Metro Transit says crime is down on light rail trains and buses throughout the Twin Cities. It is a welcome trend for the embattled agency which has struggled to contain widespread drug use, violence and other illegal activity on the system for years.

New statistics released on Tuesday suggest crime continues to drop. The agency reports 17.5% fewer crimes in the second quarter of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023.

But when one regular customer was victimized on a light rail platform in February, Metro Transit failed to create a police report of the incident, 5 INVESTIGATES has learned. 

Amid questions about the case last month, Metro Transit launched an investigation into how police handled the matter, but leaders will not publicly discuss how many other crimes might be going undocumented. 

The Crime

Jody Goers was headed to work as she waited for the train at the 10th Street station in St. Paul in February.

“For some reason, I took my phone out. And the next thing I know, it’s ripped out of my hand,” Goers said. 

Security camera video reviewed by 5 INVESTIGATES confirms her account of what happened. It shows a bearded man wearing a backward hat snatching Goers’ phone out of her hands as he continues to walk away, off of the platform.  

“After I started screaming at the top of my lungs, the kid threw it back,” Goers said. 

That did not stop her from calling 911 and asking to file a report with Metro Transit Police.

“All I’m asking for is (a) one paragraph report,” Goers said. “Because I knew it had to be documented.”

An audio recording of Goers’ call to police confirms she asked to file a report.

“I’ll have my officers give you a call back,” a dispatcher said near the end of the recording. 

The investigation

When that call back from Metro Transit PD never came, Goers contacted 5 INVESTIGATES.

“I had just heard the story about ‘crime was down on the light rail,” she said. “Crime is there. They’re not reporting it, in my opinion.”

After initially agreeing to a request to interview Metro Transit Police Chief Ernest Morales III, the agency later declined.

“We appreciate this situation being brought to our attention and are working to gain a full understanding of what transpired,” a spokesperson wrote. 

Metro Transit Police also launched an investigation and contacted Goers to finally create a police report for the incident more than five months after it happened. 

“I wasn’t asking for a big documentation,” Goers said. “One simple paragraph would’ve done it. And it would’ve been documented, it would’ve been in the system, it would’ve been counted.”

In a copy of that newly-created police report requested by 5 INVESTIGATES, Metro Transit blacked out, or redacted, 100% of the officer’s narrative. 

Search for solutions

A policing expert says the fact that Goers eventually got her phone back should not have prevented Metro Transit from taking a police report. 

5 INVESTIGATES asked Mylan Masson, former director of Minnesota’s law enforcement training program, to review the security video of the incident. 

“It is a crime,” Masson confirmed. “Even though she gets it back, it’s still a crime.”

She added that documenting the incident would improve more than just the credibility of Metro Transit’s crime statistics. 

“You have now made that citizen feel that they are important and they do count no matter what the crime was,” Masson said. “This may have been the only time she needed to call the police or talk to the police and we always want to respond the best we can.”

Goers says she now carries bear spray with her on the train to and from work. 

But she is also calling on Metro Transit leaders to do more. 

“I don’t know what the solution is,” Goers said. “But they have to stop and take a couple steps back on this security stuff.”

Click here for 5 INVESTIGATES full ‘Investigating Light Rail’ coverage.