MINNEAPOLIS — Frustrated with a boom in armed robberies carried out against residents of his city, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara is enacting a new response plan in an effort to apprehend suspects and head off future hold-ups.
The latest incident happened around 9:30 Tuesday night on the 4100 block of Aldrich Ave. N. Officers responded to a report of a robbery at gunpoint and located the suspect vehicle. Three of the four occupants bailed out and fled. One juvenile still inside the vehicle was taken into custody, as was a juvenile who was one of the runners.
Minneapolis police say two guns were recovered at the scene.
Both suspects arrested are 17-years-old and were wanted on multiple warrants.
Wednesday's incident follows more than a dozen robberies involving guns and juvenile suspects that took place over the weekend. Some of those robberies involved the victim being assaulted.
Chief O'Hara told KARE 11 on Monday that the explosion in robberies was "absolutely outrageous," and on Wednesday he took action. A new Robbery Pattern Response Protocol will kick in when multiple armed robberies occur in a short period of time, diverting police resources from lower priority calls and suspending officer service to non-emergency calls.
Police say squads will flood the scene of the reported robbery to search for the suspects and maintain a visible presence until the incident is over. On-duty police leadership will manage and prioritize resources to address both the robberies taking place and high-priority 911 calls.
“Our officers’ commitment to the safety of Minneapolis residents is the number one priority,” Chief O’Hara said in a news release announcing the new response protocol. “We are doubling down on our efforts to apprehend any and everyone responsible for this recent spike in robberies, and every member of this department, including me, is expected to work double duty until this problem is abated.”
Investigators will determine whether the juveniles arrested Tuesday night, and three others taken into custody following a police pursuit and crash are connected to any other robberies.
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