Minneapolis police arrested Robert Leon Commodore, 33, after he allegedly threatened to kill employees of the Purple Onion Café and broke one of the Dinkytown café’s windows Thursday.
Police charged Commodore on Saturday with two counts of terroristic threats and one count of first-degree damage to property.
Jim Beyers, a store employee, said he approached Commodore because he appeared to be annoying some female customers.
“He was noticeably drunk,” Beyers said. “The guy is crazy. People don’t act the way he was acting when they are drunk.”
Commodore began yelling and cursing, Beyers said. Commodore then followed Beyers as he went into the back room of the cafe to call the police.
When Purple Onion employee Carl Miller asked Commodore to get out of the back room, Commodore cornered him by the ice machine, the police report said.
Commodore allegedly threatened to beat up and kill the two employees. He asked the men where the knives were, Beyers said.
“The only time I really got nervous was when he started looking for knives,” he said.
Commodore then went outside and stood next to the restaurant’s plate glass window. Then he jumped up and kicked through the window, Beyers said.
Commodore left the store and began walking away. Beyers followed him and called police from his cell phone to let them know where the perpetrator was, he said.
When police arrived, Commodore said he had been attending anger management classes because of a prior terroristic threats charge, according to the criminal complaint.
Commodore is being held at the Hennepin County Jail without bail. He will appear in court Feb. 14.
In other police news:
Three sexual assaults were reported near the University during the past month.
A 17-year-old woman was sexually assaulted Dec. 23 at about 2 a.m. in the 2nd Precinct, which encompasses Northeast and Southeast Minneapolis. Minneapolis police have not released incident’s address.
The victim’s boyfriend told police he saw a man having sex with his girlfriend while she was passed out and said he saw a second man sitting on the bed, according to the police report.
A third man tried to prevent the victim’s boyfriend from entering her bedroom, the police report said.
No arrest has been made. The case remains under investigation, said Cyndi Montgomery, Minneapolis police spokeswoman.
A 19-year-old woman was sexually assaulted Jan. 1 in the 2nd Precinct. Minneapolis police have not released the address where the incident occurred or the victim’s name.
No arrest has been made. The incident remains under investigation, Montgomery said.
Just after midnight Jan. 15, three women living in the 2nd Precinct reported a robbery and sexual assault. One of the women told police the suspect robbed them and ran out the back door of their apartment. The perpetrator escaped with $1,700, according to the police report.
One of the women was transported to Hennepin County Medical Center to be treated by a Sexual Assault Resource Service nurse, according to the police report.
Minneapolis police charged Lorenzo Bradley III and Jolene Marie Pelton on Jan. 14 with
kidnapping and assault in the second degree of a 19-year-old woman in the 2600 block of Marshall Street Northeast. Police arrested the perpetrators Jan. 10.
According to the criminal complaint, the alleged victim went to the apartment to discuss a disagreement with Pelton. Bradley and Pelton then allegedly tied her up and threatened to kill her.
Each suspect’s bail has been set at $50,000. They are scheduled to appear in court Feb. 6.
Between seven and 10 unknown suspects assaulted James Michael Trueblood, 23, of Minneapolis on Jan. 1 at approximately 1:15 a.m. at 18th Avenue Southeast and Talmadge Avenue, according to the police report.
Trueblood was stabbed three times in the back and transported to Fairview-University Medical Center. No arrest has been made. The case remains under investigation pending further information, Montgomery said.
Joanna Dornfeld welcomes comments at [email protected]
