A spree of brazen robberies across the Twin Cities has ended with a guilty plea from a local man. Twenty-eight-year-old Mohamed Zaki Mohamed Elsayed has admitted to hitting up a total of five gas stations in the area, pocketing cash with a combination of force and fear. The U.S. Department of Justice reported Elsayed's guilty plea, which took place before U.S. District Court Judge David S. Dot; a sentencing date will be set soon.
Per the court documents, the rogue wave of crime began on June 26, 2023, when Elsayed and an accomplice struck a Mounds View gas station. With a supposedly semiautomatic pistol in hand, Elsayed's partner in crime demanded cash from a terrified cashier, ultimately absconding with $354. Elsayed, who was said to be waiting in the getaway vehicle, graduated to sole performer for the subsequent four robberies, wielding a realistic-looking Glock replica airsoft handgun in each heist.
The string of thefts continued unabated until July 11, 2023, with Elsayed targeting gas stations in Roseville, New Brighton, Fridley, and Eagan. In a coordinated law enforcement effort, police descended upon Elsayed’s residence on July 13, seizing the replica firearm and extracting a confession about its use in the crimes. The investigation was a joint maneuver featuring the Mounds View, Roseville, New Brighton, Fridley, and Eagan Police Departments, alongside FBI agents.
Elsayed's admission in court related to five counts of Hobbs Act robbery, which involves crossing state lines or using channels of interstate commerce to commit theft - indicating a potentially severe sentence on the horizon. The tireless work of local law enforcement and the FBI was crucial in bringing the spree to an end, noted Assistant U.S. Attorney Evan B. Gilead, who is prosecuting the case.
