Minneapolis Police Officer Indicted for Armed Bank Robbery

A federal grand jury has returned an indictment against a Minneapolis police officer, charging him with the January 6, 2010, robbery of an Apple Valley Wells Fargo bank. In the indictment, which was filed with the U.S. District Court earlier today, Timothy Edward Carson, age 28, of Rosemount, was formally charged with one count of armed bank robbery and one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. The indictment alleges Carson took $4,580 from the bank and put the lives of others in jeopardy by brandishing a 40-caliber Beretta handgun during the robbery.

According to a Federal Bureau of Investigation affidavit, the bank was robbed at 9:16 a.m., on January 6, by a man brandishing a handgun. The man, later identified as Carson, allegedly jumped onto the counter and pointed the gun at three tellers. He then purportedly ordered everyone to put their hands up and their heads down, after which he directed the tellers to give him money. Upon receiving the cash, he allegedly fled the bank. Security cameras from a nearby Target store recorded him getting into a parked vehicle near a vacant strip mall.

Before the robbery, at precisely 8:37 a.m., on January 6, Carson was stopped by Apple Valley police about three miles from the bank. The stop was made because Carson’s vehicle did not have a front license plate. Carson identified himself as a Minneapolis police officer and, ultimately, was allowed to go on his way.

The same Apple Valley officer later responded to the bank robbery and, while enroute to the scene, reportedly observed Carson’s vehicle stopped at the intersection of Johnny Cake Ridge Road and 140th Street. The affidavit states Carson was scheduled to work at 9 a.m. on January 6 but failed to arrive until 10 a.m. Later that day he was arrested by the Apple Valley Police Department and the FBI.

If convicted, Carson faces a potential maximum penalty of 25 years in prison on the bank robbery charge and a mandatory minimum penalty of seven years on the firearm charge. All sentences will be determined by a federal district court judge.

This case is the result of an investigation by the Apple Valley Police Department, the Minneapolis Police Department, and the FBI. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Nathan P. Petterson.