Another arrest made in bloody stickup of Roseville pawnshop

Police have arrested and charged three men in connection with the bloody robbery of a Roseville pawnshop that netted the perpetrators roughly $200,000 in jewels.

Marvin Spencer Sr., 51, was apprehended one afternoon last week at a home in Moline, Ill., according to Roseville police.

His son, Marvin Spencer Jr., 24, was nabbed in an Atlanta area hotel several days after the stickup of the Pawn America on July 21 in the 1700 block of N. Rice Street. He initially was charged, but Roseville police Lt. Lorne Rosand said Sunday that the younger Spencer did not participate in the robbery but bragged that he was involved.

The elder Spencer's actual accomplice, police now say, was Derrick Lynch, 51, of St. Paul. He has been arrested and is charged with three counts of aggravated first-degree robbery in the attack that left one clerk wounded with a gunshot wound in the leg.

Roseville investigators interviewed the elder Spencer in jail, and he admitted to the crime, police said. He also claimed he didn't know the gun was loaded when he pulled the trigger and shot the clerk, police added.

Spencer Sr. remains in the Rock Island County, Ill., jail pending his return to Ramsey County on charges of attempted intentional second-degree murder, first-degree aggravated robbery, possession of a firearm by an ineligible person and two counts of second-degree assault.

Spencer Jr. is charged with aiding and abetting first-degree aggravated robbery.

Spencer Sr. pulled a semiautomatic handgun from his waist and told two cashiers not to move. He shot at and wounded one cashier as the employees put up their hands. Meanwhile, Lynch smashed a display case with a tool and grabbed jewels with a retail value of about $200,000.

An employee stepped out from behind another counter to investigate the commotion. Spencer Sr. shot at the employee and missed. Still another employee stepped out of an office and was shot at by Spencer Sr.

The two robbers loaded the jewels into a bag and fled in a car.

Pawn America received a phone call several days later from someone who said two men were at a hotel wearing a lot of jewelry and had quite a bit of cash. The caller also said the younger Spencer mentioned the robbery, which the caller then researched online. The caller said surveillance photos distributed by authorities matched the elder Spencer at the hotel.

Acting on the caller's tip about the room number and the vehicle, the DeKalb County, Ga., Sheriff's Office located the car and Spencer Jr. at the hotel. The car had a Georgia license plate. The elder Spencer had already left.

The employee who was wounded identified Spencer Sr. in a photo lineup as the shooter.

Spencer Sr.'s criminal record includes convictions for aggravated first-degree robbery and burglary, among other convictions. He was released from prison in March. Spencer Jr.'s criminal record includes a conviction for receiving stolen property.

Lynch has convictions in Minnesota for burglary, arson, property damage and illegal weapons possession.