Man Gets 14 Years In Prison For 2011 Gas Station Robbery

CHASKA, Minn. (WCCO) – A Blaine man has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for robbing a gas station in Mayer at gunpoint and injuring a store clerk in 2011.

The sentencing was nearly twice the length of the standard sentencing guidelines under Minnesota law because Demetrius Charles Edward Derden was sentenced by federal prosecutors pursuant to the Hobbs Act.

Carver County Attorney Mark Metz said that Derden was sentenced on Feb. 6.

Derden entered the Mayer Oil Company gas station on the 300 block of Ash Avenue North in Mayer on Dec. 3, 2011. He had an umbrella in one hand to hide his face from surveillance video and a gun in the other hand.

Derden walked behind the counter and pointed the hand gun at the clerk, demanding cash. The clerk then heard a "click" come from the gun and believed that the gun was emptied, so he began fighting back.

Derden bit the clerk's finger and struck the clerk with the gun. The clerk managed to punch Derden in the groin, wrestle the gun away and strike him in the head with the gun.

The clerk had suffered injuries to his face, finger, head and body, including a deep cut on his head that went all the way down to his skull, requiring stitches.

Derden was arrested a few hours later at his home in Blaine. Police later found out the gun he was using in the robbery was a BB gun.

Derden also has a criminal past including theft, receiving a stolen firearm, first-degree aggravated robbery and simple robbery.

The Hobbs Act allows federal prosecutors to try cases involving armed robbery at businesses dealing in interstate commerce.