Ramsey County Sheriff: 'Dangerous people should be off the street'

Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS there have been 50 armed robberies since June 1 and 20 carjackings in the past two weeks. A push is now underway to stop the violence.

Fletcher says there is a group of "about 35 to 40" teenagers who are committing the majority of these crimes and they are becoming more aggressive and violent.

"They're, in almost all cases, pointing guns at people," Fletcher said. "In a couple cases, they put guns to their heads, sometimes their stomachs — brass knuckles were used in one case."

Fletcher said it is a "crime alert" and people need to be aware of their surroundings at all times because these are mostly crimes of opportunity and can happen anywhere, at any time, to anyone.

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"Last night, for example at Marshall and Fairview here in St. Paul, a judge was robbed," Fletcher said. "It happened to a Washington County judge who was in his car."

Fletcher said the juveniles are getting more emboldened and they are using the good-natured sensibilities of most people to take advantage of them.

"They approach and ask a simple question to get you off guard," said Fletcher. "That allows them to get into your personal space where they can display a gun or use some type of force to your head."