Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
When a 39-year-old met a man in a St. Paul parking lot to buy an iPhone Thursday, it quickly turned into a robbery. The man put a gun to his side and snatched $500 from him, police said Friday.
But the man being robbed was a permit-to-carry holder, and he pulled out his own gun and shot at the suspect about 5:30 p.m., said Sgt. Mike Ernster, a St. Paul police spokesman. He later told police he feared for his life and fired in self-defense, according to a criminal complaint filed Friday against the alleged robber.
The suspect ran away. Soon after, a man showed up at Regions Hospital with a gunshot wound to the ankle. He received treatment and police investigation revealed he had been shot during the robbery in the 1100 block of Rice Street, Ernster said.
Police arrested the wounded man, Kendrick Johnterious Maddox, 18, of Minneapolis. The Ramsey County attorney’s office charged him with first-degree aggravated robbery.
On Monday — in what police say is an apparently unrelated case — a robber shot at a man after they met for a cell phone purchase in St. Paul’s Macalester-Groveland area. He was uninjured.
A 24-year-old was selling an iPhone 6 Plus on Craigslist and he arranged to meet a man who said he wanted to buy the phone.
After meeting at the SuperAmerica at Fairview and St. Clair avenues, the would-be buyer said he wanted to go to a different location, according to Ernster. They drove to the area of Fairmount Avenue and Howell Street, where the 24-year-old got in the front seat of the man’s vehicle.
The man took money out of his pocket and the 24-year-old handed over the phone, but they wound up in a tug-of-war over the cash and the phone, Ernster said. The suspect used his other hand to pull a pistol out of his pocket, at which point the 24-year-old jumped out of the vehicle and started running away. The robber shot at him and drove away.
Police did not find the suspect, who was described as being a black man in his 20s, 5-feet-11-inches tall, 200 pounds, with shoulder-length dreadlocks and a beard. He was wearing jeans and a beige-hooded sweatshirt, and driving a Mercury Marquis that was teal or light green.
Thursday’s shooting happened during a meeting to buy an iPhone X and was arranged over Facebook.
The buyer began counting out $500, when the seller pulled a firearm and robbed him. The buyer pulled his own .357 revolver and shot the man, who ran away. He drove home and called police, according to the criminal complaint against Maddox.
When police talked to Maddox, he reported “he was just walking down the street, heard gunshots, ran and was hit,” the complaint said. “He denied being involved in any Facebook communications, in making a deal for an iPhone, or in a robbery.”
The man who was robbed went to police headquarters and, after viewing a photo lineup, identified Maddox as the robber, the complaint said. He also showed police Facebook messages between him and the buyer, whose screen name was “Elo DaGreat” and whose Facebook page showed photos of Maddox and an iPhone, the complaint said.
Investigators will be looking into whether Maddox could be linked to other cases, Ernster said.
St. Paul police said they have been seeing an influx of robberies occurring when people meet for purchases arranged online.
“Nowadays, it’s buyer and seller beware,” Ernster said. “As people arrange to buy or sell things online, they should watch for red flags — items that are significantly below market value, out-of-the-way meeting locations, or sellers/buyers that change the meeting location frequently.”
If people are meeting someone to sell or purchase an item, Ernster suggested they meet in a place such as the St. Paul police headquarters parking lot.