Armed man shot by south metro Verizon store clerk was on probation for theft

Charges are expected within days against a 32-year-old would-be robber with a violent criminal history who exchanged gunfire with a Verizon Wireless store clerk last week in an Inver Grove Heights strip mall, police said Sunday.

Meanwhile, police say they are still looking for an accomplice in the late-morning crime on Thursday at the store off Hwy. 52 in the 9000 block of Cahill Avenue.

Also, police said, a second person has surfaced as being wounded by the gunfire. That victim was grazed by a bullet while in the Super Wok restaurant near the Verizon store, Lt. Joshua Otis said. Police have yet to say whose gunfire caused that injury.

The wounded suspect, who is from Crystal, remains in Regions Hospital in St. Paul and was being treated for multiple gunshot wounds. Otis said police "are working closely with [members of] the Dakota County attorney's office, and they should have a charging decision later this week."

At the time of the attempted holdup, the 32-year-old was on probation for a theft in 2015 in Hennepin County, according to court records. His criminal history in Minnesota spans his entire adult life and also includes convictions for aiding and abetting assault with a dangerous weapon, accomplice after the fact to attempted murder, disorderly conduct and trespassing.

His accomplice fled in a 2000 Honda Odyssey minivan, blueish-green and with Minnesota license plate 897RKM. The van has a dent on the rear passenger side of the hatch and another dent on the front passenger-side quarter panel, police said.

Police did not release a detailed description of the man they hope to capture.

The clerk, who has a government-issued permit to carry a firearm, drew his gun from his waistband and shot the 32-year-old suspect, police said. That suspect also fired his weapon, but police have not disclosed who shot first. The wounded suspect did not have a permit to carry a gun, Otis said.

Police are withholding the identity of the clerk, who is employed by Cellular Connection, a partner of Verizon.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482