Police: Men Arrested After Trespassing, Filming Video With AK-47s
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A bizarre scenario at a Minneapolis business led to several arrests Thursday night.
It also led to police recovering a number of guns, drugs and a huge amount of cash.
It happened just before 10:30 p.m. near Dowling Avenue and Port of Minneapolis Drive.
Police say two of the men arrested -- 22-year-old Jeron Davis of Prior Lake and 22-year-old Trocon Barclay of St. Paul -- were found with both weapons and narcotics in their cars.
This started when a security guard patrolling the property saw a large group of people trespassing. One of them told him they were filming a video.
When the guard told them to leave, one of the men involved pointed an AK-47 rifle at him.
"We had people of all ages out here that were trespassing that had guns, loaded guns, that didn't have permission to be here and made some really, poor choices," said Officer Corey Schmidt.
The security guard called 911, which prompted a large police response. A Minnesota State Patrol helicopter even searched from the sky.
The group, made up of teenagers to men in their thirties, scattered and tried to leave in cars.
"I would describe it as one of those things where you think you are stepping onto a movie set," Schmidt said. "But it isn't a movie set. This is real life."
Police arrested Davis and Barclay and found guns and drugs in their car. They also recovered $80,000 in cash.
Schmidt knows it is a situation that could have been much worse, and they are happy it ended the way it did -- taking 10 guns off the streets.
"We've got the guns and the narcotics off the street, and we are able to hold onto that money until the disposition of the case," Schmidt said.
He says if the men are found guilty, and that $80,000 is linked to illegal narcotics, that money goes towards drug enforcement and weapons investigations.
In addition to those arrests, eight other people were cited for trespassing.
