2 men sentenced to several years in prison for mall carjacking
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Two men were sentenced to several years in prison for their role in an armed carjacking at the Rosedale Center last February.
Leon Kismit Bell, 49, and Jack Mitchell Piche, 23, both pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting carjacking.
Bell was sentenced to 10 years in prison followed by three years of supervised release.
Piche was sentenced to just over three years in prison followed by three years of supervised release.
According to court documents, Piche and Bell intentionally took a car by means of force from a woman in the parking lot of the Rosedale Center in Roseville.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Bell and Piche were walking around the Rosedale Center parking lot on Feb. 16, 2022 and followed a car, waiting for it to park. The driver, a 67-year-old woman, got out of her car, and the two approached her.
Bell brandished a gun and demanded the victim's car keys. After she said that her car keys were in her purse, Bell took it, which also contained her cell phone and wallet.
Piche and Bell then fled from the mall parking lot before law enforcement arrived.
Roseville police tracked the car down south on Interstate 35W, but due to safety concerns, stopped their pursuit. Officers arrested Piche in South Minneapolis that day. Bell was arrested months later.