Crystal Man Facing Charges In Verizon Store Robbery

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A 32-year-old man from Crystal is facing charges after attempting a robbery at a Verizon Wireless store in Inver Grove Heights before being shot by an employee.

Jamaal Marquie Mays has been charged with aggravated first-degree robbery, illegal possession of a firearm and firearm violation in connection with the Aug. 17 incident.

According to the charges, Inver Grove Heights police were called at about 11 a.m. to the Verizon Wireless store on a report of a robbery in progress. When officers arrived, they spoke with a store employee who told them he shot one of the robbery suspects in self-defense and put his gun and the suspect's gun on a window ledge.

The employee also showed officers he has a permit to carry a weapon. Officers located the suspect, identified as Mays, inside the store. He had been shot twice and was taken to Regions Hospital.

The complaint states the employee told police two men entered the store and asked for help looking at phones. The employee showed them several phones and he became suspicious because he would show them a phone and bring one from the back room that they had already seen.

The employee was in the back room getting another phone and came out to Mays pointing a gun at his head and telling the employee, "Make it easy on me." The employee believed Mays was going to shoot him, so he pulled his gun and fired what he believed to be three shots at Mays. The other suspect fled the store. The employee got Mays' gun and cleared the store before calling 911.

A review of Mays' criminal history shows he has a 2003 conviction for second-degree assault, and he had a gun at the time.

If convicted, he faces up to 40 years in prison and $75,000 in fines.