A man and a teen have been charged following a crime spree in Ramsey County late last week that involved kidnapping, armed robbery and carjacking. The arrests follow weeks of reported carjackings and robberies in Ramsey County.
Xavion Tyrece Bell, 20, and Julius James Ringold, 17, have been charged in the spree that stretched from Thursday evening and into Friday morning last week.
The two reportedly started the spree by robbing a 63-year-old man at gunpoint, taking his cellphone and wallet before forcing him into his vehicle near Wheelock Parkway in St. Paul late Thursday night.
Charges allege that the two then took the man to an ATM and coerced him to reveal his PIN so they could withdraw $800. They returned the man to his parking garage but took his vehicle.
Police in Roseville subsequently found the vehicle on Marion Street, and while inspecting it they witnessed another carjacking in which a 28-year-old man jumped out of a moving vehicle. The man told police that he and his girlfriend had been forced into their vehicle at gunpoint by two men.
Authorities said the man and woman were being taken to an ATM to withdraw money when the man saw police and jumped out of the vehicle.
Police found the vehicle with the woman inside and she told police that the suspects fled.
While a search ensued for the suspects, St. Paul police observed a vehicle trying to leave the search perimeter and stopped it. Inside they found Bell and Ringold hiding on the floor of the vehicle and another juvenile was driving.
All three were arrested but the driver reportedly has not been charged.
In late June, Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher warned the public about groups of dangerous and violent teens and young adults who have been terrorizing victims across the metro. The organized group, Fletcher said, is responsible for dozens of armed robberies and, at that time, over 20 carjackings in St. Paul and surrounding areas.
Minneapolis is also seeing a surge in violent crime with reports of dozens of violent robberies and carjackings in just the last week, including the shooting of a Good Samaritan who tried to intervene when a woman was being carjacked on Tuesday.
The charges allege that Bell wielded the gun during the incidents last week. He has been charged with three counts of first-degree aggravated robbery, three counts of kidnapping and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Ringold has been charged by juvenile petition with one count of aggravated robbery and one count of kidnapping.
Bell has a Nov. 2018 conviction on felony first-degree aggravated robbery. He was sentenced to 48 months in prison in the case, but the sentence was stayed by Ramsey County Judge Nicole J. Starr. Bell was alternatively sentenced to one year in the Ramsey County Correctional Facility and was placed on probation for 10 years.
Bell’s conviction on that violent crime makes him ineligible to possess firearms.
Bell made his first court appearance on Monday and was granted a public defender. He remains in custody on $20,000 bail, reduced from $250,000, and is scheduled to make his next court appearance on Aug. 21. Information about Ringold’s scheduled court appearances was not immediately available.
Both Bell and Ringold are also suspected in a third robbery last Thursday, but that robbery wasn’t mentioned in the charges.
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Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and greater Minnesota
Crime Watch MN
Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
