3 Teenagers Charged In Edina And St. Louis Park Carjackings
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Three teenagers have been charged Monday in connection to two carjackings in Edina and St. Louis Park.
The Hennepin County Attorney's Office says a 16-year-old boy and a 17-year-old boy, both from Minneapolis, face five counts of first-degree aggravated robbery charges for their involvement in separate, but related carjackings in Edina and St. Louis Park on Dec. 9.
Another 16-year-old boy from Minneapolis has been charged with two counts of first-degree aggravated robbery for his participation in the St. Louis Park incident, said the release.
WCCO does not typically identify juveniles charged with crimes.
The state has filed a motion on both former juveniles, requesting that they be certified to stand trial as adults.
According to the petitions, on Dec. 9 around 3:15 p.m., St. Louis Park police responded to a grocery store parking lot after learning of a robbery.
A man told officers that he was in his SUV when the two teenagers tried to pull him out.
The man says the two teenagers repeatedly punched him while threatening him with a drill, pretending it was a gun, said the petition. The male suffered multiple injuries.
The teenagers then fled the scene in a stolen white SUV.
Soon after the incident, the white SUV went to an Edina grocery store around 5 p.m. The SUV pulled into a parking spot next to a woman who was sitting in her car and the teenagers entered the woman's passenger's side doors, said the petition.
According to the petition, the teenagers "began to punch the female victim, while also attempting to push her out of the driver's side door while her seat belt was still buckled."
During the incident, one of the teenagers managed to put the woman's vehicle in reverse and strike a man in the head with the driver's side door as he accelerated backward and ran over the man's legs, said the petition.
The woman was still entangled by her seat belt and was dragged through the parking lot. The woman suffered significant cuts and scrapes to her right shoulder.
The petition says a witness, who has a permit to carry a firearm, pulled out a gun to try and stop the two teenagers. Both jumped out of the vehicle and ran from the grocery store parking lot.
Edina and other suburbs have collaborated to develop plans to combat the rise in crime.