Crime & Safety

Wanted Man Charged With Attempted Robbery With Gun At Ridgedale

Vernon Terry Surratt, 33, has had 14 criminal charges filed against him since 2010.

A man who is under investigation for homicide and has 14 criminal charges filed against him since 2010 was arrested for attempting to rob someone at gun point in the Ridgedale Center parking lot.

Vernon Terry Surratt, 33 of Coon Rapids was charged on Jan. 14 with one count of First Degree Attempted Aggravated Robbery and Prohibited Person in Possession of a Firearm, both felonies.

On Dec. 28, officers responded to an attempted robbery at Ridgedale.

Upon arrival, officers spoke to the victim who said he was confronted by a man with a gun who demanded his car keys. As the victim was reaching for his keys, he pushed the suspect away and ran towards the mall. While running away, the victim looked back and saw the suspect get into a dark-colored sedan with a female passenger, according to court documents. 

The victim provided a detailed description of the suspect which was aired to other responding officers. An officer from a neighboring community heard the broadcast and thought he recognized the suspect description from previous police contacts.

He provided a possible suspect name and a photo of the suspect was included in a photo line-up shown to the victim, who positively identified the suspect. A statewide alert was put out for the suspect, who eventually was taken into custody in Mille Lacs County following a vehicle pursuit with police that reached speeds of up to 120 mph at times.

On Dec. 30, authorities in Mille Lacs County were on the lookout for an older, green Saturn that may have been involved in an armed robbery earlier in the day in Aitkin County, according to the Mille Lacs County Times.

A passenger, Kali Nelson, 23, of St. Cloud, was also arrested.

Surratt has a shaved head with the word “power” tattooed on his forehead and above his upper lip is tattooed the words “most hated," according to the newspaper report.

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Minnetonka officers later learned the suspect was under investigation by several other law enforcement agencies for additional crimes, including homicide, according to the city. 

Surratt was arrested and charged with a February 2010 home invasion in Isanti. There have been 14 criminal charges filed against Surratt since 2010. Surratt spent 15 months in federal prison for a 2004 robbery at the Wells Fargo bank in Coon Rapids.

He has convictions in Anoka County for felony theft (2001) and felony fifth-degree controlled substance crime (2004). In Hennepin County he was convicted of felony sale of a simulated controlled substance in 2003 and of felony aiding and abetting the theft of over $500 in 2006.

Find out what's happening in Minnetonkawith free, real-time updates from Patch.


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