Charges brought in Minneapolis robberies-by-knife

Last update: November 9, 2009 - 7:48 PM

A Red Wing man was charged Monday in a string of armed robberies in south Minneapolis in which he threatened store clerks with a knife on a Leatherman tool.

Dwayne Murray, 46, was charged with two counts of aggravated robbery after he allegedly demanded the money in the till at Seward Cleaners and threatened the clerk with the knife in October. The clerk recognized the thief as the same man who robbed the cleaners two weeks earlier.

Police say Murray robbed at least a dozen small businesses, such as cleaners and gift shops, where a lone clerk was working behind the register and where surveillance video equipment isn't mandated by a city ordinance.

In each of the robberies that occurred in September and October, police said Murray threatened the clerk with the knife, grabbed cash from the opened register and then ordered the clerk to lie on the floor while he escaped.

In several of the robberies, witnesses said he wore a letterman-style black and blue jacket. The clerk at Seward Cleaners told police the thief was wearing a tan skull cap during the first robbery in September and a black Kangaroo brand hat in the second robbery in October. Police recovered a Leatherman tool, a letterman-style jacket and a Kangaroo hat when they arrested Murray.

MARY LYNN SMITH