Arrests don't quell fear in Coon Rapids

Renee Jones Schneider, Dml - Star Tribune Star Tribune

Gerald Lemon, 70, talked about how the recent beating crimes in his neighborhood have put him on edge while standing around at a garage sale at his house Wednesday.

Police say residents must remain wary even though three suspects are being held on suspicion of terrorizing a neighborhood.

By ABBY SIMONS and TIM HARLOW, Star Tribune Staff Writers

Last update: May 14, 2008 - 11:41 PM

Coon Rapids police say they've caught three of the teens who had been terrorizing Gerald Lemon's neighborhood, but the retiree remains wary.

Living in the heart of a neighborhood where a series of brutal assaults in the past two months has left residents scared to go out at night, he's heeding police warnings that more thugs are out there.

"I'm 70 years old and I don't want to walk up the sidewalk now. If I do, I'm gonna carry a baseball bat with me," he said while hosting a family garage sale Wednesday. "I've lived in this house 45 years, and we never had a bit of trouble until this."

He added, "You can't trust nobody now."

Two juveniles and an 18-year-old man were taken into custody Tuesday night after police searched a Coon Rapids home and found a sawed-off shotgun. Police say they believe two of the suspects attend Coon Rapids High School.

The juveniles are being held in a detention center and the 18-year-old is in the Anoka County jail pending charges being filed today.

Even with those arrests, Deputy Police Chief Tim Snell said, people living in the vicinity of Hanson and Coon Rapids boulevards should not let their guards down.

Five people have been robbed -- and two hospitalized -- in ambush-style attacks since March 8.

"I would not be celebrating at the moment because we still have a ways to go and there are others out there," Snell said.

Residents remain concerned too.

Lemon's daughter, Tammi Acciari, 47, lives just blocks away from her father's house.

She was frustrated that police didn't alert the community until there had been five attacks. The crime-alert posters now plastered on gas stations and drugstore windows should have been posted weeks ago, she said.

"This has been going on for two months and just now we're being made aware? This is not right," she said.

Snell said police hadn't linked the attacks until the most recent incidents, last week. He still doesn't know exactly how many more suspects police are still looking for, but said they do have a "multiple number" from the Coon Rapids area in mind.

He said there will be an increased police presence in the area this weekend as hundreds of people are expected at Epiphany Catholic Church on Hanson Boulevard to attend its annual Springfest.

The most recent assaults occurred May 7, when two men were attacked.

Bryan Novak was walking home about 10 p.m. that night when he was grabbed from behind, knocked down and repeatedly kicked by several assailants. They demanded his wallet but then ran off without it, Snell said.

Novak was hospitalized for four days with a broken jaw and nose.

About a half-hour later that same night, a man biking in the same area, near Hanson Boulevard and 108th Lane, was attacked and robbed. He was treated for cuts and bruises and released, Snell said.

Since March 8, a total of five people -- one woman and four men, all of whom were alone -- have been approached by at least two men in the "blitz-style" attacks. The victims were assaulted and in four cases had their purse or wallet stolen, police said.

Snell said that robbery appears to be the motive and that it does not seem to be related to gang activity.

"It was a crime of opportunity; you could say they were trolling for victims," Snell said.

Darrell Hackel, 23, said such crimes in the neighborhood shouldn't be such a surprise. "It's a reality these days," he said. "People get hurt, people do stupid things, and in recent years it's getting a lot worse, even around here."

Hackel said anyone walking alone at night is a target. "It's kind of sad, but it's the facts of life now," he said. "We used to be able to leave our doors unlocked. We can't do that anymore."

As he tinkered with a lawnmower outside his Coon Rapids home Wednesday, Bruce Zabel, a 50-year-old post-Vietnam veteran, wondered what would possess teenagers to hurt others.

"I'd like to know what provoked them to lead to such violent acts," he said. "It's just a real traumatic thing. They did this to adults. What would have happened if it was some kids? Or the elderly?"

asimons@startribune.com • 612-673-4921 tharlow@startribune.com • 612-673-7768

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