Crime & Safety

'This is a Hijack': Roseville Home Invasion Victim Speaks Out

A resident of the group home targeted in last Thursday's home invasion robbery said she had a pistol held to her head and was hit with a glass picture.

The three assailants involved in Roseville's  took jewelry, about $60 in petty cash and an ATM card—with which they later withdrew $45—before departing in a white van, according to a resident of the Legacy Endeavors adult foster care facility at 2809 Lexington Avenue North.

The resident, whose name is being withheld out of concern for her safety, shared her recollection of the robbery.

“I just finished watching Spongebob and the staff told me ‘It’s time for you to take your medication and start getting ready to go to bed,’” the resident said. “So I took my medication and went upstairs.”

She was waiting for the bathroom upstairs when she heard a “loud, banging noise” coming from downstairs.

“Two seconds later, I heard footsteps coming up the stairs real quickly, and then there’s a black guy who’s holding a pistol at me, saying, ‘This is a hijack,’ and, excuse my language, he said the F-word,” she said. “He said, ‘Get in the (expletive) bathroom now. Give me all your valuables.’ I gave him the ring my sister got me for my birthday when I turned 23.

“Then he told me to get on the ground and kneel down, and he held the gun to my head and told me to walk down the stairs. When I came downstairs, I found my staff, Josh, lying down with his hands up and the two black guys holding a gun to his head. So I got real scared.

“Then he told me, ‘(Expletive), get on the ground, get on the ground, and get your hands behind the head.’ I wanted to get a look at the guys to identify them, and I put my head up to identify them, and one of them told me, ‘(Expletive), quit staring at me’ and took a glass picture and busted it really hard on my head.”

She said she was not seriously injured and, by Tuesday, her head did not have any visible wounds.

Police said the staff member was struck with a pistol during the attack and treated and released at a local hospital.

She said the assailants then asked for money, a staff member unlocked the home’s safe, and she handed over her debit card for her account at TCF Bank, from which $45 was later withdrawn.

Surveillance footage from a nearby convenience store, taken shortly after the home invasion, shows three suspects, accompanied by a woman, withdrawing cash with the stolen card, police said.

Lt. Lorne Rosand said Wednesday that police have no new leads on the case. Witnesses told police the suspects were three black males, age 18 to 20, 5 feet 7 inches to 6 feet tall.

Thursday’s incident is believed by police to be the first home invasion robbery in Roseville in five to 10 years.

Amy Deaville, the executive director of services at Legacy Endeavors, declined Thursday morning to comment on the robbery.

Police are urging anyone who recognizes the suspects to call 1-800-222-8477 or visit crimestoppersmn.org.


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