Minneapolis Man Charged for Kidnapping, Beating of Victim Near 'George Floyd Square'
A Minneapolis man faces multiple charges after allegedly kidnapping a man, stealing his car, holding the victim hostage at the former Speedway station near “George Floyd Square” and lighting one of his accomplices on fire in an attempt to rouse him from a fatal overdose.
Desmond Durelle Graham, 31, faces charges of kidnapping, 1st-degree aggravated robbery, 3rd-degree assault and credit card fraud for his alleged involvement in the bizarre series of events on March 10-11, 2022.
Graham made his first court appearance Thursday on the charges, where bail was set at $750,000 without conditions.
According to a criminal complaint filed in relation to the case:
On March 11, police were dispatched to the area of E. 38th St. & Chicago Ave. for a report of a kidnapping and robbery. The victim told officers he’d been carjacked, held captive and robbed by three people beginning the night before and ending with his escape.
The victim said he was in downtown Minneapolis to meet a co-worker when he heard a strange noise coming from his vehicle. He pulled over and three people approached him, forced him into the backseat of his own car and took his keys.
One of the men was identified through investigation as Desmond Graham.
Graham is accused of driving the victim in his vehicle to an abandoned gas station located near the intersection of 38th & Chicago Ave., near where George Floyd was killed by former Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin.
The area of 38th & Chicago was closed to vehicle traffic after Floyd’s killing, with the city putting down cement barriers to block the road and a large metal fist erected by activists in the middle of the intersection as a memorial. It was renamed George Floyd Square in his honor.
> Previously: Chauvin Sentenced for George Floyd Killing
The area has since seen several shootings, robberies and other crimes, including the fatal shooting of a pregnant woman, resulting in the eventual death of her baby, born after the mother died.
The Speedway gas station near the intersection was abandoned after the unrest that followed Floyd’s killing, earning a nickname from activists who had occupied the square as the “People’s Way.”
Court documents identified another of the two named suspects as Larry Mosby.
Mosby and Graham took the victim to the abandoned gas station and demanded money. The victim said he had none and was then struck in the head with a hammer and a screwdriver. He tried to run but he was dragged back inside.
The man was kicked, punched, placed in a kneeled position and bound to a piece of furniture.
Fearing he’d be killed if he didn’t give up cash, the victim provided his online banking information, his debit card and PIN to Graham, Mosby and another un-named accomplice, who left to withdraw money from the bank account.
That unidentified accomplice withdrew $1,000 cash from an ATM on the 3000 block of Nicollet Ave. in Minneapolis. Another $1,000 was withdrawn from an ATM located within a gas station on the 3400 block of Nicollet Ave.
Store and ATM surveillance video shows Graham getting out of the victim’s car and making that withdrawal wearing a distinctive jacket. Graham then returned to the gas station, eventually untied the victim and forced him back into his vehicle.
> Previously: Pursuit Ends Near Minneapolis' 'NoGoZone'
Graham drove the victim’s vehicle to a nearby bank and ordered him to go in with Mosby and withdraw cash. If he got the money, he would be freed, the suspects told the victim.
Waring a hat and mask to hide his injuries from the assault at the gas station, the victim went into the bank with Mosby and withdrew another $1,000. Bank records and surveillance video confirmed the transaction.
The victim said Graham and Mosby drove around Minneapolis using narcotics and at one point Mosby lost consciousness from an apparent overdose.
Graham allegedly beat Mosby in an attempt to rouse him from the OD.
Graham then drove Mosby and the victim back to the Speedway station, where Graham poured alcohol on Mosby and lit him on fire, apparently again trying to revive him. He extinguished the flames and poured more alcohol on the man, but Mosby did not regain consciousness.
Mosby was later found dead in the gas station by officers, with burns to his torso.
Graham then grabbed the victim and they left the gas station, heading back to his vehicle. While Graham was looking for the keys, the victim was able to escape and ran to a nearby grocery store, where an employee called 911.
> Previously: MPD, Agencies Team Up to Address Violence at 38th & Chicago
Officers arrived and the victim was treated for his injuries in the assault. He had a fractured nose, multiple facial bruises, a laceration to the ear, hemorrhages to his eyes, a laceration near his knuckle, abrasions to his knees, scalp hematoma and multiple abrasions to his back and shoulder.
The victim was able to identify Graham and Mosby as two of the suspects when given a photo lineup by investigators.
George Floyd Square in 2021
Police found Graham on March 28, driving the vehicle that was stolen from the victim and wearing the same distinctive jacket he was seen wearing while withdrawing money from the victim’s account.
Graham initially denied being involved and said he didn’t know Mosby.
When officers asked Graham about what cars he had driven lately, he became upset and started mumbling under his breath. He then told investigators that the sale of narcotics was tied into the incident and began talking about the night the victim was kidnapped.
Graham then told investigators that he was arrested because a guy “ran up to them” and said something happened to him, referring to the victim escaping and running into the grocery store.
Graham claimed he, Mosby and others were partying downtown that night and went to the area of 38th & Chicago for an after-party.
Graham eventually admitted that he did know the third accomplice and that he was there that night. He said that Mosby, the unidentified accomplice and the victim were arguing in the parking lot of the former Speedway.
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Graham said he got a ride from the victim to a gas station to meet up with someone and when he returned to the Speedway, he learned that Mosby died from a fentanyl overdose.
When officers left the interview room, Graham ripped the panic button and the thermostat off of the wall, apparently thinking they were cameras.
He then pulled out a pill, crushed it up, and snorted it. When officers confronted him, he claimed he didn’t snort the pill, then crushed the rest of the pill into the carpet.
Graham has prior convictions for 1st-degree aggravated robbery and was out on bail for two 1st-degree robbery charges in Ramsey County at the time.
Graham’s next court date on the new charges is set for April 27.
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