HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014 02-24 Maplewood kidnapping, North St. Paul carjacking investigated PIONEER PRESS Maplewood kidnapping, North St. Paul carjacking
investigated
By John Brewer jbrewer@pioneerpress.corn TwinCities.com-Pioneer Press FEB 2 4 2014
TwinCities.com
Posted:
East metro law enforcement officials are investigating two incidents of women being
threatened at gunpoint Sunday by possibly the same suspect.
In the first incident, a woman was carjacked in North St. Paul as she drove near Polar Arena
at about 7:45 p.m. Sunday. A man jumped into her car, held a gun to her head and told her
to "Drive," according to police. The woman managed to escape a few blocks away, but the
man made off with her car.
About fifteen minutes later, a woman was leaving a Maplewood fitness club near White Bear
Avenue and County Road D when a man hopped into the passenger seat of her car and
threatened to shoot her with the handgun if she tried to escape.
The man ordered the woman to drive to various locations in Maplewood and told her he was
going to rape her. He eventually got nervous, the woman later told police, and asked to be
dropped off in the area of County Road C and White Bear Avenue.
The Maplewood victim described the man as a white male, 30 to 40 years old, wearing a
black ski mask, dark-colored pants and light-colored surgical- type gloves.
"In spite of the fact that incidents of this nature are very rare, the actions of this armed
suspect are obviously dangerous, making his identification and arrest a top priority," said
Maplewood Police Chief Paul Schnell in a press release Monday morning.
The Maplewood and North St. Paul police departments are actively coordinating
investigative efforts.