A complaint filed in Ramsey County District Court on September 25 accuses 24-year-old Jalen Davon Howard of attacking a man at a Maplewood gas station, firing a shot at him and taking his belongings with two other men. Howard was arrested two days earlier during a Highway 61 traffic stop after investigators tracked his phone to an apartment near the scene. He faces six felony charges.
According to charging documents detailed by MN Crime, Maplewood police responded to a shots-fired call at the Holiday gas station at 10:39 p.m. on September 17. The victim later called 911 from his Saint Paul home, and an officer found him bleeding from a head wound. He told investigators Howard approached him, called him a snitch, pulled him aside and threatened to kill him while holding a black Glock-style handgun.
Rifle-Wielding Accomplices Join the Attack
The complaint says two other men joined the confrontation, one carrying a black AR-style rifle. Howard allegedly struck the victim in the left cheek with his pistol, causing a deep, bleeding gash. The man with the rifle allegedly tried to hit the victim with it and threatened to shoot him. Howard then allegedly fired at the victim, missing.
Howard and the man with the rifle are accused of taking the victim's bags and a folding knife before all three fled east toward nearby townhomes. The victim was taken to Regions Hospital for treatment. Two gas station employees told investigators they heard the gunfire and locked the doors, leaving the victim outside, the report states.
Phone Tracking Leads to Highway Stop
Investigators found a discharged 9mm casing and blood spatter near the carwash. On the morning of September 23, they tracked Howard's phone to an apartment near the gas station and watched him get into a car with three other people before stopping the vehicle on Highway 61. Police arrested Howard and recovered .22-caliber ammunition, cocaine and his phone from the car. The ammunition caliber differs from the 9mm casing found at the scene. Howard declined a formal interview with investigators.
The two other men who fled the scene, including the one armed with the rifle, remain unidentified in the initial charging documents, leaving open whether further arrests or a superseding indictment are still to come.
Six Felony Counts, Decades of Potential Exposure
Howard faces two counts of first-degree aggravated robbery, two counts of tampering with a witness, one count of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon, and one count of making threats of violence. Under Minnesota Statute § 609.245, first-degree aggravated robbery carries a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $35,000 fine, and applies when a robbery involves a dangerous weapon or bodily harm.
The witness tampering counts, tied to accusations that Howard called the victim a snitch, fall under Minnesota Statute § 609.498, which sets a maximum of five years and a $10,000 fine when force or threats of force are used to dissuade or retaliate against a witness. The remaining charges are second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and making threats of violence. Howard faces six felony counts.
Case Moves to Ramsey County Court
Felony cases originating in Maplewood are prosecuted by the Ramsey County Attorney's Office and adjudicated in the state's Second Judicial District at the downtown St. Paul courthouse. Felony defendants held in county custody are typically processed through the Ramsey County Adult Detention Center near that courthouse. The Maplewood Police Department, which serves a suburb of roughly 40,000 residents bordering Saint Paul, operates with 54 licensed peace officers out of headquarters on County Road B East.
This marks the latest in a string of violent crime cases Maplewood police have investigated in recent months. In late August, officers investigated another violent home assault after a 25-year-old man was accused of beating a resident with a flashlight after climbing through an apartment window. Earlier that month, Ramsey County prosecutors charged a 20-year-old man following reported encounters in Maplewood's Harvest Park and Keller Regional Park.
What the countywide robbery data show
For broader context, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension’s 2025 Uniform Crime Report lists 468 robberies in Ramsey County in 2024 and 346 in 2025, a 26.07% decrease. Those county totals do not specify Maplewood incidents, gas-station robberies or weapon details, and the cited figures do not provide a multi-year count of aggravated assaults in Maplewood.
All charges against Howard remain allegations at this stage of the case, and he has not been convicted of any crime. The complaint has yet to be tested in the Second Judicial District Court, where the case will proceed following his arrest and initial appearance.
