Man arrested, charged for carjacking at Blaine grocery store

Two days after police asked for the public’s help to identify a carjacking suspect, authorities say a man is in custody and facing charges.

Wednesday, Blaine police sought help in finding the man who carjacked a woman and her father in the parking lot of the Cub Foods in Northtown Mall this past weekend.

RELATED: Blaine police ask for help identifying carjacking suspect

Blaine police say the suspect was identified as 20-year-old Justin Michael Kittleson, from Coon Rapids, and he was found and arrested Thursday thanks to a collaborative effort from police in Blaine and Maple Grove, as well as the FBI and Anoka Hennepin Narcotics & Violent Crimes Task Force.

Friday, Kittleson was charged with first-degree aggravated robbery and second-degree assault in connection to the incident.

It happened shortly before 2:30 p.m. on Sept. 24. According to police, a 40-year-old woman and her 60-year-old father were followed out of the store by Kittleson, who then pointed a gun at the woman as they loaded groceries into the vehicle.

Police say the woman’s father intervened and struggled with Kittleson, who allegedly fired a shot during the incident. Fortunately, it didn’t hit anyone.

However, the man was able to get into the victims’ vehicle and drove away.

A criminal complaint states police executed a search warrant at Kittleson’s home and found a sweatshirt that matched the one worn by the suspect. Additionally, two guns — one of which didn’t have a serial number — were found, as was “a significant quantity of narcotics.”

Kittleson was scheduled to make his first court appearance Friday afternoon.

Editor’s note: A previous version of this story said Kittleson was arrested by Maple Grove police. It has since been corrected to say that Maple Grove police assisted in locating him.