Charges: Couple carjacked at gunpoint, pistol-whipped late at night in south Minneapolis

Two masked men carjacked an SUV in a south Minneapolis neighborhood in a late-night ambush that saw a couple being pistol-whipped and one of the victims forced to the ground with a gun aimed at the back of his head, according to charges.

Havion Eddie Amaru Holmes, 22, of Minneapolis, was charged Monday in Hennepin County District Court with first-degree carjacking, illegal firearm possession and second-degree assault in connection with the incident about 3:15 a.m. Saturday in the 3500 block of Aldrich Avenue S.

Holmes, arrested moments later after the SUV crashed, remains jailed in lieu of $200,000 bail ahead of a court appearance on Sept. 23. A message was left Tuesday afternoon with his attorney seeking a response to the allegations.

Holmes’ accomplice was still at large as of late Tuesday afternoon, according to the criminal complaint.

Court records show that Holmes has convictions in Minnesota in recent years for third-degree assault and burglary.

The 47-year-old driver told the Star Tribune that she and her boyfriend had been out on a date and talking about their plans for the next day when “there was a guy right there at the window. He said, ‘Open the [expletive] window!’ ”

As the terrorizing experience unfolded, her boyfriend said to her as he was held captive on the ground, “’Just let him take the car,’” said the woman, whose identity is being withheld from this story out of concern for her safety.

The suspects drove off with the woman’s SUV and her cellphone still in the vehicle, she said. She used her boyfriend’s cellphone to call 911 just before it died, she said.

The woman said one blow from a suspect’s gun bloodied her nose. Another to her head gave her a concussion and lingering headaches. She said she has her SUV back, but the crash left it totaled.

“I have lived 30 years in Minnesota,” she said, “and I’ve never had anything like this happen.”

Last year, Minneapolis finished with half as many carjackings as 2021′s record of 650, according to Police Department data. But that downward trend has stopped as this year’s tally of 180 carjackings matches 2023′s pace, the data showed.

According to the charges and a police report:

The woman told officers at the scene that she was dropping her boyfriend off near his home in the 3500 block of Aldrich Avenue S. about 3:15 a.m. when two masked men approached her SUV on each side and pointed guns at them.

The gunmen removed the man from the vehicle and “forced [him] to the ground and pointed a gun at the back of [his] head,” the charges read. At one point, he was hit in the back with a gun.

One of the suspects then struck the driver in the back of her head with his gun. While she reached for her cellphone, the driver was hit in the face with a gun and pulled out of the SUV.

The two drove off, leaving the couple behind.

Within a few minutes, however, other officers responding to the carjacking saw the SUV go through a red light about five blocks to the south of the crime scene. The officers tailed the SUV until it crashed near 31st Street W. and Bryant Avenue S. Both suspects ran from the SUV. Officers caught Holmes and seized two handguns, but his accomplice got away.

Staff writer Jeff Hargarten contributed to this story.