Three Minneapolis men were robbed at gunpoint early Sunday morning on the pedestrian bridge that links the Marcy-Holmes and Southeast Como neighborhoods, according to a University of Minnesota police report.
According to a Hennepin County criminal complaint, police found Lee Thomas Charette, who was bleeding, on the bridge and assumed he was the victim of an assault. But after receiving a call from the actual victims, the officers determined Charette was an assailant in the armed robbery.
The complaint detailed the events from the victimsâÄô perspectives. They said Charette robbed them at gunpoint, taking $25.
According to the complaint, Charette struck one of the victims with the butt of his gun. The complaint said the victims then fought back.
In the struggle, the three victims struck Charette several times and managed to take the weapon away from him. The victims then fled, according to the complaint. They then threw the gun into a trash can nearby and called the police.
The gun was recovered by police, who discovered it was a BB gun.
According to the police report, Charette was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center for his injuries.
Charette was booked at Hennepin County Jail and charged with three felony counts âÄî two for aggravated robbery in the first degree and one for attempted aggravated robbery in the first degree âÄî after being positively identified in a lineup.
Charette faces a maximum of 20 years for each count and $35,000 for each offense. He is scheduled to appear in Hennepin County court at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Alcohol plays factor in severe bike accident on East River Parkway
A man lost control of his bike at high speed down East River Parkway Tuesday night, said University Police Deputy Chief Chuck Miner.
Miner said the man crashed near the intersection of East River Parkway and Delaware Street, resulting in severe injuries to his face. It was later determined that he had a blood alcohol content of .31 percent, Miner said.
The legal limit to operate a motorized vehicle is .08 percent.
University student Rachel Hayden saw the aftermath as she passed by in a car.
âÄúHe was just facedown there with lots of blood,âÄù she said.
Hayden said she noticed two cars at the scene that had stopped and that the man was wearing a helmet.
The man was taken to HCMC for treatment. Miner said the officers responding to the call could smell a strong odor of alcohol on his breath.
âÄúThank goodness he was on a bike and not in a car,âÄù Miner said.
Minnesota has no laws against operating a bicycle while under the influence of alcohol, and the man will not be cited or charged with a crime, Miner said.
Man tased after altercation with police
University police had to subdue a man resisting arrest by using a taser in the Marcy-Holmes neighborhood Sunday morning.
According to the police report, a 19-year-old male was âÄúpassed outâÄù on a lawn, along with one other person, when officers spotted them. Both men smelled of alcohol.
The police woke the other person without incident and sent him home, the report said, but when they woke the man, he started to fight with them.
The report said the method police used to wake the man was a sternum rub.
He became combative, lashing out at the officers with wide swings of his arms and yelling at them to leave him alone.
The officers identified themselves and ordered the man to put his hands behind his back, but he refused.
After several attempts to subdue him, the officers were unable to bring the man’s arms behind his back and cuff him.
The officers noted several times in the report that the man had a strong build and was able to resist them.
Officers warned him several times that if he didnâÄôt comply, he would be tased. The man continued to resist the officers and was tased.
He was booked at Hennepin County Jail but has since been released on $50 bail.