Burnsville Man Found Dead In Snowbank Had Been Shot: Officials

INVER GROVE HEIGHTS, MN — A man has been charged in connection with the death investigation of the man found in a snowbank in Inver Grove Heights earlier this week, Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom announced in a news release.

Gabriel Alfonso Sanchez Cruz, 42 of Minneapolis, was charged Thursday night with one count of second-degree murder, officials said.

This charge is in connection to the fatal shooting of Bryant Jon Lutgens, 38 of Burnsville.
The news release also contained previously unreleased information about the case.

Inver Grove Heights police officers responded to a call around 8 a.m. Monday that a dead man, later identified as Lutgens, was found in a snowbank in Inver Grove Heights with a gunshot wound to the head.

Lutgens had gone to visit a friend the previous night but soon after left to go pick up money in a rented jeep, officials said. His friend did not see him again that night nor did she receive a response when she called to wish him a happy birthday the next morning, officials said.

Officers contacted the rental company of the Jeep on Wednesday and were told that the car’s tracking system located the vehicle in Minneapolis. When officers found and tried to stop the car, a pursuit ensued in which a gun was thrown from the vehicle.

The gun was later identified by officers as a 9mm semi-automatic, the same caliber used in the death of Lutgens, officials said. During the pursuit, the car crashed and three people tried to run away. The driver was identified as Cruz, officials said.

A second witness came forward on Wednesday and said that Lutgens had dropped her off at Cruz’s apartment in Richfield on Sunday around 9 p.m., officials said. Cruz asked if the witness knew whether Lutgens had any methamphetamine and the witness responded she thought she did, officials said.

Cruz then spoke to Lutgens on the phone and left the apartment, officials said.
When Cruz returned to the apartment in his own car at 11:45 p.m., the witness described his behavior as “off," officials said. When she asked him what was wrong, Cruz told her that he pulled a gun on Lutgens in an attempt to rob him, officials said.

The two men struggled with Lutgens’ backpack, causing him to fall into the snowbank. Officials said the witness said Cruz told her he shot Lutgens before taking the backpack and leaving.

Cruz is being held in the Dakota County jail and is scheduled to make his first court appearance Friday in Hastings.