Alleged drug dealer bailed out by MN Freedom Fund jumps bail, charged in new drug case
By Crime Watch MN, Feb. 25, 2023
An alleged armed drug dealer bailed out by the Minnesota Freedom Fund in December subsequently jumped bail and was charged in a new felony drug case earlier this month.
The Minnesota Freedom Fund provided $6,500 no-strings bail to Renelda Susan Cuzco-Zotamba, 39, of south Minneapolis after she was charged with three felonies including first-degree drug sales/possession, second-degree drug possession of 25 grams or more of cocaine or methamphetamine, and fleeing police in a motor vehicle. She’s also charged with misdemeanor counts of fleeing police [on foot] and giving a false name to police.
Charges say Cuzco-Zotamba, also known by several aliases including Renelda Susan Hernandez, was the passenger in a vehicle when it was pulled over by officers in September 2022 on 35W at Diamond Lake Road in Minneapolis because the registered owner had a felony warrant.
While police were putting the driver in the squad for arrest, Cuzco-Zotamba got in the driver’s seat of the suspect vehicle and fled.
Officers pursued the vehicle which they eventually found had crashed into two parked vehicles at East 42nd Street and 2nd Avenue South in Minneapolis. Cuzco-Zotamba fled on foot and was not found at the time.
Inside the abandoned suspect vehicle, police found three loaded handguns, cocaine packaged for sale, and meth.
A warrant was issued for her arrest and Cuzco-Zotamba was picked up in November. Bail was originally set at $100,000 or cash bail of $6,500.
MINNESOTA FREEDOM FUND TO THE RESCUE!
Cuzco-Zotamba was released on MFF’s bail on Dec. 14, and her release was revoked by a judge’s order earlier this month for failure to comply with electronic monitoring. A warrant was issued for her arrest on Feb. 7.
Records show Cuzco-Zotamba also has several other open cases and/or warrants including a new felony drug case charged this month on Feb. 14 after she was found with a gram of meth during a traffic stop in Elk River. She was also jailed on the Hennepin County drug warrant at that time.
Cuzco-Zotamba was transferred to custody of the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday of this week on the drug case warrant and several other warrants. Cash bail has again been set at $6,500, and Cuzco-Zotamba remained in custody as of Friday night.
Insult to injury, Cuzco-Zotamba does not appear to have been charged by the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office with damage to property for the two vehicles she crashed into while fleeing in September.
See our growing list of dangerous and repeat offenders bailed out by the Minnesota Freedom Fund.
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