Three Men Accused of Robbing Rochester Police Drug Informant
Rochester, MN (KROC AM News) - Three men are facing charges in an unusual drug-related case in Rochester.
They are accused of robbing a Rochester police informant.
The first incident happened Jan. 5th when the informant lined up a meeting with a man to buy drugs. The man told the informant to go to a hotel room. A short while later, two men entered the room. One was 38-year-old Richard Patten of Rochester, who pulled out a gun and demanded the $650 the informant had been given by police to buy the drugs. The other man- 50-year-old Larry Schaaf of Faribault - pulled out a knife. Patten also made the informant smoke some methamphetamine, apparently as a test to see if the person was working with police.
Three weeks later, the same informant had lined up an undercover buy with another suspected dealer, identified as 36-year-old Daniel Schmitz of Faribault. During their meeting, Patten showed up again and pointed a gun at the informant. He took the $800 the informant had been given. Officers working with the informant recognized Patten’s voice and became concerned about the informant’s safety but the person wasn’t harmed.
The three men were arraigned Wednesday. Patten’s bail was set at $500,000. Bail for the other suspects was set at $100,000.
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