ST PAUL, Minn. — St. Paul police have arrested a teenager in connection after an attempted armed robbery and a carjacking that happened Thursday night.
According to a Facebook post on the St. Paul Police Department page, a 21-year-old woman called 911 after someone attempted to rob her. Police say she was getting out of her car, carrying groceries, on the 800 block of St. Paul Avenue at 9:39 p.m. Thursday. She told police a suspect jogged up to her, pointed a gun at her chest and demanded her purse.
Police say when she didn't have any money on her, the suspect jumped into a car and drove away.
Investigators watched surveillance video from the area afterward, and saw the suspect's car make a U-turn, follow a white Audi and rear-end it. Police say video showed the suspect assault the driver of that Audi and steal the vehicle.
Police kept investigating overnight and found the suspect and the stolen Audi on Friday, according to the SPPD Facebook post. The teen tried to get away in the car and was followed by a State Patrol helicopter. Police say he dumped the car on Bates Avenue, and police used a K-9 to track him down.
The suspect, who is 15 and has been arrested more than 20 times, surrendered and is in jail. Police believe he "may be responsible for multiple carjackings and robberies across the metro."
Police say the arrest was part of Operation Intercept, a "multi-agency effort to end the carjacking epidemic in the East Metro."
