Burglar Beats Minneapolis Store Owner With Sledgehammer
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Charges are now filed in a gruesome sledgehammer attack on a south Minneapolis convenience store owner.
Andrew Hodge, 25, was arrested for the New Year's Eve day attack on Portland Market owner George Gerges.
The victim is still in the hospital recovering from severe head injuries.
Some 16 security cameras keep watch over Portland Market. But on Saturday morning, Hodge apparently cut power to the building, hoping to hide his crime.
It did not work. When the intrusion alarm sounded, owner Gerges was on his way.
"He saw somebody in the store and approach him," Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said.
Gerges showed up before police and decided to check things out. He was met inside the front door by sledgehammer-wielding Hodge, who struck Gerges several times in the face and head, knocking him to the ground.
"This guy takes a hammer out and just clubs him over the head, again and again. Knocks him down, blood everywhere," Freeman said.
The criminal complaint says Hodge kept striking Gerges with the hammer, demanding access to the store's safe.
Just then, officers showed up and gave chase. Hodge was caught with the victim's keys and narcotics in his pockets.
Gerges was rushed to Hennepin County Medical Center, where he is still recovering from his severe injuries.
"Horrible injuries. Plates in his head, induced coma for 24 hours. He may lose sight of an eye," Freeman said. "This was just a brutal assault."
Hodge faces felony counts of first-degree assault, burglary and robbery. He is being held on $350,000 bail.
