Update (2:35 p.m. Friday): After the armed robbery of the Tobacco and Grocery store on Osborne Road Thursday evening, at least six law enforcement agencies came together in the manhunt that led to the arrest of one of the two suspects.
The Anoka County Sheriff’s office, already in the area for a Columbia Heights traffic enforcement detail, took the lead in the case, and police officers from Columbia Heights, Spring Lake Park, Coon Rapids and Blaine assisted with monitoring the perimeter of the manhunt, according to Fridley Police Captain Bob Rewitzer.
A State Patrol helicopter searched the area for an hour-and-a-half but did not assist in locating the suspect, who is now in police custody.
Update (10:30 a.m. Friday): After what the owner said was an armed robbery of his store on Osborne Road NE Thursday night, one of two suspects is in the Anoka County Jail; the other escaped, according to Cdr. Paul Sommer of the Anoka County Sheriff's Office.
Sommer said two deputies were in a car on a detail at Highway 65 and 57th Avenue NE Thursday when the call came in at 10:03 p.m. about the suspects and their vehicle.
The deputies saw a car matching the description at 73rd Avenue and Highway 65 and tried to stop it. The suspects initially pulled over at a red light and they put their hands up inside the car. But when the light turned green, they took off.
The deputies pursued. The driver of the suspects' car was caught at Seventh Street NE and 58th Avenue NE but the passenger escaped—and a police search involving several law enforcement agencies began. It lasted more than three hours and included three K9 tracking teams and a State Patrol helicopter.
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Update (1:30 a.m. Friday): One suspect is in custody and one remains at large, police said, after a massive hunt for armed-robbery suspects in Fridley late Thursday and early Friday.
"We had one of our businesses held up. ... It's still under investigation," Fridley Police Sgt. Rick Cesare said at about 1:15 a.m. Friday.
When asked if residents should take precautions, Cesare said, "Citizens are safe."
Yamen Haidari, owner of the Tobacco and Grocery store at 315 Osborne Rd. NE, said two armed men robbed his store around the regular 10 p.m. closing time, getting away with cash and an employee's iPad.
The employee was not hurt, Haidari said, and his store has security cameras.
Police later transported the victim and suspect to the store.
Police Clips has edited audio of the law enforcement responding to the incident from Anoka County emergency radio.
A police response that involved several local agencies as well as the Anoka County Sheriff's Department and the Minnesota State Patrol was down to only about five vehicles on 58th Avenue NE near the corner of Seventh Street NE by 1 a.m.
But a patrol of two deputies on foot—one with a dog, one with an automatic rifle—returning to the scene from the north informed a Fridley Patch reporter he was inside the (no longer manned) police perimeter and would have to leave.
Update (11 p.m.): Police are dividing their tracking operation into three canine teams as they search a Fridley neighborhood just north of I-694 and east of University Avenue NE for a possibly armed suspect.
According to Police Clips, police earlier apprehended one suspect in a reported armed robbery. A second suspect ran off from the suspects' vehicle and is the subject of the manhunt.
According to Twin Cities Incident Page, the suspects' car was originally travelling southbound on Highway 65 when it went west into the area just north of I-694.
Update (10:45 p.m.): Police on 58th Avenue NE between Washington and Seventh in Fridley reported, "We have a victim"—as heard on Anoka County emergency radio.
They were transporting the victim to another location.
Police were tracking a possibly armed suspect yard-to-yard with the aid of a police helicopter in a cordoned-off area.
Squad cars around the perimeter had their roof lights on at the request of the helicopter.
The neighborhood is just north of the Medtronic, Inc., headquarters, north of I-694, between University Avenue NE (Hwy. 47) and Highway 65 (Central Avenue NE).
Update (10:30 p.m.): A police helicopter is over Fridley as part of a massive manhunt for a reportedly armed suspect. Police have an area of the neighborhood north of I-694 and east of University Avenue NE cordoned off. Medtronic, Inc., headquarters was in lockdown, according to Anoka County emergency radio.
Earlier post (10:15 p.m.): Fridley police and other authorities are in the midst of a manhunt in Fridley with a four-block perimeter set up.
At about 10:20 p.m., officers were leaving squad cars to track a suspect on foot near the University Avenue Service Drive north of I-694.
According to Anoka County emergency radio, a chopper was to be deployed to help in the search.
More details as the become available.
I need to walk my dogs and go to bed.
From my vantage point, there are state troopers on the east end of Medtronic Parkway and at least one unmarked car with a spotlight in these neighborhoods. The helicopter has made quite a few passes but does not appear to be employing any kind of spotlight (infared perhaps?).
I do see that the initial audio has been posted by PoliceClips http://soundcloud.com/mnpoliceclipsonfacebook/from-the-armed-robbery-to-the