Ramsey County Man Pleads Guilty to Illegal Possession of Firearm and Carjacking Publisher: U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Minnesota Dateline: Minneapolis, Minnesota Date: 27 November 2024 Subjects: American Government , Crime Topic: Toyota Highlander

MINNEAPOLIS – A Ramsey County man has pleaded guilty to illegal possession of a firearm and carjacking, announced U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger.

According to court documents, on June 30, 2022, Ricardo Rydell Walker, Jr., 21, took a black 2021 Toyota Highlander by force and with threat of violence and bodily harm. Walker and others approached Victim A as they were walking from the vehicle to their apartment building, and tripped Victim A as they tried to escape. Walker then hit Victim A on the left side of the head with a handgun.

Six days later, on July 6, 2022, Walker was arrested in Maplewood, MN, in a stolen car, while in possession of a Springfield Hellcat 9mm. 

Walker pleaded guilty yesterday in U.S. District Court to one count of carjacking. He also admitted to aiding and abetting the 2021 carjackings of a black 2019 Volkswagen Atlas and a gray 2015 Mazda 3, and the carjacking of a gray Nissan Rogue on June 24, 2024. In each case, Walker and others used the threat of violence and intimidated the victims with firearms. 

Walker also pled guilty to one count of receipt of a firearm while under indictment for a felony. He was arraigned today in U.S. District Court by Judge Katherine M. Menendez. 

This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the St. Paul Police Department, the Minneapolis Police Department, the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, and the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from the FBI. 

Assistant U.S. Attorneys William C. Mattessich and Mary Riverso are prosecuting the case.