After touting several arrests relating to robberies near the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis, U police chief Greg Hestness issued a cautiously optimistic report on efforts to curb crime in recent months.
Students remain cautious, a student representative noted, and there is reason: Overall, robberies on or near campus have gone up 27 percent this fall, compared with the previous five-year average. Some robberies and attempted robberies have been brazen, occurring in campus buildings in broad daylight, or with several assailants attacking students — even those walking together.
In November, undergraduate student body president Michael Schmit noted campus safety was seen by students as the “number one priority,” and U President Eric Kaler promised added cameras and patrols, saying he was angered and frustrated by the string of crimes.
And as Hestness was preparing for his news conference, another crime alert was issued after three men knocked a student to the ground and attempted to steal his wallet late Thursday evening.
Still, Hestness began his news conference with the good news: six arrests, including three men allegedly involved in a Nov. 20 robbery of a student just off campus; two more arrested when university police halted a robbery in progress early New Year’s Day; and another man arrested in a Nov. 17 robbery, after DNA from a pistol was traced to him.
“I’ve been a robbery detective. It’s not an easy crime to solve,” Hestness said. “Typically it’s … stranger on stranger, so, it’s not a high solvability rate. So when we’re getting 20, 25 percent on stranger-on-stranger cases, it’s pretty good.”
Faqi Said Beytula, 18, of Burnsville was arrested and charged with simple robbery for the New Year’s Day incident, along with a 17-year-old juvenile yet to be charged. Hestness said a plainclothes team came across the two as they were assaulting a 21-year-old former student, and whose wallet was found on one of the assailants.
During the Nov. 20 robbery, an armed man approached a student near Essex and Ontario streets southeast, struck him and stole his laptop and other valuables.
Myron Jovan Richardson-Rivers, 20, of Crystal was charged Dec. 19 with first-degree aggravated robbery and receiving stolen property for the crime. Nehemiah Richardson, 23, and Freddie Pernell Jackson, 21, both of Minneapolis, were charged with aiding and abetting an aggravated robbery.
According to a criminal complaint, the victim used a tracking device to track his computer, and the person in possession of the computer helped Minneapolis police identify one suspect. Police also used surveillance footage from an ATM that was used to take money from the victim’s stolen credit cards.
Richardson-Rivers’ attorney couldn’t immediately be reached for comment Friday.
For the Nov. 17 robbery, Ahmed Dahir Farah, 22, of Minneapolis was arrested by Minneapolis police and charged with aggravated robbery after they traced DNA from a gun found in a car at the scene of the incident, which occurred in the 1100 block of Eighth Street Southeast.
All five men were charged in Hennepin County District Court.
Hestness said his department had found no evidence that the men arrested were involved in other campus-related crimes.
There have been 25 robberies or attempted robberies during the school’s first quarter, the period of September though November, compared with the previous five-year average of 18.2 for that quarter. Three of the crimes occurred on campus, and 22 occurred off campus but nearby.
Arrests have been made in six cases so far, Hestness said.
Roughly half of the crimes’ victims were students, Hestness said, who added that the efforts required several hundred hours of overtime from his department.
“We’ve made these arrests, but I could give you chapter and verse of another half a dozen robberies that did not happen,” Hestness added, pointing out his department’s robbery suppression methods of “targeting, and frankly profiling predatory behavior.”
Schmit, the undergraduate student body president, said Friday that it was “hard to gauge” student anxiety at the moment, given they have been on break since Dec. 18.
“But leading up to finals, (concern about crime) was still palpable,” he said.
“At this point, we’re seeing that things are happening from UMPD,” Schmit added. “We’re seeing arrests made, and they’re putting in the overtime. We’d like to see it continued, still see a strong police presence.”
In Thursday’s case, according to the crime alert: “The victim was walking eastbound on Fourth Street when a suspect approached aggressively and knocked him to the ground. The suspect told the victim he had a gun and punched him in the face. Two additional suspects approached as the first suspect tried to take the victim’s wallet. All three suspects fled when a witness approached the scene.”
The man who punched the student is described as black, about 20 years old and 6 feet tall with a light build. He was wearing a purple and green straight-brimmed hat, a black jacket and dark jeans. Detailed descriptions of the other two, a male and a female, weren’t available.
A witness saw the robbers get into a white, four-door sedan parked in the lot behind CVS pharmacy. A fourth person was in the car when they got in. The sedan went east on University Avenue, followed by a green sedan that might also have been involved, the crime alert said.
Police ask anyone with information to call them at 612-692-8477.
Tad Vezner can be reached at tvezner@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-5461. Follow him at twitter.com/SPnoir. Mara H. Gottfried can be reached at mgottfried@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-5262. Follow her at twitter.com/ MaraGottfried.
