Federal prosecutors last week charged Minneapolis Police Officer Timothy Carson, an Iraq war veteran and member of the police department's SWAT team, with a count of bank robbery for allegedly holding up a Wells Fargo bank last in Apple Valley.
Carson, 28, of Rosemount, was arrested by Apple Valley police hours after the Jan. 6 robbery and remains in federal custody. He is under investigation in connection with at least 10 other robberies throughout Hennepin and Dakota counties.
Mike Fossum, head of the Minneapolis Police Department's robbery unit, said his department has submitted five cases to the Hennepin County Attorney's office to review. All of the robberies took place in the city's third precinct, or southeast quadrant, which is where Carson was stationed as an officer.
Four of the robberies involved businesses and one was a street robbery, he said.
"We're just treating him like any other criminal. We don't like to do it, but something like this, it needs to be done," Fossum said.
The Rev. Richard Ellis, pastor of the Messiah United Methodist Church in Plymouth, said Carson attended his church growing up. Ellis said he could not comment on media reports indicating that Carson's four-year-old daughter has extensive health issues.