Police had found Otis behind the wheel of a stolen car. When they tried to pull him over, he crashed, climbed out of the car, and tried to run down an alley before he was tackled and arrested. He had been in jail previously for robbing a post office.

Kroll’s interview of Otis was recorded. Recently, an anonymous source sent a copy of the transcript to Sam Gould, the publisher of Beyond Repair, a book shop in the Midtown Global Market.

Beyond Repair, comic book publisher Uncivilized Books, and 18 independent artists then sat down to illustrate the transcript, line by line.

The result: a hot pink comic book titled "Sgt. Kroll Goes to the Office," which portrays the veteran officer as a salivating pig and a screaming bully.

In the transcript, Otis says that he didn’t know the car was stolen. He and his friends had paid $50 to borrow it for the weekend from a crack addict who lived in south Minneapolis. He said that informally borrowing cars for a short period of time was something that he and his friends regularly did. He said he ran from the police because he didn’t have a license, but that he couldn’t get very far because he had just been hospitalized for a broken rib after getting beaten up.

The story is convoluted, full of loose threads, and hints at a larger picture of strife and unsavory influences in Otis' life. But Kroll, according to the transcript, is laser focused on finding out what specific charges apply to the 14-year-old.

The transcript can’t show the tone or volume of what was said in that room, but it does appear to reveal Kroll’s tactics as an interviewer as well as his attitude toward south Minneapolis, victims of car theft, and the department’s hiring practices.

The interview begins with Kroll telling Otis his rights to remain silent and request a lawyer. When Otis hesitates to repeat, in his own words, what those rights mean, Kroll asks him whether he’s in special education at school, if he’s ever been held back, if he has an average eighth-grade reading level, if he’s of average intelligence.

He makes a belabored point to ask Otis, word by word, whether he understands what “you” means, what “have” means, what “the” means.

Throughout the interview, Kroll maintains an adversarial distance, making it clear that he believes the boy is lying. He does much more of the talking than Otis does, and seems to take personal offense in times when Otis suggests that he investigate other leads. The power struggle that ensues seems hinged on intelligence – what this 14-year-old thinks he knows about crime in Minneapolis and what Kroll has heard after years on the force.

Kroll said on Monday, "

What surprises me is it took a team of about a dozen people to compile a cartoon book based on an interview I had 20 years ago with an auto thief. I’d like to see what their police training and background is on interviewing and interrogation."

The comic book was first released to the mayor and city council last Thursday. Shortly after, Kroll himself stopped by Beyond Repair to grab a few copies.

He told Gould in a voicemail that he would like to meet with the publisher face to face, and provide some context for the interview tactics taught to officers and the roles that cops must play. He said that contrary to his portrayal of south Minneapolis 20 years ago as a “crack neighborhood, run-down shitty, shit-hole neighborhood,” he actually does care a great deal about the place and its people.

Kroll and Gould have plans to meet at City Hall on October 18.