The Free Press, Mankato, MN

Local News

March 11, 2010

Another teen charged in bank drop robbery

By Dan Nienaber The Free Press

MANKATO — A restaurant manager robbed while making an early morning bank drop Jan. 30 was the victim of an ambush, according to charges filed against a third teen.

Javonte Deshawn Washington, 17, of Mankato is accused of being a lookout during the robbery. He was charged with first-degree robbery in juvenile court March 5.

Two 18-year-old men, Aaron Jay Burzynski of Mankato and Thomas Kendricks III of Le Sueur, already are facing felony charges for the incident.

Burzynski worked at the fast-food restaurant where the manager was working. He allegedly called Kendricks to tell him the bank drop was coming, reported it would be big because it had been a busy night and described the car the manager was driving.

Kendricks is accused of being the man who held a gun to the manager’s head while demanding he turn over the bank bag. The robbery occurred at First National Bank, which is at the intersection of Long Street and Madison Avenue, at about 2:10 a.m. About $1,600 was stolen.

Investigators also reported Kendricks and Washington were driven to the bank by a minor girl, and that another minor girl was a passenger in the car. The suspects arrived at the bank at about 2:05 a.m. because they knew the restaurant closed at 2 a.m., according to the criminal complaint.

Burzynski and Kendricks became suspects in the robbery after a cab driver was robbed Feb. 8. They are accused of robbing the cab driver at gunpoint in the 200 block of North Fifth Street.

Investigators were told the robbery had been planned by Burzynski, Kendricks and another teen charged for that robbery, 17-year-old Kamau Evans of Mankato. A minor girl also was involved in the cab robbery, which garnered about $150, a complaint said.

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