A spree of robbery sprees hits Minneapolis

Two separate armed robbery sprees occurred in the city yesterday, KSTP-5 reports. The victims were all women, who lost wallets and cell phones. Oh, and did I forget to mention the associated carjacking? And a related car crash?

So, we can check “what” off the list.

“When?” The station provides time stamps for the incidents, which occurred between 10:30 am and 1 pm yesterday, in broad daylight. Four happened within an 18-minute period.

The station records six of the addresses that were hit in the morning spree and provides a helpful map. That takes care of the “where.” (AlphaNews records all 14 addresses for the day.)

“Who?” Now it’s getting a little murkier. KSTP reports that,

Officials believe the incidents are connected and that there are possibly two groups of juveniles working together.

The station adds that, “Arrests have been made, sources say.” The key word above is “juveniles.” Juvenile criminal records are kept secret, so that the names (and associated demographic information) of the perpetrators are not public data.

And the “youths” know this. They also know that there are no repercussions for crimes committed (with the possible exception of murder) by anyone under 18. Once they reach adulthood, the record of juvenile offenders is wiped clean.

Any juvenile arrested yesterday would have been immediately released. The Star Tribune reports today that three juveniles were arrested yesterday.

According to police, these same young scholars from yesterday may also be among the juveniles who committed an earlier spree of robberies in Minneapolis two weeks ago.

The city’s official crime dashboard reports that, before yesterday’s sprees, 237 robberies had been reported, year-to-date. That averages out to more than four per day. The 2024 level is above the already high three-year (post-George Floyd) average. The Star Tribune characterizes the data as so,

So far this year, 237 robberies have been reported in Minneapolis, on pace to match the average from the past three years, but up 34% from the same time in 2023 — marking a setback for downward progress in violent crime seen last year — according to police dashboard data.

Adding in the weekend spree, the dashboard reveals that we are now up to 265 robberies, year-to-date. That’s more than 50 percent above last-year’s pace and more than 12 percent above the three-year average. In just the last four weeks, there have been 144 robberies reported, more than five per day.

Local police say that they are “doing everything possible to stop this.” Minneapolis police chief Brian O’Hara advises,

He asked the public to be on the lookout for groups of young people circling a block in stolen cars looking for potential victims, and urged anyone who sees suspicious activity to report it as soon as possible.

Stay safe out there!