Director of Lindell Library Mary Hollerich was robbed at gunpoint behind the library at 2:10 p.m. on Feb. 23. The robber approached from behind, pointed a gun, took her bags, asked her if she had money and when she replied that she did not, fled North down 21st Ave. The suspect was described by the victim as a slim black male of about 5 feet 8 inches, wearing jeans and a dark jacket with a hood. The weapon was described as a gray handgun.
According to the Department of Public Safety (DPS), the robbery is still “under investigation,” by both DPS and the Minneapolis Police Department. A timely notice bulletin was issued and is available on the DPS page of the Augsburg website. It has also been posted around campus. The “Star Tribune” reported on the story on Feb. 27.
This is the second known armed robbery on campus this semester. The first occurred on Jan. 21 outside Anderson Hall. A student was held up by two robbers, both of whom fled the scene after taking the victim’s bag, wallet and cellphone. The “Star Tribune” has reported on both — the Jan. 21 one in conjunction with a robbery on the University of Minnesota’s campus on the same day. Neither DPS nor the “Star Tribune” said that they considered the robberies related.
Information about robberies on Augsburg’s campus along with in the larger Cedar-Riverside neighborhood is provided below.
According to the 2017 DPS Security and Fire Safety Report, there were two on-campus robberies in 2014, one in 2015 and zero in 2016. Student and statistician Jen Kochaver provided data about robberies in Cedar Riverside, collected from the Minneapolis Police Department’s monthly report. Cedar-Riverside runs from the west bank of the Mississippi to routes 35 and 94.
In this context, Kochaver says robbery is defined as “burglary when someone was hurt or threatened with harm. The category isn’t exclusively armed robberies but it’s where all armed robberies fall.”
According to Kochaver’s data, in 2017, 1,869 robberies occurred in Minneapolis. In Cedar-Riverside, there were 38 robberies total. The neighborhood ranks 17th of 87 Minneapolis neighborhoods, tied with Loring Park, for number of robberies. These numbers average to 3.167 robberies per month in Cedar-Riverside. The top of the list is Downtown West with 257 robberies in 2017.
Cedar-Riverside is also 14th in Minneapolis for Part 1 crimes classified by the FBI, defined by Kochaver as “criminal homicide, rape, aggravated assault, robbery, burglary, larceny, auto theft and arson.” In 2017 in Cedar-Riverside, 474 Part 1 crimes occurred.
Anyone with information about either or both of the robberies is advised to contact DPS at 612-330-1717.
This article first appeared in the Friday, March 2, 2018, Edition of The Echo.