Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Dalton James Ritchie, 17, of Fridley is charged with robbing a SuperAmerica station in Rogers at gunpoint in mid-August.
A Fridley teenager arrested in August after police say he robbed a Rogers convenience store at gunpoint before being tackled by a store customer will stand trial as an adult. Dalton James Ritchie, 17, waived certification proceedings in Hennepin County District Court and will face adult charges in the Aug. 14 incident. Ritchie is charged with aggravated first-degree robbery, a felony with a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $35,000 fine. The charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of three years in prison. Rogers police were watching the SuperAmerica station on Diamond Lake Road in Rogers just after 11:30 p.m. Aug. 14 because three other SuperAmerica stations in Mounds View, Brooklyn Park and New Brighton had been robbed of…
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
By light of day, extent of damage clearer at site of Columbia Heights blaze that Fridley helped fight.
The day after Fridley firefighters helped Columbia Heights crews battle a nighttime gas station fire at 40th and University avenues NE, the extent of the damage to the Speedy Mart building was easy to see. Columbia Heights Fire Chief Gary Gorson said Wednesday his department has turned over the investigation to the property owner's insurance company because of the extensive amount of work involved with digging through the structure's remains to find a cause. The fire had aerial trucks from both Columbia Heights and Fridley in action—a sight reminiscent of the scene over Central Avenue NE last summer, when both city's ladders flew flags in honor of a fallen Cambridge firefighter.
45.04098
-93.262926
40th Ave NE & University Ave NE, Columbia Heights, MN
/articles/photo-update-speedy-mart-the-day-after-the-fire
/locations/6011644
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
The Speedy Mart at 40th and University is a total loss.
The Fridley Fire Department sent an engine and an aerial truck to help Columbia Heights fight a fire at the Speedy Mart gas station at 40th and University avenues NE Tuesday night. The gas station building is a total loss, according to Columbia Heights Fire Chief Gary Gorman. Columbia Heights fire trucks were dispatched shortly before 10 p.m., with Fridley's rigs and a truck from St. Anthony following soon after. No one was injured, Gorman said in an interview about an hour after the first alarm. The first firefighting crew on the scene observed the fire in the ceiling area but got out before the roof collapsed at about 10 p.m. That meant fighting a defensively from outside the building, Gorman said. Columbia Heights aerial truck doused …
45.04098
-93.262926
40th Ave NE & University Ave NE, Columbia Heights, MN
/articles/fridley-fire-dept-helps-fight-columbia-heights-gas-station-blaze
/locations/6011152
Donna Schmitt
7:00 am on Friday, December 16, 2011
It was actually a fairly busy station for its size. It got a lot of traffic from University Ave. and from the neighborhood. They had a lot of foot traffic that came in for smaller items. Most gas stations are going for the bigger size now so this was a classic sized station. There isn't room to build a bigger gas station on this corner without buying out neighboring property. more ›