Three girls have been arrested in St. Paul after robbing an elderly man in St. Paul.
The incident has beendetailed in a Facebook postpraising the actions of officers by St. Paul police chief Todd Axtell, and happening around 7:50 p.m. Monday in the Merriam Park neighborhood.
The victim was standing in an alley behind his Marshall Avenue home when he was approached by a group of five youths, who demanded his wallet.
When he refused, one of them grabbed it out of his pocket, and the man was struck in the head in the ensuing struggle as he grabbed the wallet back.
"This made the thieves angry, so one of them grabbed a sledgehammer from a nearby garage and threatened to destroy the victim’s car," Axtell wrote.
"He pleaded with them to go away and they did, after taking $10 and telling him that they’d come back and burn down his house if he reported the incident."
A neighbor called in the robbery, with police arriving a short time later and arresting three of the would-be thieves as they tried to flee.