Cloquet man charged after gunshots fired in attempted robbery
Charges were filed Tuesday against a Cloquet man in relation to an incident early Sunday morning involving an attempted robbery with gunshots fired.By: Wendy Johnson, Pine Journal
Charges were filed Tuesday against a Cloquet man in relation to an incident early Sunday morning involving an attempted robbery with gunshots fired. A warrant has also been issued for another adult male, and two juveniles were set to be charged in Carlton County Court on Wednesday.
Robert Dwayne Jeff, 18, of Cloquet was charged with one count of first-degree attempted aggravated robbery, one count of second-degree assault and one count of terroristic threats.
According to the complaint filed in the matter, Cloquet police officers responded to a call at approximately 1:19 a.m. on Sept. 16 to the 1400 block of Maplewood Avenue in Cloquet. There they learned from the son of the homeowners that he had been hosting a party earlier in the evening in a detached garage on the premises.
The party was broken up by the parents upon their arrival home. While the son and five or six others were cleaning up the garage, an adult male reportedly came into the garage carrying a handgun. The homeowners’ son stated the handgun was then pointed at his head and the intruder made threats against his life unless he provided the assailant with money.
The victim said he managed to eject the man from the garage, however, shutting the main door behind him. A short time later, the same intruder returned with his handgun, along with at least two other males, and threatened the victim and his friends once again. At that point one of the other intruders – who also had a handgun – fired his gun into the ceiling of the garage as if to make his point that they meant business. However, the victim said he once again forced all of the intruders out of the garage, this time locking the main door behind them, and the assailants disappeared into a wooded area near the home.
Upon the arrival of the police, an immediate search began, and they located two adult males and two juveniles who were thought to be involved in the attempted robbery. The two adult males with handguns were identified as Robert Dwayne Jeff and Jaque Love, 24. Both men admitted to involvement in the attempted robbery, though Jeff denied having fired the gun into the ceiling of the garage.
Further investigation yielded information from Love regarding the general area where one of the handguns had been discarded. The following day Conservation Officer Scott Staples and his K9 partner Schody canvassed the area in question and Schody located both the handgun and a pair of gloves thought to have been used by one of the perpetrators in the incident.
Jeff was arrested on the morning of the incident and taken into custody at the Carlton County Jail. He was formally charged on Tuesday, and bail was set at $75,000 bond or $7,500 cash.
Love was released at the time of the incident because of his level of cooperation, but a warrant has since been issued for his arrest.
The two juveniles were taken to the Arrowhead Juvenile Center and were set for arraignment on Wednesday.
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