Two felons on probation for earlier crimes have been arrested on suspicion of shooting and critically wounding a Bloomington restaurant owner while robbing his business, authorities said.
The suspects were apprehended Wednesday in connection with targeting Penn Lake Roast Beef for robbery on June 16 near the intersection of S. Penn Avenue and W. 90th Street, police said.
One suspect, a 20-year-old from St. Paul, is being held in the Ramsey County jail. His alleged cohort, a 19-year-old from Columbia Heights, is in the Hennepin County jail.
Deputy Police Chief Mike Hartley declined to say how officers were led to the suspects or what the suspects took during the robbery. Charges against both are pending. The Star Tribune generally does not identify suspects before they are charged.
The 20-year-old was charged Tuesday in the violent robbery of McCafferty Liquors in the 1300 block of Randolph Avenue in St. Paul on June 23, seven days after the restaurant holdup.
He was among a group of young males that robbed the store of cash and beat an employee in the head while threatening to shoot her, the charges read. They fled in a vehicle stolen in an armed carjacking on June 18 in New Hope, the charges continued.
The 20-year-old's criminal history in Minnesota as an adult includes convictions for assault with a dangerous weapon, domestic assault, theft and drug possession. He was on probation at the time of the robbery until June 2023.
The younger suspect in the restaurant holdup was convicted in 2019 in Ramsey County of aiding and abetting robbery. His probation was to run until January 2023.
Kevan Tran, 57, was inside Penn Lake Roast Beef early in the evening, when he was shot in the abdomen and hand, according to police and emergency dispatch audio. The business is also known as Kevan's Roast Beef.
Tran collapsed on the sidewalk in front of a neighboring business and then was taken by emergency responders to HCMC in critical condition, police added. As of Thursday, he was in serious condition, a hospital spokesman said.
Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482
