Man charged in Minneapolis parking garage stabbing, robbery

MINNEAPOLIS (KMSP) - A 44-year-old Minneapolis man has been charged with first degree assault and three counts of aggravated robbery after allegedly robbing a woman and stabbing another in a Minneapolis parking garage.

According to the criminal complaint, three women got in an elevator at the Ramp B parking garage around 1 a.m. on Saturday. A man, later identified as Benjamin Love, got in the elevator with them and followed them out on the fourth floor.

Love pulled out a small knife and tried to take the purse from one of the women. He also grabbed another woman by her hair and held the knife to her throat. As she and the other women tried to pull her away from him, he sliced her hand with the knife. 

He then stabbed one of the intervening women in the chest and ran away with the purse.

An ambulance took the stabbed woman to Hennepin County Medical Center, where she immediately had surgery for her injury.

The woman sliced on the hand received treatment at the scene. The officer also noticed red marks on the neck of the woman who had been wearing the cross-body purse.

Video surveillance from the elevator showed Love following the women out of the elevator, getting out after he stopped the doors from closing with his hand. Video after the time of the incident showed Love getting back on the elevator, holding a purse. 

Officers discovered Love had an outstanding warrant for a first degree robbery with a knife from last August. One of the parking garage victims also identified him in a photo lineup.

Police arrested Love at his home on Thursday. He had a knife on him at the time. After executing a search warrant, officers found clothing matching the description the women had told police the evening of the attack.