4 are now charged in inside job armed robbery of Hopkins grocery store that netted $45K

Federal charges now bring to four the number of people charged with the inside-job armed robbery of a Hopkins grocery that net the bandits tens of thousands of dollars from the safe.

An indictment filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis charges the co-conspirators robbery and firearms counts in connection with holding up the US Grocery and Tobacco in the 500 block of N. Blake Road on Feb. 15.

The federal case largely echoes in its details the charges and related documets filed last month in Hennepin County District Court against the two primary defendants, Darius C. Elam, 29, of St. Paul, and Ryan M. Elam, 28, of Brooklyn Center.

Newly implicated by the U.S. Attorney's Office are two women from Hopkins. Kynesha J. Jones, 33, is accused of providing the Elams information about the store's layout and how the money was handled. Katrice R. Sanders, 31, allegedly helped plan the heist and owned the getaway vehicle.

The Elams, who Hopkins police believe are cousins, remain jailed under federal custody. Jones and Sanders are free on bond on their own recognizance. Messages were left Thursday with attorneys for all four clients seeking reaction to the allegations.

According to federal and state court documents:

The entered the store about 10 p.m. brandishing semiautomatic pistols. Two employees were bound and blindfolded with duct tape. The manager, threatened with her life and pistol-whipped in the head, gave the robbers access to the safe, which was left $45,000 lighter.

The Elams took the employees' cellphones and other possessions, including the manager's gun, and fled in an SUV that police later learned was owned by Sanders.

Police and the FBI monitored Ryan Elam's jail phone calls and heard her tell her girlfriend to not talk about the robbery. The girlfriend admitted to law enforcement that the Elams, Jones and Sanders planned the robbery.

The girlfriend said the deal was for the four of them to split the stolen cash evenly. She added that Jones, who worked at the store, was spared injury during the holdup.

Upon her arrest, Jones admitted to law enforcement that she knew about the robbery beforehand. Sanders also confessed to colluding in the scheme.

The Elams were in an apartment in St. Paul on Feb. 29, when law enforcement searched the residence and found about $4,000 in various locations.