An Army veteran died after he was thrown from the hood of a car being driven by two suspects who he caught stealing from his pickup truck in Minnesota.
Amos Ferrier, 38, was working at Rick’s Coffee Bar in Minneapolis — just blocks from Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport — when he confronted the suspected auto thieves on Friday at around 1:30 p.m. KSTP reported.
“He was in the coffee shop and observed at least one individual, maybe two or three, but they had gone into his truck and took his bag, and he ran out to stop them,” Tom McKenna, co-founder of the veteran-focused nonprofit Every Third Saturday, told the outlet.
When Ferrier confronted them, the suspects bolted to their car, but he jumped on the hood to stop them from getting away.
The suspects drove about a block with him clinging to the hood before he was thrown off and slammed his head into the pavement.
The Minneapolis Police Department said they found Ferrier unconscious and rushed him to Hennepin County Medical Center with life-threatening injuries.
“They did emergency brain surgery at HCMC, and he never woke up,” McKenna said.
Ferrier, a father of two sons, died from his injuries on Sunday.
Police arrested Riniyah Allen, 19, and Jalaya Frost, 18, on Tuesday in connection with Ferrier’s death, KSTP reported.
They have both been booked into the Hennepin County Jail on suspicion of first-degree murder.
His death remains an active investigation, with police urging anyone with information to contact them.
Ferrier served as Every Third Saturday’s Internship Program Director.
“During his time at ETS, he impacted all of our lives with his humor, infectious laugh, and abundance of knowledge,” Every Third Sunday said in a statement. “Amos was the kind of person you always wanted to see and have a chat with.”
He spent 15 years in the Army and had multiple combat deployments to Afghanistan, where he was credited with saving multiple lives, the organization said.
Following his military service, Ferrier dedicated himself to helping fellow veterans readjust to civilian life.
“He was our do-it-all. He was kind of a Swiss Army knife,” McKenna said. “He ran an internship program, but he also had a huge role helping veterans with challenges like paperwork or filing claims, accessing benefits and resources. And he was part of a suicide prevention initiative we were launching.”
In the wake of his death, the nonprofit set up a memorial on the spot where Ferrier fell outside Rick’s Coffee Bar.
Those who were touched by Ferrier’s work flooded the nonprofit’s Facebook page as they praised his dedication to the veteran community and expressed their grief over his loss.
“Amos helped so many others and his life is an example for all of us to aspire to,” one friend wrote.
“I’m so devastated. He was such an amazing human being, the world is a darker place without him,” another commented.
Despite being grief-stricken by his loss, McKenna said Ferrier’s family and the nonprofit are rallying behind a message they believe he would have stood behind.
“Along with the family that we forgive the people who did this, we do want them to be held accountable, and we do want them to be caught and prosecuted for what they did, but we forgive them,” he said.
