Man Pleads Guilty Of Kidnapping Verizon Store Manager
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- One of the two men charged with kidnapping a Verizon Wireless retail store manager in the Twin Cities and stuffing him in a trunk last September has pleaded guilty.
According to Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman, Ronald Jackson, 29, of Richfield, will seek probation in the case, but prosecutors are aiming for a 57-month prison sentence.
Investigators said Jackson and William Charles Graham, who is also charged, used a BB gun to force the victim from his car as he pulled into his Loretto, Minn. driveway the evening of Sept. 11.
They allegedly tied his hands together and put him in the trunk of their Dodge Charger, which was later spotted near Highway 55 and Pioneer Trail in Medina.
Police had been alerted to the incident when the victim's wife called them, saying her husband had been taken against his will.
Police were able to locate the suspects in a field with the help of a helicopter with infrared cameras around 11:30 p.m. that evening. The two reportedly surrendered earlier, but then fled police when they heard pounding from the trunk of the car.
The victim was not hurt in the incident, and was reunited with his family.
The man told police that Graham and Jackson asked him about his job at Verizon and where he kept his keys to the store.
Graham's trial is scheduled for June 2.
