. 9 in the parking lot of an Edina grocery store.
EDINA, MN — A veteran from Iowa was recently commended by the Edina City Council after helping to stop a carjacking in December while visiting family in the area.
Daniel DeBruzzi, a U.S. Air Force veteran and native of New Brighton, was honored as a “Hometown Hero” at the council’s April 5 meeting, where he received a “Citizen Commendation” from the Edina Police Department.
DeBruzzi, 56, spoke to officials for the city’s “Hometown Hero” series, describing the moment he stopped a carjacking Dec. 9 near Lunds & Byerlys near 50th & France.
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DeBruzzi was back in Minnesota visiting his family in New Brighton and Fridley when he and a friend stopped at the supermarket for some snacks, according to the city’s profile on him.
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DeBruzzi heard someone “screaming for help” as he pulled into the parking lot, then realized it was an attempted carjacking as he drove closer, according to the profile.
“You never expect to drive right into something like that, especially in broad daylight and in such a [busy] area,” he said in the profile.
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Edina police said they were called around 5 p.m. Dec. 9 to the Lunds & Byerlys store for reports of a carjacking in progress. Police said several juveniles tried to carjack a woman in the parking lot before two bystanders tried to help.
The 24-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force’s special forces said he and his friend, who asked to remain anonymous, “didn’t hesitate” when they saw a woman being attacked by two of the juveniles while she was still buckled into the driver’s seat, the profile states.
“I have a daughter about that age, and I would hope that someone would help me or her in that same situation,” he said in the profile.
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DeBruzzi said he quickly parked his truck to block the carjackers from fleeing the area while his friend started fighting off the carjackers, according to the profile.
DeBruzzi said he also jumped into the fight, pitting himself and his friend against at least three others.
The profile says DeBruzzi and his friend “gained the upper hand and attempted to execute a citizen’s arrest,” but one of the juveniles ran away and two others fled in a stolen SUV.
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They crashed the SUV into DeBruzzi’s truck and totaled it, while also damaging several other vehicles as they drove out of the parking lot, according to the profile.
The SUV also ran over DeBruzzi’s friend’s legs, though “miraculously” no bones were broken, the profile states.
Edina police and paramedics showed up about 10 minutes later and rushed DeBruzzi’s friend to North Memorial Health Hospital, according to the profile.
The woman suffered “significant cuts and scrapes” to her shoulder as she was dragged through the parking lot because she was still wearing her seat belt, police said in December. She was not taken to the hospital for treatment.
DeBruzzi lost a fingernail after he was bit during the fight, the profile states.
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DeBruzzi said he likes to think he did his job as a citizen, adding “police can’t be everywhere.”
“Good people need to stand up, because evil happens when good people do nothing [in] scenarios like this,” he said in the profile.
Two teens were charged Dec. 20 in connection with the attempted carjacking in Edina and a carjacking earlier the same day in St. Louis Park.
A 16-year-old and a 17-year-old were each charged with five counts of aggravated battery, while another 16-year-old was charged with two counts of aggravated battery after police alleged he participated in the St. Louis Park attempted carjacking, according to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors said they are seeking to try both 16-year-olds as adults.
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