A St. Paul homeowner was arrested after shooting and wounding a 20-year-old man in his yard suspected of crashing a stolen car nearby on Tuesday morning, police said.
Police brought Vincent N. Trotter, 36, in for questioning about what led to the shooting at approximately 10 a.m. in the Payne-Phalen area. He was booked into the Ramsey County jail on suspicion of aggravated assault at 6:35 p.m. Tuesday.
His arrest was based on evidence and information uncovered by investigators, in consultation with the Ramsey County attorney’s office, according to police.
Trotter has a permit to carry, a nephew said earlier in the day. He said he believes his uncle would have been protecting his wife and their baby.
A sign visible in the home’s front window on Cook Avenue, off Payne Avenue, says, “No Trespassing,” and “Violators will be shot. Survivors will be shot again!”
Jalik Combs was shot three times — in the buttocks, forearm and legs, according to his mother, Artesa Wheatley, who lives on the same block and said she heard five shots. She said she doesn’t know Trotter.
Combs was treated at Regions Hospital and booked into the Ramsey County jail Tuesday on two counts of suspicion of auto theft.
Wheatley said she talked to her son by phone and he told her the man asked him, “Did you see the sign that said ‘No trespassing’?” and told him to get away from his house.
Combs told Trotter he was leaving and started to, but he was shot, according to Wheatley.
“I understand that’s your property, I understand people not wanting people trespassing on their property and I could see if (Combs) tried to come fight you or something, but my son didn’t have any type of weapon,” Wheatley said.
Minnesota court records about Trotter show traffic and parking violations, but not criminal offenses. A relative declined comment after his arrest.
POLICE TRIED TO PULL CAR OVER
Officers on patrol about 10 a.m. Tuesday spotted a stolen car in the area of Forest Street and Case Avenue. When police turned around to stop the vehicle, the driver sped away, said Sgt. Mike Ernster, a St. Paul police spokesman.
“The vehicle was driving alleyways and side streets very recklessly, to the point where officers lost sight of it due to its speed as it accelerated away from them,” Ernster said.
Soon after, police were notified of a two-vehicle crash at Payne and Jenks avenues, about half a mile from where they last saw the car. The collision involved the stolen car.
Police were told multiple people ran from the car into the surrounding neighborhood. Officers converged on the area and started to set up a perimeter to search for the people who fled. They then heard several gunshots, Ernster said.
Officers discovered Combs in the yard of a home in the 600 block of Cook Avenue.
Another man, armed with a handgun and identified as the homeowner, was found with Combs, Ernster said.
Trotter turned his gun over to police.
WITNESSES HEARD CRASH, THEN SHOTS
A man who witnessed the crash said he saw a brown car heading west on Jenks Avenue and thought to himself, “This car isn’t going to be able to stop.” The car struck — with great force — a blue car that was traveling on Payne Avenue.
The car that was hit “was an innocent party who had been driving down Payne when the stolen vehicle most likely tried to speed through the intersection, striking it.”
Police said no one was injured in the crash.
The driver of the brown car maneuvered it all the way around and tried to drive away, but was unable to, according to the witness, who didn’t give his name. That’s when people in the car took off running.
Police said the other people in the car had not been found as of Tuesday afternoon.
The 2002 Honda Civic was stolen at 3:15 p.m. Friday from the Holiday gas station at Minnehaha Avenue and Birmingham Street. The owner left it running, went in the store and found it missing when he returned, according to police.
Combs was also wanted by St. Paul investigators in connection to a separate auto theft investigation, Ernster said.
In another case, Combs was charged in December with auto theft and is scheduled to be sentenced next Tuesday.
Combs pleaded guilty in October to burglary and motor vehicle tampering. He was sentenced earlier in October in another auto theft and for possessing ammunition, which he is barred from having because of a juvenile robbery case.
Combs’ mother said he has been diagnosed with mental illness and she has tried to get him help, including through the courts, but has only hit dead-ends.
“It’s been a lose-lose situation for everyone,” Wheatley said.
