One admits to armed robbery in Chanhassen

By Forrest Adams

Two men have been charged in connection with armed robberies at gasoline stations in Waconia and Chanhassen in the past month.

Tyler James Burton Funk, 23, from Shakopee, and Phillip Lee Graunke,
20, of Prior Lake, were being held at the Carver County Jail and are
scheduled to appear in Carver County District Court Aug. 21.

According to a release from Carver County Attorney Jim
Keeler, both men were arrested Aug. 15 in Waconia after a Kwik Trip
station had been robbed. They were charged on Aug. 19 for the Waconia
robbery. Funk has also been charged in connection with the July 30
armed robbery of the Holiday store at 2960 82nd Street in Chanhassen.

Chanhassen robbery

The criminal complaint against Funk states that in the Holiday
station robbery he “entered the store, approached a counter, lifted his
shirt and displayed a large, black semi-automatic handgun in the
waistband of his shorts.”

He allegedly told the clerk: “Give me all of your money… or you know what will happen.”

“It’s not you. It’s the economy,” he reportedly said.

After the clerk put $324 in cash in a plastic Holiday bag, Funk
allegedly ordered the clerk to stop and give him all of the cartons of
Newport and Marlboro cigarettes. The clerk reportedly told Funk the
store did not carry Newports and only had four cartons of Marlboros.
Funk took the Marlboros. The total loss to the store equaled $532.

A video-surveillance recording from the store
allegedly shows Funk wearing a green camouflage fisherman hat, a dark
or black, long-sleeved shirt, a white undershirt and green camouflage
shorts. The video shows the man walking to the clerk’s counter,
displaying the gun by lifting up his shirt, collecting cash and
cigarettes and then leaving the store. Video surveillance from a repair
shop near the Holiday station shows a man getting into the passenger
seat of a red, mid-sized, four-door sedan before leaving.

According to the news release from Keeler, Funk was
connected to the Holiday station robbery through anonymous tips and
identifying him through the surveillance videos. On Aug. 1 and 5,
Carver County dispatch and detectives received anonymous calls
identifying Funk. On Aug. 6, Carver County Sheriff’s detectives showed
the video surveillance recording from the repair shop to Funk’s mother.
She positively identified him as the robber and started to cry,
according to the complaint. On Aug. 7 the Sheriff’s Office received a
visit from another individual who identified Funk.

When he was arrested in connection with the Kwik Trip
robbery, Funk admitted that he committed the armed robbery at the
Holiday gas station. He claimed that he wanted a cigarette, and the
robbery just happened, according to the criminal complaint against him.
He said he usually carried a handgun in his waistband for protection
and intimidation of Asian gang members and the “voices I hear.” He
described the gun he carries to deputies as a .22 pellet gun that he
had buried in the ditch near where deputies found him.

Waconia Robbery

At 6:38 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 15, the Sheriff’s dispatch center
received a 9-1-1 call reporting an armed robbery had just occurred at
the Kwik Trip gas station (809 Vista Blvd.) in Waconia. The caller
stated a man had displayed a hand gun, robbed the cashier and fled in a
small black car.

A sergeant responding to the call reportedly observed
a vehicle matching the description of the robbery vehicle turn into a
farm drive in the 10000 block of Highway 284 south of Waconia. The
sergeant pursued the car onto a field road and reportedly observed two
men run from the vehicle into a wooded area. Responding deputies
surrounded the area and called for assistance. After an extensive
search they located Funk and Graunke and arrested them on suspicion of
armed robbery.

Carver County Sheriff’s Emergency Response Team and
K-9 were assisted by the Minnesota State Patrol, Minnesota BCA, and
K-9’s from the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office and the city of Jordan
Police Department. 

Funk and Graunke had reportedly smoked methamphetamine
at a bon-fire in Chaska the night before the robbery. Graunke told
deputies he didn’t want to rob the store but was afraid because Funk
threatened to kill Graunke’s mother, girlfriend and son if he didn’t.

 Charges

In connection with the Waconia Kwik Trip robbery,
Graunke was charged with aggravated robbery in the first degree, which
carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and/or a $35,000 fine.
He was also charged with simple robbery, which holds a maximum penalty
of 10 years and/or a $20,000 fine; and motor vehicle theft, which holds
a penalty of 5 years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine. All three are
felonies. Graunke’s bond was set at $200,000 and cash bail at $20,000.

The vehicle Graunke and Funk allegedly drove away from
the robbery was reported stolen from Cologne, hence the motor vehicle
theft charge, said Carver County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Bob
VanDenBroeke.

Funk was also charged with aggravated robbery in the
first degree. He was further charged with receiving stolen property,
which carries a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison and/or a $10,000
fine; and possessing a pistol/ assault weapon after conviction of
delinquency for a crime of violence, which carries a maximum penalty of
15 years in prison and/or a $30,000 fine. A fourth charge against Funk
is possession of a pistol with a previous felony conviction, a gross
misdemeanor, which carries a maximum penalty of one year in jail and/or
a $3,000 fine. Funk’s bond was set at $250,000 and cash bail at
$25,000.

Funk was convicted in 2005 of burglary in the third
degree, designated as a violent crime, hence the felony possession of a
pistol charge. He was convicted in 2006 of check forgery, a
felony-level crime but not considered a violent crime, hence the
misdemeanor possession of a pistol charge. 

In connection with the Chanhassen Holiday station robbery, Funk has
been charged with aggravated robbery in the first degree, simple
robbery and the same two pistol crimes he was charged with in the
Waconia robbery.

Readers can contact Forrest Adams at fadams@swpub.com.