Suspect in Best Buy ‘grab-and-run’ thefts avoids prison time

Nick Ferraro, Pioneer Press
·4 min read
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Ramsey County Judge John Guthmann asked 19-year-old Shaimee Robinson-Love at her sentencing Tuesday why she thought it was OK to take part in the mass grab-and-run theft of more than $7,300 worth of electronics from a Best Buy store in Maplewood on last year’s Black Friday.

Robinson-Love, who was one of six suspects charged with felony aiding and abetting theft, told the judge she had surrounded herself around the “wrong people” and “fell into a hole.”

“The way you can get out of the hole … it’s a saying that I sometimes use: new faces, new places,” Guthmann responded to Robinson-Love, of St. Paul. “You go back to the same places, hanging out with the same faces, you end up back here in court.”

Guthmann then accepted a plea agreement that Robinson-Love made with prosecutors in June, staying any imposition of prison time, and instead sentencing her to supervised probation for three years and 36 days to serve in the county workhouse with credit for 36 days.

Guthmann noted how he could have disregarded the plea deal and sent Robinson-Love to prison because she violated her pre-sentence obligations by being charged with gross misdemeanor theft at the Mall of America Macy’s on Aug. 8.

“You blew the plea deal by picking up a new charge,” Guthmann told her. “So I have a right to send you to prison right now for a year.”

Instead, Guthmann added an order that she complete 80 hours of community work service.

THE CHRAGES

According to the criminal complaint, around 6 p.m., Nov. 26, the group went to the Best Buy at 1795 E. County Road D in Maplewood. They grabbed TVs, tablets, hoverboards and other electronic devices valued at $7,356 and left the store without paying for them.

The group also hit Best Buy stores in Burnsville and Blaine the same day. The total value of the items stolen from the three stores was $26,138. They also struck a Dick’s Sporting Goods store in Richfield.

Police were able to identify the suspects from surveillance video compared with Facebook posts by the same individuals.

Prosecutors in Ramsey, Dakota and Anoka counties also charged Raymone Wright, 23, of Minneapolis; Nathaniel Spears, 28, of Albany, Minn.; and Na’ Touri Ross, 19, of Minneapolis. Two juveniles were also charged in Ramsey and Anoka counties.

Also charged in Anoka County were Rolanda Lott, 36, of Roseville; Iyahanna Turner, 19, Minneapolis; Myeisha Hall, 20, Brooklyn Park, and Mijuanna Mapp, 19, of Winona, Minn.

Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evanstold told reporters in December that in recent years the agency has seen an increase in the number of organized crime rings that commit large thefts at retail stores. The stolen merchandise ends up for sale on online marketplaces, he said.

OTHER SUSPECTS

An anonymous tipster told police that Wright was involved, and that Wright, listed as male in court documents, said he identified as a transgender woman who went by the name of Ra’Lasia Wright. Wright was associated with a Facebook page named “Run Outs by Ralai” that bragged of organized retail thefts.

The tipster said Wright had been on Facebook Live showing merchandise stolen from the stores, charges say.

When officers went to Wright’s home, they found a Ford Edge with Florida license plates that was involved in the thefts, according to prosecutors. A search of the vehicle revealed an anti-theft device used by Best Buy stores.

Wright admitted to being at the stores but denied stealing anything, according to charges.

In Ramsey County, Wright’s case went out as a sealed complaint warrant and he has yet to be arrested. Spears is wanted on a bench warrant after failing to appear at a July 6 hearing. Ross is wanted on a bench warrant after skipping a June 30 hearing.

In April, Robinson-Love was sentenced on the Dakota County aiding and abetting charge. There, she also received a stay of imposition of prison time, supervised probation for five years and 35 days to serve in the county workhouse with credit for 35 days.

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