A suspected St. Paul home invader has been charged with burglary, kidnapping and aggravated robbery following separate attacks on senior citizens on the same North End area street Monday.
The Ramsey County attorney's office filed two criminal complaints Thursday against Michael L. Pye, 53, who police have pursued this week in a very uncommon public fashion. He is still on the lam.
Both complaints stem from incidents in the 1000 block of Barrett Street during which Pye allegedly beat a 66-year-old man in one home and tied up an 84-year-old woman and her 3-year-old great-granddaughter in the other.
He is alleged to have pushed the great-grandmother to the floor three times while she tried to protect the girl. The woman's glasses were broken, and she had a cut nose and bruised hand, charges state.
Earlier that same morning, Pye also entered another Barrett Street residence and smashed a homeowner in the head with a 5-pound weight, according to charges in that case. The man's wife said he needed eight stitches to close the cut on his head.
"These are very disturbing cases in which victims were attacked in their own homes," County Attorney Susan Gaertner said in a statement Thursday. "These violent crimes caused great distress in our community."
Nationwide warrants have been issued for Pye's arrest. Investigators say he was last known to be staying in a University Avenue hotel room that was searched by authorities Tuesday. It was then that police also took the unusual step of naming him publicly before charges were filed.
Pye also is suspected of having forced his way into a Highland Park area home on Dec. 7 and binding the hands of an 81-year-old woman before taking cash and jewelry.
