A man armed with a handgun tried to get into an occupied vehicle at a Kwik Trip gas station in Austin on Thursday evening, sending two victims fleeing with the fuel nozzle still attached to their car.
Dinson Leopold, 30, faces charges of attempted first-degree carjacking, second-degree assault, threats of violence and carrying a pistol while under the influence of alcohol in Mower County. A criminal complaint says his blood alcohol concentration was above .10.
READ MORE > Mower County coverage
Austin police were dispatched to the Kwik Trip at 1401 4th Street NW around 6:10 p.m. on March 26 after a report that a man had a firearm and tried to get into a vehicle. Officers spoke with the victims, a juvenile girl and an adult woman, at the scene.
The girl told police she was sitting in the backseat of a Suburban while the woman went inside to prepay for gas. A man dressed in all black walked up and asked if he could fuel the vehicle for her. She said OK and got back in the car. She then watched Leopold pull out a dark-colored pistol and rack the slide. He walked toward her window, causing her to move back in fear, and then grabbed the rear driver's side door handle.
The woman saw Leopold racking the firearm when she looked into her side mirror. She immediately hit the gas and drove out of the station with the nozzle still in the vehicle. As they fled, both victims saw Leopold and another man return to a silver Chrysler 300 and drive away. The woman got the license plate and called dispatch.
> Sign up for the MN CRIME newsletter
A Mower County deputy spotted the Chrysler 300 about 17 minutes later on 9th Street NE. The vehicle was parked in front of a residence in the 800 block. As officers worked to identify the suspects, a sergeant sent surveillance photos from the Kwik Trip showing a man in black pants, a black shirt, a baseball hat and black shoes.
A witness who had been driving the Chrysler told police he took Leopold to the Kwik Trip but went inside to buy oil and did not know anything about the incident outside. He said Leopold asked to be dropped off at a nearby house after they left.
Officers spotted Leopold walking toward them wearing the same clothing seen in the surveillance images. He was detained at the scene.
Leopold faces up to 15 years in prison on the attempted carjacking charge.
