Charges: Teens staged robbery on pretense of buying dog through Facebook Marketplace

Two 17-year-olds are facing robbery charges after they allegedly arranged to meet with someone to buy a dog through Facebook Marketplace and then stole $6,000 in cash.

According to a juvenile petition, around 1:53 a.m. Wednesday, five people with guns got out of a gold Cadillac at the rendezvous point near North 41st and Aldrich avenues in Minneapolis. One of the robbers held the victim at gunpoint, told them to get on the ground and said he would shoot the victim if they looked at the Cadillac’s license plates.

The robbery victim flagged down police officers, who found the Cadillac a few minutes later. Three people ran out of the car, but the driver remained in place and was arrested.

As officers canvassed the area in search of the three runaways, they spotted a juvenile and told him to stop. The teen ran away but was found near the Pump & Munch gas station at the corner of North 45th and Lyndale avenues. He had “a large amount of money on him” and was missing a shoe; similar footwear was found inside the Cadillac.

Police also found two handguns with extended magazines inside the Cadillac, and one was equipped with an auto sear, a device that converts semi-automatic firearms into fully automatic.

The robbery victim later identified the teen with the missing shoe as the one who set up the meeting and threatened to shoot him. He and the driver of the Cadillac are each charged with aiding and abetting first-degree robbery.