On 04/14/2026 at about 1540 hours, St. Paul Police responded to [ADDRESS REDACTED]. Relatives of Joseph Lazaro Nelson LUNA ([DOB REDACTED]) called asking to have LUNA removed from the property. They said LUNA was mentally unwell, drank alcohol to cope, was unpredictable, and could be violent. LUNA had come asking for money and was irate when they wouldn’t give him any. The officer advised LUNA to stay away from the address. Later that day, at about 2148 hours, St. Paul Police were dispatched to [ADDRESS REDACTED] W in St. Paul, Ramsey County on report of a robbery.
Upon arrival, police met with the victims; identified as HF, CQ, MB, JM, and FI. FI told police that they were all there for an AA meeting and LUNA was also in attendance. FI said LUNA had never attended the AA meeting before and none of the victims knew who he was. FI said LUNA showed up to the meeting at about 1900 hours, left, and returned at about 2000 hours. During the meeting, he said, LUNA made comments about wanting to rob the AA group when the meeting ended. Police spoke to the organizer of the AA meeting, FG, who said LUNA arrived at the meeting and asked to join.
He said LUNA was exhibiting odd behavior and going in and out of the building during the meeting. According to the victims, when they left the meeting LUNA came out behind them and demanded money from them. LUNA raised his voice, was talking loudly, and was asking for everyone's names. LUNA then pulled a black foldable knife out of his sweatshirt pocket. LUNA was holding the knife in his hand with a wide stance as if he was going to fight. The victims said they were scared. HF said he thought LUNA might cut him and did not feel as though he could leave.
HF told LUNA that he did not have money, asked CQ for cash to give to LUNA, and ended up giving LUNA five dollars. LUNA looked at the five dollars, said “F***,” and walked away. Police searched for LUNA but were unable to locate him. The next day, on 04/15/2026 at around 2015 hours, HF called police and reported that he had just seen LUNA outside of Shadey's Bar at [ADDRESS REDACTED]. Police arrived, found LUNA in the bar, and arrested him. During a search incident to arrest, police found a black and silver folding knife in his back pocket.
The knife matched the description of the knife used in the robbery. During a post-Miranda interview, LUNA said "Ok, I will just tell you the whole thing". LUNA said he saw people going to the meeting and went in to see what it was and to ask people for money. He said that after the meeting he met a couple of guys outside on George St and asked them for money but they said they did not have any. LUNA said he knew they had money, so he pulled out his knife, opened it, and told them to give him money.
LUNA said the guys talked for a minute and then gave him five dollars. LUNA said he was happy with the five dollars, took it, told the guys he would pay them back double, and left. LUNA said he used the five dollars to buy a drink at a bar.
