(credit: BERTRAND LANGLOIS/AFP/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A 24-year-old Rochester man is charged in connection with three armed robberies of local McDonald’s restaurants.
Christian Aaron Alexander was charged with three counts of interference with commerce by robbery and one count of brandishing a firearm.
According to the charges, Alexander is accused of robbing McDonald’s restaurants in Byron, Rochester and Winona between September 2010 and June 2011.
Police say Alexander took money from each restaurant and threatened employees with a firearm. He is accused of taking nearly $6,500 total from the three McDonald’s restaurants.
Employees told police that on Sept. 19, they were approached by two masked men — one of which was armed with a pistol. The men entered the restaurant around 4 a.m. and opened the safe after getting the combination from an employee.
According to the charges, the men also took the employees’ wallets and cell phones and ordered them into the walk-in cooler.
On June 15, the Byron McDonald’s was robbed in a similar fashion but the suspects were a man and woman. A shot was fired during the incident but no one was hurt.
Police went to Alexander’s residence and found him inside his vehicle. Officers found cash on the back seat of the vehicle, plus a gun, a plastic bag containing numerous rounds of ammunition, a couple of McDonald’s bags and clothing that matched the description of the robber.
Alexander was arrested and taken into custody. If convicted, he could face a maximum penalty of life in prison for brandishing a firearm and 20 years on each interference with commerce by robbery count.
