6 kids arrested after armed robbery spree, 2 stolen vehicle crashes in Minneapolis

Six kids ages 11 to 14 went on a two-hour armed robbery spree in Minneapolis using stolen vehicles until it ended with their capture after two crashes, officials said, the latest in a trend of serious and at times potentially violent crimes involving increasingly younger suspects.

The suspects, three boys ages 11, 12 and 13, two 14-year-old girls and a 12-year-old girl, were treated at local hospitals following the crash Tuesday afternoon and then booked into the Juvenile Detention Center, police said. One 14-year-old remains at the hospital in stable condition.

Police Chief Brian O’Hara said all suspects have since been released from detention, and investigators are searching for others connected to the spree.

O’Hara added that the 12-year-old boy has had multiple contacts with Minneapolis police. He said the department plans to charge all six with auto theft, fleeing in a motor vehicle, and fleeing on foot, “but it’s anticipated that those with no history will be diverted.”

At a Wednesday afternoon news conference, O’Hara said the number of youth shot or involved in crime has become a disturbing trend that officials are struggling to address.

“It is a kind of a vicious cycle that, it does seem at times, that this system is just not prepared to deal with,” O’Hara said, adding that many in the community believe recreational opportunities and support for community organizations could help.

But O’Hara echoed Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty in urging for more places to hold youth until they get the supervision and services needed.

“I think the biggest thing that we need as far as dealing with these younger kids that are active … is just some place to place them and hold them,” he said. “To think that we can keep doing what we’re doing and expect a different result doesn’t make sense.”

According to police:

Events unfolded about 11:30 a.m., when police were alerted to a robbery at gunpoint in the 5100 block of 41st Avenue S. A second armed robbery occurred a few minutes later in the 3400 block of Bloomington Avenue S. The suspects allegedly fired shots at a victim from a vehicle in the second robbery. No one was hit.

A third robbery occurred at about 1:30 p.m. near 24th Street and Pleasant Avenue S.

The State Patrol and Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office joined Minneapolis police in searching for the vehicles involved in the incidents. Law enforcement found one after getting several 911 calls about a car driving recklessly in the area.

Police stopped the car, but the driver sped away. A police chase ended when the driver crashed on westbound Interstate 94 near Cedar Avenue.

Four suspects ran from the vehicle and were quickly apprehended. Two suspects in another stolen vehicle nearby also were arrested after crashing. Three other vehicles were caught up in the crashes, but nobody was hurt.

Police are withholding the identities of the suspects because of their age.

The vehicle used in the Bloomington Avenue robbery was stolen that day from a parking lot in St. Paul in the 2600 block of University Avenue W., according to its owner.

Camille Kiolbasa said she parked her Kia SUV in the morning outside her office at the Aim Higher Foundation, which supports Catholic schools, and came out midafternoon to find it gone.

Kiolbasa said she made several phone calls until determining her SUV was on indefinite hold by Minneapolis police “because my car had been involved in a crime scene.”

“My $26,000 car was taken from me, and I’ve heard nothing [from police],” she said. “I’ve left two or three messages.”

As it turned out, Kiolbasa’s SUV was driven to the Minneapolis Public Schools’ Heritage Academy in the 3300 block of Chicago Avenue S. and ditched in favor of another Kia, according to that vehicle’s owner.

“I had all the anti-theft stuff on it,” said the woman, who teaches teenagers and asked that her name not be published because she is a crime victim. “I even had a steering wheel lock on it.”

A police report from the 41st Avenue robbery noted that the stolen vehicle was a Kia Soul, and O’Hara said all vehicles tied to the crime spree were made by Kia. Kias and their sister Hyundai models have been a favorite of young thieves around the country for years.

Tuesday’s string of crimes came less than a week after a 10-year-old boy suspected in a variety of crimes was arrested and charged with recklessly driving a stolen car across a crowded Minneapolis school playground, narrowly missing several children.

The boy was booked last Thursday into the Juvenile Detention Center on suspicion of second-degree assault in connection with the playground incident about 11:45 a.m. on Sept. 20 outside Nellie Stone Johnson Community School in the 800 block of 27th Avenue N., police said.

Police records indicate that the boy has had at least 30 contacts with police dating to May 2023. He has been arrested at least twice before in connection with auto theft-related crimes, according to police. He’s also listed as a suspect in more than 12 cases that range from auto theft to robbery to assault with a dangerous weapon, and O’Hara said the youth failed to complete a diversion program he was in.

In the wake of the 10-year-old’s arrest, O’Hara blasted a state law set to take effect in 2026 that raises the minimum age of delinquency from 10 to 13. He encouraged people to call their state representatives and ask that they reverse the law before it kicks in, “simply as a matter of public safety.”

Moriarty said in a statement Friday following the chief’s comments that “we are facing an urgent crisis in our community related to a small group of children who are not competent to stand trial in the juvenile justice system, but who cannot safely be at home. … What we need is clear: residential placements with varying levels of security in our community that are resourced and staffed to be able to accept and successfully treat our youth with complex needs.”