Winona, Minnesota

From the Winona Daily News of February 11, 2007

Police: Would-be liquor store thief may have been shot, still not found

Winona police were looking Saturday for a man who may have been shot while attempting to rob a liquor store Friday night.

According to police, a black man about 6 feet tall wearing a ski mask and dark jacket walked into the Golfview Liquor Store at 1671 W. Fifth St. shortly before 7 p.m., attacked the store clerk and demanded money.

The man threatened to shoot the clerk but did not show a gun, said Winona Police Sgt. Gary Hoeppner.

After a struggle, the would-be robber moved toward the front door, stopped and turned. The 60-year-old employee then fired one shot from a 0.38-caliber handgun.

The employee told police he believed he had shot the robber.

Police recovered one shell casing at the scene but found no blood or evidence of the bullet.

A passerby reported seeing a man run from the store and get into a red SUV.

Police said no one matching the suspect’s description had shown up at area hospitals with a gunshot wound as of Saturday morning.

There was no one else in the store at the time, and no money was taken.

Golfview owner Bill Ahrens said Saturday that he was held up once before “about 25 years ago” but didn’t want to discuss Friday’s robbery.

From the Winona Daily News of March 21, 2007

Nurse accused of helping alleged robber shot during Golfview Liquor holdup

Winona County prosecutors on Tuesday charged a Rochester nurse with four felonies in connection with the Feb. 9 robbery of Golfview Liquor store in Winona.

A third person may yet face charges, according to Winona police investigators.

Susan Anne Leathes, 36, faces four counts of aiding an offender. The charges allege Leathes, a nurse, treated her companion, Andre Jones, after he was shot during the botched robbery, and that she lied about it to Winona Police investigators.

According to a criminal complaint, the 37-year-old man was shot with a .38 caliber handgun by a Golfview clerk after he grabbed the clerk by the collar, demanding money and threatening to shoot the clerk. Jones was arrested two days later in Rochester and taken to the hospital with a gunshot wound in his back.

Winona County Attorney Chuck MacLean said Leathes repeatedly lied to Winona police on the day after the robbery and told them she did not notice that Jones had been hurt.

Jones, who was released in July after serving more than 10 years in federal prison for robbing a bank, faces six felony charges in connection with the Golfview robbery. The most serious carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

Two of the charges against Leathes carry a maximum possible sentence of one-half that faced by the offender she is accused of aiding. The others carry three-year maximum sentences.

The original report indicated uncertainty whether the perpetrator was actually shot.

From the Winona Daily News of March 30, 2007

No charges against liquor store owner

A grand jury declined to indict the owner of the Golfview Liquor store Thursday for shooting a man trying to rob his store in February.

Meanwhile, the man accused of robbing the store was in court as prosecutors sought permission to examine him for the bullet they say would tie him to the holdup.

The grand jury, which convened Tuesday, determined there was insufficient evidence to charge William Michael Ahrens, 60, with any crime in the Feb. 9 incident in which he shot a robber with one round from a .38 pistol he kept behind the counter.

Andre Dion Jones, 37, of Rochester was arrested Feb. 11 and remains in the Winona County Jail on six felony charges of robbery and attempted robbery of the store.

According to prosecutors, Jones was shot once in the back after he grabbed Ahrens, demanded money and threatened to shoot him. After his arrest, he was treated at St. Marys Hospital, where he told a doctor, in earshot of police, that he was shot in Winona.

Jones appeared Thursday afternoon in Winona County District Court, where Winona County Attorney Chuck MacLean asked permission to X-ray Jones’ back in search of the bullet.

When Jones was arrested in Rochester two days after the incident, he asked to go to a hospital, according to the criminal complaint. Doctors discovered a bullet his lower back and opted not to remove it.

Jones’ public defender, Ross Phelps, argued that officers took Jones to the hospital even though he didn’t ask to go and had him examined without his consent or a warrant. Phelps argued that MacLean’s request is connected to that search and should be denied.

Phelps also argued that evidence indicated the robber was facing Ahrens when he was shot, while Jones’ gunshot wound was to his back.

District Judge Mary Leahy, who heard the request, said she would issue a decision in the coming weeks.

Prosecutors hope to discover a .38 slug in Jones that matches Ahren’s gun, which would place Jones at the scene.

Prosecutors have also charged Jones’ girlfriend and a man who allegedly drove Jones to and from the store with aiding the robbery, and MacLean said Thursday that both may be called to testify.

An evidence hearing has been scheduled for May.

Jones, who previously has been convicted of bank robbery, could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted of the most serious charge.