MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A second teenager accused of assaulting a former Minneapolis mayoral candidate has been charged Monday, according to Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman.
Seventeen-year-old Deea Leshawn Elliot was charged by juvenile petition with two counts of aggravated first-degree robbery and one count of second-degree assault for an attack on Mark Andrew, 63, at the Mall of America on Thursday.
According to the criminal complaint, a young man grabbed Andrew’s iPhone from him in a Starbucks at the MOA. Andrew chased after the suspect, but was stopped by Elliot and 18-year-old Letajia Cutler Cain, who blocked the shop’s door.
Elliot hit Andrew on the head several times with a metal baton, while Cutler Cain jumped on his back and scratched his face.
Both women were scheduled to appear in court Monday at 1:30 p.m. Cutler Cain was charged on Friday.
Due to Freeman and Andrew’s friendship, the women’s cases will be handled by another county attorney’s office in order to prevent the appearance of a conflict of interest.
That county has yet to be determined.
Police are still searching for the male suspect, who dropped Andrew’s phone soon after the chase.
