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Minneapolis police chief on robbery spree
After police made arrests in a robbery spree Sunday night, Chief Brian O'Hara walked the media through the police response.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Fourteen people were victimized on Sunday during robbery sprees in Minneapolis, police report.
Police say the robberies occurred within minutes of each other Sunday morning and then hours later Sunday night. The string of robberies came to a chaotic end with a police pursuit which ended in a crash.
As FOX 9 reported on Sunday, the first string of four robberies occurred over 18 minutes in south Minneapolis, starting at about 10:45 a.m.
Over the next hour, police also learned of a carjacking and robbery in northeast Minneapolis.
RELATED: Victim in Minneapolis carjacking recounts frightening moments
Hours later, police received four more robbery reports over 15 minutes in the Uptown area starting around 8:25 p.m. About 30 minutes later, the thieves then apparently moved across the river again, targeting victims in northeast Minneapolis. There, four more victims were robbed in a matter of 11 minutes.
In total, the sprees victimized 14 different people.
Sunday, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara said the robberies were similar: groups of teens in vehicles, primarily targeting people on the street. Chief O'Hara believes all 14 cases involved the same suspects.
Police investigate after a pursuit of robbery suspects ends in a crash. (FOX 9)
How did the police respond to the sprees?
Minneapolis police rolled out "robbery response protocol" during both the morning and evening sprees. The protocol is a new strategy the department is using to thwart sprees.
It was created after another robbery spree in Minneapolis on Feb. 10. Again, like this past weekend, thieves, mostly young people using vehicles, targeted 14 people on the street.
When police activate the response protocol, officers stop responding to non-emergency calls and focus their resources on areas being targeted by robberies. Minnesota State Patrol also launched its helicopter to assist officers in the investigation.
The response seemed to work Sunday, as police were able to spot the vehicles involved in the robberies, which turned into two separate pursuits Sunday evening.
The second pursuit ended when the suspect's vehicle hit a parked car along North Sheridan Avenue and North 12th Avenue.
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Mpls robbery spree: Victim recounts terror
FOX 9 heard from a carjacking victim connected to another robbery spree in Minneapolis on Sunday.
Was anyone arrested on Sunday?
Police say they were able to arrest suspects Sunday night from two separate vehicles they say were involved in the robbery sprees.
From the vehicle that crashed during the chase, officers arrested two suspects and were looking for a third.
A second vehicle was stopped in the area of Newton Avenue North and North 18th Avenue. Police were able to arrest another suspect there and were looking for a second person from that vehicle.
Minneapolis robbery spree times and locations
- 10:46 a.m. on the 800 block of West Lake Street
- 10:54 a.m. at 34th St W / Lyndale Ave S
- 10:57 a.m. on the 3300 block of Blaisdell Avenue
- 11:04 a.m. at 28th St W / Dupont Ave S
- 11:34 a.m. at Lowry Ave Ne / Marshall St NE
- 11:49 a.m. on the 2300 block of Central Avenue Northeast
- 8:25 p.m. at 27th St W / Dupont Ave S
- 8:31 p.m. at 28th St W / Lyndale Ave S
- 8:37 p.m. at 35th St W / Aldrich Ave S
- 8:40 p.m. on the 3300 block of Garfield Avenue South
- 9:13 p.m. on the 700 block of Madison Street Northeast
- 9:18 p.m. on the 1600 block of Washington Street Northeast
- 9:21 p.m. on the 1800 block of 2nd Street Northeast
- 9:24 p.m. on the 2200 block of 3rd Street Northeast