A South Dakota prison escapee was caught early Wednesday at Mystic Lake Casino after piling up a slew of crimes since late Friday, including three bank robberies in the Twin Cities, an auto theft and other offenses, authorities said.
Clint B. Eldeen's luck ran out at Mystic Lake Casino about 4 a.m., when Prior Lake police arrested him, said FBI spokesman Kyle Loven.
Eldeen, 46, escaped from a minimum-security prison in Sioux Falls, S.D., early Friday evening. He was serving lengthy prison terms for check fraud.
Eldeen persisted in his crime spree Tuesday afternoon in Richfield, Loven said, when he attempted to hold up a TCF Bank branch near E. 66th Street and Cedar Avenue about 1 p.m.
Loven said he's not sure whether Eldeen got away with any cash.
About an hour later and 2 miles to the west, Eldeen struck again, robbing the Wells Fargo at 6445 Nicollet Av. S. and fleeing with an undisclosed amount of cash, Loven said.
Between holdups, there was "a short pursuit [by police], and the suspect evaded capture," said Richfield police Lt. Mike Flaherty.
Before the Richfield robberies and after escaping from the South Dakota prison, according to police, Eldeen:
