CARVER, Minn. (WCCO) – A 27-year-old Blaine man is accused of robbing gas station in Mayer at gunpoint on Saturday and injuring a store clerk, according to charges filed Tuesday in Carver County Court.
Demetrius Charles Edward Derden was charged with first-degree aggravated robbery and second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon in connection with the incident.
According to a criminal complaint, Derden entered the Mayer Oil Company gas station on the 300 block of Ash Avenue North in Mayer at 8:39 p.m. Saturday. He had an umbrella in one hand to hide his face from surveillance video and a gun in the other hand. Derden walked behind the counter and pointed the hand gun at the clerk. He then put a bag on a stool and demanded cash from the clerk.
The clerk opened a safe and handed money to Derden, the complaint states. The clerk then told Derden he didn’t have the combination to unlock the upper safe, and Derden placed the barrel of his gun against the back of the clerk’s neck and told him “You better remember, your life depends on it.”
According to the complaint, the clerk then heard a “click” sound come from the gun and believed that the gun was emptied, so he turned around and started to stand up. Derden pushed the clerk back down and hit the clerk on the side of his head with the barrel of the gun.
The clerk later told authorities he then began to “fight for his life.” A struggle between the two ensued and Derden bit the clerk’s finger and struck the clerk with the gun. The clerk managed to punch Derden in the groin, head butt him, wrestle the gun away and strike him in the head with the gun, the complaint states.
Derden eventually got into a car and fled the scene after the clerk was able to pull a mask off his face. A customer getting gas found the store clerk bloodied on the floor behind the counter. The clerk had suffered injuries to his face, finger, head and body, including a deep cut on his head that went all the way down to his skull, requiring stitches.
Derden was eventually identified as a check card in his name was found at the scene. The photo on his driver’s license was also matched with surveillance video.
If convicted on both charges, Derden faces up to 27 years in prison and $49,000 in fines. According to court documents, Derden also has a criminal past including theft, receiving a stolen firearm, first-degree aggravated robbery and simple robbery.
