Crime & Safety
'I Will Shoot, I Promise': Man Charged With Robbing Edina Camera Store
"Ok I have a gun and if you stop me while leaving with the camera I will shoot I promise," read a note handed to a National Camera Exchange employee.
A Minneapolis man is accused of robbing the Edina National Camera Exchange of equipment worth about $4,700 by handing a note to an employee indicating that he had a gun.
Marcus Deshaun Houston, 23, is charged with one felony count of aggravated second-degree robbery for the Nov. 4 incident.
According to the criminal complaint:
A little after 7 p.m., Houston entered the France Avenue store and asked to look at a Canon ED5 Mark III (worth $3,399.99) and a Tamron SP 24-70 lens ($1,299.99).
He looked at the camera for about 45 minutes before asking an employee for a job application and inquiring into the store's security measures.
The employee saw Houston write on a small piece of paper. He then paced around the store briefly before handing the paper to the employee.
The note read: "Ok I have a gun and if you stop me while leaving with the camera I will shoot I promise."
Edina police used a canine to track the man and found him a couple blocks north, exiting the bathroom of the Southdale Center theater.
The camera was found in the man's waistband and the lens in his sweatshirt pocket.
The National Camera employee, brought to the movie theater, identified the man as Houston.
“I didn’t rob nobody ... I stole something ... that’s a theft,” Houston told police during the ride to jail. “I just stole a camera from the store.”
He later told police that he had given the employee a note stating he had a gun.
Houston was convicted of gross misdemeanor theft in August 2013.
He faces up to 15 years behind bars and a $30,000 fine for the robbery.
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