Plea Deal For Rochester Man Charged With Park Towers Shooting
Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - A plea hearing has been scheduled next month to finalize a plea agreement reached with the man responsible for a shooting inside a downtown Rochester apartment complex last fall.
61-year-old Robin Lawrence Helmeuller was charged with two counts of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon after Rochester police responded to a report of a shooting in the manager's office at Park Towers Apartments on October 20. The responding officers found the manager of the apartments had been shot in the arm and another employee had been struck on the head.
According to the criminal complaint, they also found Helmueller being restrained by the victims and two other people. The charges allege Helmueller pulled a handgun out of a backpack and fired the weapon at the apartment manager after he was told he would have to pay for some property damage to another tenant's apartment.
READ MORE: Rochester PD: False Break-in Accusations Led up to Downtown Apartment Shooting.
The court document says another woman working in the office heard the gunshot and the manager screaming and went to investigate. Both women told investigators they tried to restrain Helmueller and take away the gun, but he responded by striking the second woman on the head with the handle of the firearm.
The criminal indicates that two other women then joined the altercation and the four of them were able to wrestle Helmueller to the ground and take the gun away from him. The 51-year-old apartment manager was taken to a hospital to be treated for the non-life-threatening gunshot wound.
The police report on the incident says Helmueller suspected a neighbor was stealing from him and damaged the door and lock at the entrance to the neighbor's apartment when he tried to break into the residence the night before the shooting. Rochester police reported that his claims against the neighbor were unsubstantiated.
He has now filed a petition to enter a guilty plea in Olmsted County Court. According to the document, Helmueller has agreed to enter a guilty plea to one count of second-degree assault in exchange for the dismissal of the other count of the same charge. The petition does not include a sentencing recommendation.
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