An Anoka County grand jury has handed down indictments in the Coon Rapids “Road Rage” case from last summer:

Two men involved in a road rage shooting incident at Foley Boulevard and 99th Avenue N.W., Coon Rapids, June 7 will make appearances in Anoka County District Court next week.

Martin Treptow, 35, Coon Rapids, is scheduled in court Wednesday, Dec. 19, 1:30 p.m., while Landon Beard, 27, Coon Rapids, is due in court Thursday, Dec. 20, also at 1:30 p.m., according to prosecutor Paul Young, assistant Anoka County attorney.

Young took the case to a Anoka County grand jury this week.

A couple of things to remember here:

1. It’s been six months since the incident in Coon Rapids.  Shooting cops is, shall we say, unpopular, especially in the ‘burbs.  Had Treptow done anything genuinely illegal, the County Attorney could have indicted him almost immediately.
2. But he didn’t.  As  a variety of Second Amendment bloggers reported last summer, Treptow was released from jail almost immediately (by the standards of these cases), and not charged with anything; the Anoka County Sheriff didn’t even bother to revoke Treptow’s carry permit, which is normally pro forma in these sorts of incidents.
3. The Anoka County Attorney is as politically safe as any elected official in Minnesota. Indicting a “cop shooter” would have caused not a shred of political fallout.  But tossing charges completely?  That would have caused problems, if only between him and the various police departments with which he has to work.  So he sent the case to the Grand Jury.
4. A couple of little birds tell me that the charges against Treptow are purely window-dressing, designed to further a cover-up of Landen Beard’s behavior that evening.
5. Finally – more little birds tell me this case involved at least one egregious ethical violation by another metro police department in dealing with a media outlet that would seem to have, let’s just say, an unseemly link to this story.

Stay tuned.  And Joel Rosenberg always has the latest and greatest on this case.