Man charged in 5 armed robberies within 2 hours in Minneapolis

(FOX 9) - A 20-year-old man has been charged in connection to five robberies and one assault within a 70-minute timeframe last month in Minneapolis.

According to the criminal complaint, Brandon Lee Rock of St. Paul is facing charges after he robbed or attempted to rob five people and assaulted one of them.

The complaint states that at about 7 a.m. on Nov. 27, a man was on the 1300 block of 7th Street SE when Rock and an unidentified juvenile male approached him as he was getting inside his vehicle. Rock was reportedly holding a handgun, which he pointed at the victim while demanding his wallet, cell phone and car keys. The two suspects then told the victim to unlock his phone before the two fled the scene in the victim's car.

Then, at about 7:15 a.m., the two suspects approached a man near 21st Avenue South and East Lake Street. Rock pointed a handgun at the victim, and the two suspects took the victim's wallet and jacket. They then fled the scene in the first victim's car.

At about 7:50 p.m., a woman was sitting in her car in the 300 block of Elmwood Place when the suspects drove up and blocked her from exiting her vehicle. According to the complaint, Rock then pointed a gun at her and demanded she get out of the car and give them her purse. She refused and drove away as Rock fired multiple rounds at her car.

According to the complaint, at 8 a.m., a man was in his car in the area of 38th Street West and Dupont Avenue South. The man was on his cell phone when he was startled by a tapping at his door. He looked up to see Rock tapping on his window with a handgun. Rock then ordered the man out of his car and demanded he give him his car keys, wallet and cell phone. Rock and the other suspect reportedly went inside the victim's vehicle but then left in the first victim's car. The man said his car is a stick shift and he didn't think the suspects knew how to operate it.

At around 8:10 a.m., a man was walking in the 2900 block of Pleasant Avenue when Rock and the other suspect pulled up next to him in the stolen car. The two demanded he hand over his personal items, so the victim gave them his cell phone and tried to run away. The suspects blocked him and took an envelope containing about $1,300 from the victm's back pocket. The two then fled the scene in the car.

About 10 minutes later, officers spotted the stolen car and tried to stop it, but the suspects sped away. Police later recovered the car in the area of the 2300 block of Pillsbury Avenue South.

Officers executed a search warrant at a Minneapolis residence and recovered multiple personal items believed to belong to the victims. Rock was located at the scene and taken into custody.