A Minneapolis man threatened to kill another man with a knife and robbed him while making repeated homophobic slurs in Saint Paul, according to the complaint.
Eric Joshua Jennings, 38, faces charges of first-degree aggravated robbery and threats of violence with reckless disregard for risk, filed October 19 in Ramsey County District Court.
According to the complaint, officers responded at about 5:13 p.m. on October 17 to the area of White Bear Avenue North and Montana Avenue in Saint Paul for a reported assault. Officers found Jennings at the corner of White Bear Avenue and Nebraska Avenue. Jennings had a folding knife, which he placed on the ground before being arrested.
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During his arrest, Jennings told officers he wanted to die by cop and made several homophobic slurs about the victim, saying he was going to kill him but the victim ran away.
The victim told officers he had been sleeping in the rear of the cab of his red Ford F150, parked on White Bear Avenue, when Jennings knocked on the windows and woke him up. Jennings entered the cab through the unlocked driver’s door, grabbed the victim’s vehicle keys from the front seat, took his cell phone and held a pocketknife while threatening him.
Jennings told the victim, “You better calm the f*** down,” and threatened to stab him if he tried to leave. Jennings told the victim they were going to drive, saying, “I’m gonna kill your sissy a** if you don’t shut the f*** up and let me get to where I need to get to,” and continued to threaten him during the drive, including, “If you move, I’m gonna slice your f****** throat.”
The complaint states that after Jennings put the knife away, the victim crawled into the front seat and threatened to punch Jennings if he did not get out of the truck. Jennings then pulled over, grabbed his belongings and fled on foot. The victim reported Jennings stole about $50 in cash and his cell phone.
The victim drove around looking for Jennings to retrieve his phone and eventually found him on White Bear Avenue. The victim drove onto the grass to confront Jennings, exited his vehicle and begged for his phone back. Jennings approached and hit the victim several times in the face, head and buttocks. The victim fell and braced himself with his hands on the pavement. The complaint states the victim had two knots on his forehead and a fresh abrasion on his left palm.
The victim escaped and drove away, but Jennings picked up a large landscaping stone and threw it at the truck’s rear driver’s side door, then threw a stone at the truck again, shattering the rear driver’s side window.
A witness told officers he saw Jennings get out of the red truck and prevent the victim from driving away. The witness saw Jennings grab a brown concrete paver and smash it into the side of the truck, breaking the window. Another witness reported seeing Jennings with a yellow-bladed knife in the intersection, threatening people and walking around with the knife.
Officers found tire marks in the grass and a pile of black auto glass with a brown paver at the scene. During a search of Jennings, officers found a small plastic baggie with shards of a crystal-like substance.
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Jurisdictional Context
Ramsey County encompasses Saint Paul and is served by the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office. Felony cases are heard in the Second Judicial District at the Ramsey County Courthouse in downtown Saint Paul; Ramsey County Community Corrections operates the Ramsey County Correctional Facility in Maplewood.
