Wendy's receipt, vehicle rental tie Texas brothers to east suburb kidnapping, robbery
Two Texas brothers have each been charged with seven felonies for an incident in an eastern Twin Cities suburb that prompted law enforcement activity near Mahtomedi High School late last week.
Charges filed Wednesday show the men, ages 24 and 23, each face three counts of using a firearm to kidnap a person, three counts of first-degree assault during a burglary with a firearm and one count of first-degree robbery using a firearm.
According to the complaints, a man called 911 around 4:45 p.m. on Friday, saying he and his family had been kidnapped and were being held at gunpoint in their Grant, Minnesota, home. There, the caller's father was forced at gunpoint to transfer at least $36,000 to an unknown cyberwallet from his accounts.
The caller's father was then forced to drive to a family cabin about three hours away from their home, where another crypto wallet was kept. There, he was forced to transfer at least another $36,000 to an unknown account, the complaint states.
The father later told investigators he believed some of his account information had been leaked during a data breach.
Charging documents say police searched an area around the home and found a suitcase in a tree line. Inside, the complaint says an AR-15 style rifle, as well as clothing, liquid bottles and cans plus a receipt for a Wendy's restaurant, were found. That receipt helped track down the vehicle used at the time of purchase, leading investigators to discover it had been rented near Houston, Texas, on Sept. 16.
Security footage showed the same vehicle parked outside a home in Waller, Texas, where the man who rented the car lives with his brother. That same car was found parked at a motel in Roseville, Minnesota, where rooms were rented on Sept. 17 for multiple days.
According to the charges, the two suspects ran up to one of the victims around 7:45 a.m. on Sept. 19 as he brought a garbage can out to the street. He said both men were dressed in dark clothing, had masks on and were armed — one with a shotgun and another with an AR-15 style rifle. He was brought back to the garage, where he was tied up.
Then, the men entered the home and woke the other victims up and bound them, before one of the suspects held them at gunpoint in a bedroom for nine hours. That room's door was tied shut with a wire, which had to be cut before they were freed later in the day.
During this time, the man who was tied up in the garage was forced to log into his cryptocurrency accounts and transfer money before driving to the cabin to transfer more funds. The 911 call was placed as the victim and suspect arrived back at the home, and the complaint says police passed the vehicle they were traveling in. The suspect, who was driving the vehicle, turned it around and parked it before running off and leaving his gun in a nearby field.
Meanwhile, the suspect who was inside the home left about 10 minutes before squads arrived at the scene and is caught on camera running out a back door to a nearby hiking trail.
One of the brothers is seen driving up to the hotel they were staying at shortly after. The vehicle was tracked through GPS data, and investigators say it traveled to and from Minnesota and Texas between Sept. 16-20, and that it was near the victim's home and near the Roseville motel.
The vehicle was stopped on Sept. 20 in Oklahoma, the charges say, and one of the brothers said his AR-15 had been reported as stolen on Sept. 22. The serial number on the gun's box, found during a search of his home, matched the one found in Minnesota. The other gun used during the incident is registered to the same brother, according to the complaint.
The documents say both men are in custody on a 48-hour hold in Texas. The complaints filed for each man ask that they be brought back to Minnesota for a court appearance.
Activity from law enforcement agencies searching for the brothers last week caused Mahtomedi High School to cancel its homecoming football game. Bloomington's Kennedy High School on Monday forfeited its scheduled game against Mahtomedi.