Oct. 23--Two men have been charged with the metro's latest Craigslist robbery, and this one carried a stunning twist: the robbers allegedly used a one-million-volt stun gun to incapacitate their victim early Sunday.
Criminal complaints filed against two men, who are to appear in court Tuesday, say they shocked and robbed a man who had advertised a laptop for sale on the popular social media site.
This victim survived, but other Minnesotans have been slain in similar schemes, from a 19-year-old Hamline student shot to death in August as he tried to buy an iPhone on St. Paul's east side to one of the first such Craigslist killings in the nation: the 2007 slaying of Katherine Ann Olson of Shakopee, who was lured to her death by an online babysitting ad. Her killer received a life sentence.
Such killings and robberies have since become a growing trend nationwide, with an Ohio teen now on trial in Akron for his alleged role in the slayings of three men who were lured by phony Craigslist job offers.
Tuesday, Ramsey County's chief prosecutor, John Choi, warned consumers once again to take care in such Internet transactions, which have been tied to a rash of robberies in St. Paul since last summer, including the slaying of Aung Thu Bo. His alleged killer, Steven E. Lewis, faces a murder trial in Ramsey County.
In the stun-gun robbery Sunday, Ramsey County prosecutors have charged a convicted bank robber, Dee A. King, 33, of Anoka, and codefendant Ronald L. Sims, 36, of Minneapolis, each with two counts of first-degree robbery.
The complaint alleges that the robbery on Sunday happened this way:
The victim, identified only by the initials J.H., went to the Burger King at 605 Seventh Street in St. Paul after being contacted by a potential buyer for a Toshiba laptop that he'd advertised for sale on Craigslist.
The buyer, later identifed as King, pulled up in a blue SUV, parking next to the victim's vehicle. King looked at the laptop, told the seller he would buy it and left to get money.
The victim took out his cell phone and had his wallet in his lap, intending to show King his identification to verify that the laptop wasn't stolen. King returned with a man later identified as Sims.
"Sims had a large object in his hand and attacked J.H., who said it felt as if he had been zapped by electricity," the court documents state.
"Hand it over!" the robbers said repeatedly, before snatching the man's laptop, wallet and cell phone. The robbers drove off in the blue SUV.
The victim tried to follow them but eventually stopped and went into the Burger King to call police. He had two puncture wounds on his forearm and scratches that were bleeding.
Officers soon stopped a blue Chrysler Pacifica at Seventh and Leech streets. It had a license plate bearing numbers close to those that the victim was able to provide.
The victim, brought to the scene, was able to identify King as the robber who took his belongings while he was being assaulted. The victim also identified Sims as the man who used the stun gun on him.
Police searched the SUV and seized a black Zap Baton stun gun hidden between a third row of seats. It had two sharp probes at the end of it that were consistent with the burns left in the victim's forearm.
The weapon had a sticker that read "one million volts." Police didn't find any of the victim's belongings.
Both suspects declined to speak with police.
King has a prior felony theft conviction and a federal conviction for bank robbery.
Sims has a federal drug conviction based on Minnesota crimes and an auto theft conviction in Illinois, for which he's on parole.
Joy Powell --651-925-5038
Copyright 2012 - Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
