Timothy Knutsen, 53, of St. Paul, has been charged with two counts of fifth-degree assault and disorderly conduct for an incident in Roseville last month.
Knutsen was a customer at a Cub Foods at 1201 Larpenteur Ave., when he noticed a man eating “a doughnut or a cookie” from the bakery. He then told an employee at the store’s service desk, but said she didn’t see it and there was nothing she could do.
But, according to reports, Knutsen was not satisfied with her response and then asked to speak to the store’s loss-prevention personnel.
A 20-year-old Roseville man who was not identified because he has autism and is classified as a vulnerable adult — seemingly paid for his groceries and began making his way back to the deli area again.
Thirty seconds later, a store employee heard the Roseville man yell. The man told police “he went to get a cookie from the bakery where it says ‘free cookie.’ And when he did just that, a man sprayed him in the face with Mace. The 20 year old saidKnutsen did not say anything to him, and he did not get a good look at him.
Knutsen said he saw the man taking and eating food, and added that the man “came across to him as a kid that was on drugs.” When questioned why he came to that judgement, Knutsen said the man seemed to be “in a zombie state,” dragging his feet, not swinging his arms and wearing shoes whose heels were “crushed down in back.”
People with autism sometimes have less muscle tone or coordination, and can also be on powerful medications, Jonah Weinberg, executive director of the Autism Society of Minnesota, noted.
“Autism is an invisible disability, and the way it portrays can be misinterpreted to somebody who is trained in a traditional fashion in law enforcement or loss prevention.”
Knutsen was terminated from his position as a security guard at American Security.