Man charged with assaulting, trying to extort S. Minneapolis auto shop owner

A 34-year-old man has been charged in connection with the assault and attempted extortion of a south Minneapolis auto shop owner who was beaten unconscious last month.

Victor Childers of Bloomington was already being held at the Hennepin County jail on an unrelated matter when he was charged last week with first-degree burglary, first-degree attempted robbery and assault in the third-degree in the Aug. 5 incident, according to court records. He has four other pending county cases, ranging from theft to possessing a firearm as a felon, records show.

Childers is accused of walking into the Chicago Avenue auto shop and demanding money from the couple who owned the shop, threatening to kill them if they didn't pay up. His court-appointed attorney declined to comment Monday.

In the course of their investigation, police said they obtained surveillance footage of the episode, which reportedly showed Childers rifling through the store, knocking over a file rack and pushing over a computer monitor before attempting to dismantle a security camera near the front door, the complaint says. When the store owner tried to intervene, the complaint says that Childers could be seen punching him to the ground and then stomping on his head, knocking out the victim. As the other man lay unconscious, Childers allegedly removed one of the victim's shoes and said, "This is a trophy."

The security footage showed that the assault continued even as several onlookers tried to intervene, yelling at Childers to stop, according to the complaint.

The victim was said to have suffered a broken cheek bone and a laceration to his skull.

Libor Jany