The Free Press, Mankato, MN

Local News

September 21, 2012

Update: Teen accused of using knife to rob delivery driver

By Dan Nienaber Free Press Staff Writer

MANKATO — Police arrested 17-year-old boy Thursday night for allegedly robbing a pizza delivery driver at knife point and are investigating whether the same teen is responsible for a similar robbery Wednesday night.

An officer in a squad car was flagged down by the victim at about 9:30 p.m. The victim told the officer he was following someone who had robbed him at a residence in the 900 block of Mulberry Street. The suspect had taken the driver’s cash and cellphone before fleeing on a bicycle, the victim reported.

The victim followed the teen until he was able to wave down the officer, who happened to be passing through the area in a squad car. He couldn’t call for help because his cellphone had been stolen. Other officers responded to help and the Mankato boy was arrested near the intersection of Mulberry and Division streets, said Cmdr. Craig Frericks of the Mankato Department of Public Safety.

An officer reported seeing a knife with the suspect, but the knife had not been found as of Friday morning, he said.

“When someone runs, they tend to ditch what they have with them,” Frericks said.

A similar robbery was reported at about 11 p.m. Wednesday night. In that case, a pizza delivery driver called police to report being robbed at knife point in the 300 block of Carroll Street. That victim’s money and cellphone also were taken.

The two locations are more than a mile apart. In both cases the people living where the pizzas were delivered hadn’t placed an order, Frericks said.

“We don’t have any evidence at this point showing this is the same person as the night before,” Frericks said. “The circumstances are similar, but until we find out otherwise we can’t say it was the same person.”

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