A violent felon wanted by authorities soon after his release from prison went on a knife-wielding spree of carjackings that began at a central Minnesota grocery store, terrorized victims in Minneapolis and ended in a multivehicle crash in St. Paul, authorities said Friday.
The 39-year-old man, who was released from the Lino Lakes Prison in May after serving six years behind bars for aggravated robbery, was arrested Thursday night after a 40-minute rampage that ended only when he crashed a stolen vehicle into several other cars parked along Ford Parkway.
Charged with several crimes was Brandon Stark, who allegedly began his string of crimes shortly before 3 a.m. Wednesday in Foley, about 65 miles northwest of the Twin Cities, when he walked into the 24-hour Coborn's grocery on Glen Street. He allegedly kidnapped an employee he did not know and forced the worker, at knifepoint, to drive him to Minneapolis.
Stark had the victim drop off Stark near 16th Av. NE. and California Street NE. later that day, court documents say.
Court documents say Stark was paroled on intensive supervised release, and an arrest warrant was issued after the June 12 kidnapping in Foley.
Thursday just before 9 p.m., Stark's spree allegedly gained momentum when he approached a woman walking near 2nd St. NE. and 17th Av. NE. and forced her at knifepoint to take him to her car parked near 302 13th Av. NE.
Once in that parking lot, the woman threw her car keys at the suspect and ran into a business.
A man came outside and confronted the suspect, who ran off, a criminal complaint says.
