Minneapolis cops check shelters for hold-up clues

They're asking homeless people if they recognize a photo of the man they think is behind recent armed robberies in downtown parking ramps.

By ABBY SIMONS, Star Tribune

Last update: November 18, 2008 - 11:36 PM

Minneapolis beat cops are scouring downtown homeless shelters seeking clues that might lead them to the man believed responsible for at least four gunpoint robberies, three of them in deserted downtown parking garages.

Police say the robberies over the past 11 days aren't unique, but they are concerned about the robber's methodology. Investigators say he has struck two of his four victims with a pistol even though none put up a fight.

"There's really no excuse to pistol-whip somebody when they were complying," Lt. Mike Fossum of the department's Robbery Unit said Tuesday. "He's really not getting much, other than a lost laptop and the contents of a wallet, but it's the violence that's accompanying these robberies that's particularly disturbing."

Three robberies occurred Nov. 8, 10 and 13, all shortly after dark at downtown Minneapolis parking garages on Hennepin Avenue S. and 2nd Avenues S. A fourth robbery Nov. 15 occurred shortly after midnight at a parking lot at First Street and 2nd Avenue S.

Those were followed by a weekend rash of six robberies in Dinkytown and northeast Minneapolis, all along University Avenue. In those robberies, at least two armed men in a car took purses from women. The robberies occurred from Saturday evening into Monday morning. They are not connected to the downtown robberies, Fossum said. No one was hurt in those incidents. Victims described a large black Cadillac as being involved in the robberies.

Although the robberies occurred off-campus, University of Minnesota police have stepped up patrols on the edge of campus and have alerted students to the robberies, said Deputy Chief Chuck Miner.

At least one security camera in a downtown parking ramp provided a clear image of the robber, as did video from a local convenience store where a victim's credit card was used, Fossum said. Officers are now taking the image to areas where the homeless congregate to see whether anyone recognizes the man.

In one of the robberies, the suspect was described as a black man, 25 to 30 years old with a medium build and a slight beard. He was wearing a Seattle Mariners baseball cap and green hooded sweatshirt that had a zipper. He was armed with a black semiautomatic handgun.

Fossum urges people using downtown ramps and parking lots to use caution, as always, and if possible to avoid deserted parking ramps, to park near where attendants work and to park near security cameras.

According to Minneapolis crime statistics, robberies are down 16 percent from this time last year.

Fossum said it's highly unlikely that triggers such as the holidays or the sinking economy have anything to do with the most recent surge of hold-ups.

"The people that do these street robberies don't have jobs anyway," Fossum said. "It's not like they got laid off or are trying to get their next paycheck. They're just criminals that are waiting for a prison cell. We could have unemployment of 1 percent and they'd still be out there robbing people."

Anyone with information on the crimes is encouraged to contact Minneapolis police at 612-692-8477.

Abby Simons • 612-673-4921

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