People offer to help 88-year-old robbery victim

88-year-old man robbed
A surveillance camera caught the image of an alleged robbery that took place Wednesday morning at a U.S. Bank branch on Burns Ave.
St. Paul Police Department

The St. Paul Police Department has been flooded with calls from people asking to help an 88-year-old man who was robbed of $300 while planning his wife's memorial service.

The robbery happened early Wednesday at a U.S. Bank branch on Burns Avenue. The man withdrew five $100 bills, and as he was stuffing them in envelopes at a bank table, another man swiped three of the bills and ran off.

St. Paul Police spokesman Sgt. Paul Schnell said Thursday that people read the story online Wednesday and heard about it on the evening news. Many of them responded by asking police what they could do to help.

"This was not about the money. He was in there for the specific purpose of planning for and preparing for a service related to the death of his wife, and a person came in and stole from him, without having a full sense of what this man was going through," Schnell said. "I think that's disturbing and heart-wrenching for all of us."

After reviewing surveillance video, police believe they know the suspect. He has not yet been arrested.

Police haven't identified the victim to protect his privacy. His wife died on Christmas Day.

(MPR's Tim Nelson contributed to this report.)

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