Lenient Sentence for Man Charged with Killing Officer Questioned

MENDOTA HEIGHTS, Minn. (AP) — A man accused of killing a Mendota Heights police officer last week was previously charged with beating a man he suspected of having sex with his girlfriend. Instead of getting sent to prison in that case he was sentenced to time served and placed in a drug-treatment program.

A Minneapolis Star Tribune report says some law enforcement officials are now asking whether he was treated too leniently.

Brian George Fitch Sr. was charged Friday with first-degree murder in the death of Officer Scott Patrick.

Fitch was also convicted of beating a man in 2012. Dakota County prosecutors asked that he be sent to prison for three years. But Judge Richard Spicer thought he'd benefit from drug treatment.

Prosecutors are now questioning that sentence, although they acknowledge the benefit of hindsight.