Man Who Pointed Pellet Gun At Woodbury Cops Gets 7 Years In Prison

STILLWATER, MN — A man shot by Woodbury police after pointing a high-powered pellet gun at officers outside a Target store will serve over seven years in prison, Washington County Attorney Kevin Magnuson announced Monday.

Donald Eugene Roche, 61, pleaded guilty in July to two counts of second-degree assault and admitted in court that police "had every right" to shoot him based on his actions.

Woodbury Officer James Stoffel and Washington County Deputy Brian Krook will not be criminally charged in the incident.

Stoffel and Krook shot Roche after he pointed a pellet gun at officers, according to investigators.

The pellet gun was designed to, and did, look like a firearm, authorities said.

The manufacturer said the pellet gun has the heft of a "Saturday Night Special" and warns that its misuse may cause serious injury or death, investigators noted.

Roche also said he wanted the officers to shoot and kill him because he did not want to go back to prison, according to authorities.

April 22 incident

Roche stole a wallet from a construction site in Oakdale on the morning of April 22, police said. Roche then used the credit cards to make fraudulent purchases totaling over $3,000 at two stores in Woodbury, as well as attempted transactions of over $7,000 which were ultimately declined, according to authorities.

Woodbury officers were alerted to Roche's location by automated license plate readers, which detected that the vehicle he was driving was reported stolen, investigators said.

Officers found the stolen vehicle unoccupied in the Target parking lot just after 9:15 a.m. The steering column was damaged, police said.

When Roche returned to his vehicle after attempting fraudulent purchases inside the Target store, officers approached Roche and tried to take him into custody, according to authorities.

A struggle ensued and officers disengaged when they may have spotted a gun, investigators said. Roche retreated to his vehicle and barricaded himself inside, according to police.

Additional law enforcement, including SWAT members, arrived and negotiated with Roche for over an hour, investigators said.

Eventually, Roche exited the van with a black revolver in his hand, at which point law enforcement attempted to subdue him "with less-than-lethal and non-lethal force," according to authorities.

Roche continued to ignore repeated verbal commands to drop the gun, and instead pointed his firearm directly at officers, police said.

Police shot Roche, and he was transported to Region’s Hospital where he recovered.