MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis police are reporting yet another string of carjackings on the city's south side between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. Monday.
Police say a total of six attempts were made to steal cars in south Minneapolis on Monday — three of which were successful. All but one of the incidents involved an armed suspect.
The incident follows a string of six additional carjackings reported Friday night, which were also in south Minneapolis. MPD says 25 attempts have occurred from Friday to Tuesday alone.
"There was one early this morning in the fifth precinct and that suspect is in custody now," Minneapolis Police Inspector Katie Blackwell says.
In many of Monday's reported incidents, police say suspects arrived and left in a black SUV.
"The sharp rise in carjacking crimes in 2020 and 2021 has been frightening for our community residents, visitors, and businesses," said MPD public information officer Garrett Parten. "MPD is continuing the work of providing safety information to the public, apprehending suspects, investigate cases, and collaborating with the Hennepin County Attorney’s office and the courts to hold offenders accountable."
MPD cites a substantial spike in carjacking-related incidents over 2020, where 401 robberies was a 286% increase over the previous year. Year-to-date in 2021, MPD says there have already been 457 carjackings.
Those numbers are dramatically higher than the number of carjackings that have occurred in previous years.
In 2019, Minneapolis police responded to 104 carjacking-related incidents.
Police say one juvenile male was taken into custody on Saturday, at which point two additional individuals were identified. Police are investigating any potential links to the various incidents that have occurred.
MPD encourages the public to stay safe with these safety tips:
Stay aware of your surroundings.
- When sitting in your vehicle, keep your doors locked. If you feel unsafe, relocate.
Take preventative measures: In addition to the carjacking, wallets and phones are typically stolen as well. The security code for the phone is often demanded. In some cases, financial apps are accessed, and money transferred from accounts.
- Avoid carrying large sums of cash
- Immediately report any lost or stolen credit or debit cards.
- Ensure that all apps containing personal information or access to finances are individually secured with security measures that are different than that of your phone.
If you become the victim of this type of crime:
- If you are confronted by an assailant(s), remain calm, do not argue.
- Along with a description of the suspect(s), try to remember any unique physical characteristics (scars, limp, acne, teeth, manner of speech, etc...).
- Never pursue fleeing assailants - provide information and suspect(s) descriptions to responding officers.
- If video surveillance equipment is available, please save a copy of the incident for investigating detectives.
- If approached by a witness to the incident, request contact information.
- Contact 911 immediately and remain on scene, if possible. If your vehicle or phone has tracking ability, communicate that with the dispatcher.
Look out for One Another:
- Call 911 immediately if you witness a crime in progress.
- Be sure to pay attention to specific details like license plates, vehicle damage, suspect(s) descriptions, and direction of travel. Provide this information to responding officers.
- If you have video surveillance, provide a copy, or contact information to the police.
- If you wish to remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers: http://crimestoppersmn.org or 1-800-222-8477.