Man pleads not guilty to robbery

Published 9:19 am Tuesday, January 25, 2011

The 21-year-old rural Albert Lea man who is charged with robbing the Lakeside Café & Creamery last June pleaded not guilty on Monday in Freeborn County District Court.

Shawn Allan Richards will be scheduled for a speedy jury trial, which his lawyer Kevin Riha estimated would take two days.

Shawn Richards

Richards faces one felony count of robbery for the alleged incident June 18, during which he reportedly walked in the back door of the Lakeside Café, walked up to the cash register, pushed away an employee and took a little more than $700, according to court documents.

Email newsletter signup

Albert Lea police and Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested Richards earlier this month after authorities matched his DNA to a women’s black nylon found with 100 feet of the eatery. It had been collected as evidence and sent to the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for analysis of trace evidence.

The robber in this instance was reportedly wearing a tan zip-up jacket with a hood and had a black nylon mask over his face.

Richards will remain in the Freeborn County jail on bail of $50,000 without conditions or $25,000 with conditions.

Retired Judge Daniel Kammeyer, who was sitting in after the retirement of Freeborn County District Court Judge John A. Chesterman last week, ordered that a bail study be done on Richards.