Suspected carjacker charged with 70-minute robbery spree targeting 5 Minneapolis victims

A 20-year-old man has been charged with teaming up with a younger accomplice and going on a frenetic armed-robbery spree, driving around Minneapolis in a carjacked vehicle and targeting several victims in barely more than an hour.

Brandon L. Rock, of St. Paul, is charged in Hennepin County District Court with five counts of first-degree aggravated robbery and one count of assault with a dangerous weapon in connection with the incidents that began just before dawn on Nov. 27.

Rock was arrested at a home in Minneapolis, where a handgun and items from his victims were recovered, the criminal complaint read. He remains jailed in lieu of $100,000 bail ahead of a Jan. 15 court hearing. A message was left Monday seeking a response to the allegations.

The juvenile has yet to be charged in the case, a spokeswoman for the County Attorney's Office said Monday.

The robbery duo stole wallets, cellphones and car keys along with roughly $1,300 from one of their victims, the charges read.

Rock and his partner were met with resistance at times, with one woman refusing to give up her vehicle and drawing gunfire, according to the complaint. And an apparent lack of knowledge about driving a vehicle with a manual transmission stymied them in another instance, the charges noted.

Charges against Rock came as Minneapolis police, the Sheriff's Office and State Patrol teamed up to make dozens of arrests in response to a recent rash of violent carjackings. The three-day crackdown last week resulted in 41 felony arrests and the recovery of seven stolen vehicles and five guns.

A retroactive count by analysts determined that Minneapolis has seen at least 375 carjackings this year through November. That overall tally is more than three times higher than 2019.

The complaint against Rock spelled out the spree that he and his cohort are alleged to have carried out:

• About 7 a.m., [1 in graphic] Rock and a juvenile male approached a man as he was getting into his vehicle in the 1300 block of SE. 7th Street. Rock pointed a handgun at the man and ordered him to hand over his wallet, cellphone and car keys. The pair fled in the man's vehicle.

• About 7:15 a.m., [2] the pair approached a man near E. Lake Street and S. 21st Avenue. Rock held a gun while they robbed the man of his wallet and jacket before fleeing in the first victim's vehicle.

• About 7:50 a.m., [3] in the Tangletown neighborhood, Rock and his accomplice drove up to a woman sitting in her vehicle in the 300 block of Elmwood Place. Rock ordered her at gunpoint to get out of the vehicle and hand over her purse. She refused and drove off as Rock fired several shots at her vehicle.

Rock and his accomplice got in the man's vehicle for only a moment, then fled in the first victim's vehicle.

The man later told police that "his vehicle is a stick shift, and he did not believe either [suspect] knew how to operate the vehicle," the charges read.

• About 8:10 a.m., [5] Rock and his partner in crime drove up to a man walking in the 2900 block of S. Pleasant Avenue. They robbed him at gunpoint of $1,300 and his cellphone, then drove off.

About 8:20 a.m., an officer saw the first victim's vehicle and attempted to pull it over. The driver sped off but police soon recovered it unoccupied [6] in the 2300 block of S. Pillsbury Avenue.

The investigation led officers to a home in the 2400 block of Ogema Place, where they recovered many of the items belonging to the victims and a handgun. Rock was arrested at the residence. [7]