An 18-year-old man is charged with robbing a locksmith at gunpoint and shooting at him after the victim tried to run away on a Minneapolis street earlier this year.
Malik Cortez Hanks, of Brooklyn Park, faces charges of first-degree aggravated robbery and second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon in Hennepin County District Court. First-degree aggravated robbery carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
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According to the criminal complaint, officers were dispatched to the intersection of East 24th Street and 16th Avenue South in Minneapolis on Jan. 5 after a ShotSpotter activation. A man called 911 and said he had been robbed at gunpoint and the suspects shot at him.
Officers found the victim hiding at a nearby church, holding his head and saying it hurt. He told police he works for a locksmith company and received a call to unlock a silver Chevy Equinox at the intersection. When he arrived, two people approached, Hanks and a co-defendant, A'Nava Alijah McKee-Bowman.
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Hanks pulled out a black handgun, pointed it at the victim and demanded his belongings and keys. When the victim refused, Hanks struck him with the firearm while McKee-Bowman punched him. The victim tried to run but slipped, and the two kicked and hit him again.
As the victim got up and ran a second time, he heard McKee-Bowman yell to Hanks to shoot him. The victim said he was then shot at. His car window was broken during the incident.
The pair stole a power generator, multiple vehicle programming tools, tablets, keys and cash from the victim's car.
Investigators traced a TextNow phone number used to lure the victim to a number associated with Hanks' mother, whose address is near the robbery scene. Savage police later arrested Hanks on a separate robbery and found three firearms and a car programmer inside his vehicle. The programmer's serial number matched one stolen from the victim, and four phones from the victim were also recovered.
A search of Hanks' phone revealed multiple photos and videos of him holding firearms, some equipped with switches that allow fully automatic fire. Snapchat records showed two accounts discussing the Jan. 5 robbery before it occurred.
Officers executed a search warrant at McKee-Bowman's Brooklyn Park residence on March 18 and found a firearm in the snow outside his bedroom window with a broken screen. The serial number had been removed. Officers also found clothing matching photos from a recent aggravated robbery of a locksmith.
