By Heather J. Carlson
hcarlson@postbulletin.com
Rochester Police have arrested a 19-year-old man who allegedly helped rob a man at gunpoint earlier this month and may be linked to last week’s shooting at a sports complex.
Police arrested the Rochester man at 8:30 a.m. today after having to find the suspect, who was hiding behind a shed in the 1800 Block of 18th Street Northwest.
According to a police news release, officers had information connecting the man with the armed robbery of a man in Southeast Rochester on April 19. Officers searched the suspect’s home at 6:30 a.m. this morning in the 300 block of 11th Avenue Northwest. The suspect was not home at the time.
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Based on information learned at the scene, officers believed the suspect may be at another Northwest Rochester apartment. While officials headed to the apartment, they saw the suspect running away from the apartment. Officers blocked off the neighborhood and sent a marked squad car to nearby Sunset Terrace Elementary School to handle any security concerns. School was not in session at the time.
Within minutes of setting up a perimeter in the neighborhood, officers found the suspect hiding in a yard shed at a home in the 1800 block of 18th Street Northwest.
According to the news release, a 23-year-old Rochester man is also believed to have been involved in the armed robbery. The police department has requested that man, who is being held at the Olmsted County Detention Center, also be charged in connection with the armed robbery.
The two suspects are known to associate together and police say they have reason to believe both men may have been involved in the shooting at the Roy Watson Youth Sports Complex on April 22. Police gang expert Steve Thompson has said he believed the afternoon shooting involving two groups in the sports complex parking lot was gang related. One man was hospitalized with gunshot wounds.
