ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Fargo police apprehend suspect in three-day robbery spree

Police suspect Hunter David Havisto robbed a payday loan business, two convenience stores and the 13th Avenue Walmart

061121.N.FF.ROBBERY.jpg
Police responded to the Mister Money location at 1404 33rd Street South in Fargo after an attempted robbery on Thursday, June 10, 2021. An employee shot at the would-be robber who then fled the area in a stolen car. David Samson / The Forum

FARGO — A 21-year-old man suspected of four robberies — at least three armed — this week in Fargo is in custody.

Hunter David Havisto is suspected of a noontime robbery Thursday, June 10, at the Mister Money payday lending store and pawnshop, a late Wednesday afternoon robbery at the Main Avenue M&H convenience store and robberies Tuesday at the Walmart on 13th Avenue South and a Casey's General Store in south Fargo.

The final chase began after the robbery at Mister Money on 33rd Street South near the Cash Wise Foods grocery store when police say Havisto fled in a stolen vehicle after escaping with an undisclosed amount of money and pointing a handgun in the face of one of the employees.

Police initially reported the crime as an attempted robbery.

ADVERTISEMENT

Mugshot of Hunter Havisto
Hunter Havisto

Dash camera video obtained by WDAY News shows the suspect running out of the front of the store and driving away in a vehicle. The employee then emerges from the store entrance and appears to fire a handgun at the vehicle as it drives away.

The Fargo Police Department is still investigating the four robberies and reviewing the pawn employee's use of a firearm, Sgt. Michael Bernier said Thursday night.

Around 2 p.m. police found the vehicle Havisto allegedly stole abandoned in the area of Sixth Avenue South and 23rd Street. Havisto is accused of stealing the vehicle from a Kum & Go convenience store on 13th Avenue South before the Mister Money robbery.

About one hour later, police reported that they had located Havisto in a smaller apartment building at 2121 Ninth Avenue S., just east of 23rd Street. A friend or family member of Havisto's reportedly lived in the building, Bernier said.

ADVERTISEMENT

IMG_0552.jpg
Police respond to Mister Money on 33rd Street South after an attempted robbery Thursday afternoon, June 10. An employee shot at the would-be robber who then fled the area in a stolen car, police said. Tanner Robinson / WDAY

Police surrounded the building and within minutes were able to persuade Havisto to surrender, Bernier said.

Havisto was uninjured but was taken for a medical checkup and then to the Cass County Jail, ending the apparent three-day crime spree, Bernier said.

While Havisto allegedly robbed two businesses on Tuesday, police ramped up their search for him Wednesday after the M&H robbery. Soon after the robbery, officers formed a search perimeter south of the store. Shortly after the search began, police released a photo of the suspect from inside M&H, where he was seen pointing a handgun at the clerk.

198931079_10159174142733334_6056521103467452254_n.jpg
Security camera photo of the person police suspect robbed the M&H convenience store on Main Avenue in Fargo Wednesday afternoon, June 9, 2021. Photo provided by Fargo Police Department.

Police searched an area south of 13th Avenue in the evening and investigated a home later in the night but did not find Havisto until the next day after the fourth robbery.

Havisto was in custody at the Cass County Jail Thursday night but had not been formally charged yet.

ADVERTISEMENT

Pawn and loan shop robbery

Mister Money store owner Daryn Kapaun said in an interview after Havisto's arrest that the employee who shot at the fleeing vehicle was not trying to shoot the suspect but instead was trying to make the vehicle more noticeable to police.

The employee shot a few rounds at a distance of about a car-length away just outside the door of the business, Kapaun said.

"There was no intent to shoot the suspect at all," he said, adding that all his employees have concealed weapon permits and are proficient shooters who have trained at local gun ranges.

Thursday's robbery was the third armed robbery at the business in the 23 years it has been in operation in Fargo, according to Kapaun, who also has a store in Jamestown.

While the "adrenaline was certainly flowing" with his employees after a "gun was pointed in their face," Kapaun said he was more worried about the police.

"This guy (Havisto) didn't seem like he was the type who was going to give up," Kaupaun said. "Thank goodness no one got hurt."

ADVERTISEMENT

What To Read Next
Get Local

ADVERTISEMENT