St. Paul man charged with breaking into mayoral candidate's home

The suspect was captured after Melvin Carter followed him out of his yard.

October 21, 2017 at 3:05AM
Larobin S. Scott
Larobin S. Scott (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

A St. Paul man has been charged with breaking into the home of St. Paul mayoral candidate Melvin Carter and taking two handguns, a video game system, cigars and a child's tooth.

Larobin S. Scott, 24, was charged Friday in Ramsey County District Court with one count of first-degree burglary for allegedly breaking into Carter's home on Aurora Avenue on Aug. 15. Scott was charged with the same count in the burglary of a home on Carrol Street on Oct. 9, 2016.

According to the complaints: Carter received a text from a neighbor about 11:07 a.m. stating that someone was in his home. Carter returned home and saw a suspect in his backyard.

The suspect, who had a black backpack, jumped a fence and ran. Carter followed him and identified the car and license plate of the getaway car. The suspect had jumped into the passenger seat.

Police stopped the car two days later and identified Scott as the driver. The car's license plates were missing, and it sported a fraudulent temporary registration paper that was later found to have been fashioned out of a receipt taken from Carter's home.

Police found the matching license plates in the car, along with items taken from Carter's home, including a duffel bag with firearm paraphernalia and ammunition, cigars and a plastic bag containing the tooth.

"The experience of a home invasion is a traumatic one for myself and my family, especially my children," Carter said in August.

St. Paul mayoral candidate Melvin Carter, pictured at a forum in April, proposed his policing plan at a news conference Wednesday.
St. Paul mayoral candidate Melvin Carter, pictured at a forum in April. (Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

about the writer

Chao Xiong

Reporter

Chao Xiong was the Hennepin County Courts reporter for the Star Tribune. He previously covered Ramsey County courts, St. Paul police, the state of Minnesota and the city of Minneapolis.

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