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May 19, 2008 5:52 pm US/Central
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Shotgun-Toting Robbers Hit 2 Bus Stops
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) ―
Police are asking bus riders to be on alert after two men were recently robbed at gunpoint.
Both incidents happened at bus stops on Chicago Avenue South; one on 40th Street and the other on 41st Street. That's when two victims came face to face with the barrel of a gun.
Robbery victim Brad Hagberg is a bus stop regular. One morning last week he was waiting at the bus stop when he was confronted by a young man.
"And I turned and as another guy was raising a shotgun, and he said 'You know what to do. Give me everything you got,'" said Hagberg.
They took his new cell phone, wallet and $40 worth of bus passes.
"He pressed the gun up against my chest and started going through my pockets," said Hagberg.
That same night at a bus stop a block away, police say the same two struck again.
"I turned to look as the second gentleman came running up with a shotgun, and demanded my wallet and my cell phone," said robbery victim Leroy Skinner.
Then they searched his pockets for more.
"I kind of just froze. I knew exactly what was going to happen. I knew that if I didn't cooperate I'd get hurt," said Skinner.
Although neither robbery victim was hurt, they were shaken.
"I think it really hit me hard when the police officer had showed up for the police report," said Skinner.
"Once I got back into the house and called 911, then my hands started shaking," said Hagberg.
Police are now beefing up patrols around bus stops.
"With gas prices being so high there are more and more people taking the bus. We need to give people a sense that they are safe at their bus stops," said Minneapolis Police Sergeant William Palmer.
"People who do take the bus like myself really can't afford to be losing any more money," said Skinner.
If you know anything about these crimes, you are encouraged to call the Robbery Unit at 612-673-2941.
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