4 boys charged in Brooklyn Park armed robbery guised as vape cartridge sale
BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. — Four boys from the Twin Cities are accused in an armed robbery that was originally set up as a sale of vape cartridges.
The boys, a 16- and 17-year-old from Brooklyn Park and a 16- and 17-year-old from Minneapolis, are each charged in juvenile court with one felony count of aiding and abetting first-degree aggravated robbery in the Saturday evening incident.
According to the juvenile petitions, officers responded at around 9:47 p.m. to the report of a robbery at gunpoint on 84 ½ Avenue North in Brooklyn Park. Officers arrived and located the robbery victims, who said an "acquaintance" had contacted them on Snapchat asking to buy vape cartridges.
When they met the acquaintance at the location mentioned above, the victims were robbed at gunpoint by a group of boys. In addition to the cartridges, the juvenile suspects took a phone, wallet and $1,000 in cash, the petition said. The suspects then fled on foot.
Officers tracked fresh footprints in the snow to a nearby home, called out the suspects and arrested six boys. Police then searched the home and found two guns as well as some of the victim's stolen property.
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One of the robbery victims was able to identify five of the boys as those involved in the incident, police said. It is unclear if more individuals will be charged in the incident.