Minneapolis carjacking thwarted by armed potential victim

There were at least five reports of carjackings or attempts on Friday in Minneapolis, according to police dispatch audio.

The carjacking suspects flee after the victim pulls a gun. (Screen capture of video provided to Crime Watch Minneapolis)

A Minneapolis delivery driver thwarted an armed carjacking Friday afternoon by pulling his own gun on the suspects, sending them running.

Dashcam video from the victim’s vehicle captured the incident as it played out about 1:45 p.m. on Friday outside the Midtown Exchange building on the 2900 block of Chicago Avenue.

Crime Watch Minneapolis had posted about a carjacking that took place at the location before 2 p.m., but no other information was made available at the time.

Crime Watch later received a dashcam video and the following message from a relative of the victim of the attempted carjacking:

“My dad was making a delivery at Allina hospital earlier today and almost got carjacked, the suspects got scared and ran when my dad pulled his gun on them. One of them had a pistol and was tapping his gun on the passenger side window while his friend was trying to force open the door. [I’m] glad I convinced my dad to carry especially with how crazy crime is.”

The video, which was pointed straight ahead during the incident, shows a Kia vehicle back up into a spot next to the victim’s vehicle. A pounding sound can be heard with apparent jostling of the victim’s vehicle. Shouting is then heard as the young-looking apparent suspects flee on foot alongside the suspect vehicle.

The same suspect vehicle appeared to be involved in another possible attempted robbery just prior to the attempted carjacking. Crime Watch posted another message Friday from a woman who reported being followed by a silver Kia just after 1 p.m. as she walked in the area of East 28th Street and 35W, near the Wells Fargo Campus. The woman reported that she felt uneasy after the vehicle slowly drove by for a second time with the back passenger door wide open, so she crossed the street. She then noticed that two juvenile males had been approaching from behind her at a close distance.

Photos taken by the woman show what appears to be the same suspect vehicle involved in the attempted carjacking about 30 minutes later at the Midtown Exchange building.

There were at least five reports of carjackings or attempts on Friday in Minneapolis, according to police dispatch audio. One of them involved the assault and carjacking of an Uber driver around 5:30 a.m. near East Lake Street and 11th Avenue South.

A brutal attempted armed carjacking in Northeast Minneapolis was captured on surveillance video in broad daylight two weeks ago. Bystanders rushed to the aid of the woman being attacked outside Tony Jaros’ and eventually chased off the suspects who remained at large as of this past week.

Minneapolis has logged 245 carjackings to date and 43 in the last month. That compares with 231 and 36 for the same periods last year.

Minneapolis didn’t start tracking carjackings as a separate category of robbery until late 2020. The city recorded 405 carjackings in 2020, which was a 301 percent increase over 2019. Last year the city saw 640 carjackings or attempts.

It’s been widely reported that juvenile repeat offenders have been responsible for a bulk of the carjackings across the metro. Some law enforcement authorities, like Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher, have been outspoken about juvenile offenders not being held accountable.

“We are struggling figuring out how to help these kids, but the judges are releasing children back to home or halfway houses because they do not have options,” Sheriff Fletcher previously stated.

“Boys Totem Town closed, but they never constructed the facility in Richfield because some activists were against it so now we really have limited facilities.”

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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.