Waite Park Police Investigating Sunday Night Attempted Robbery, Assault

(KNSI) – The Waite Park Police Department is investigating an attempted robbery and alleged assault that happened in a parking lot Sunday night.

Police say they received a call shortly before 11:30 p.m. about a woman yelling for help from a parking lot in the 1400 block of 7th Street South. The department had received a call a few minutes before that time from a passerby who said they saw four men who they thought were trying to break into cars in that lot.

Officers responded and say a woman told them she was leaving her vehicle when three men approached. Authorities say one man was on the driver’s side and had a gun, while another opened the passenger side door and put a gun against the woman’s back. Police say one man demanded that the woman hand over money. She said she told the men to get away and she started screaming for help, and then one of the men hit her with a gun.

The suspects fled on foot after someone in the nearby building opened their window to see if the woman needed help, the police report says.

Officers were not able to find the suspects. The department says the three suspects were Somali men in their early to mid-20s. One has brown eyes and was wearing dark khaki joggers, a hat and a red bandana. The second was described as wearing a black hoodie, and the third has green eyes and wore a black bandana and a black winter hat.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Waite Park Police Department at 320-251-3281 or the Tri-County Crime Stoppers at 800-255-1301.

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