Criminal Record Of Charles Means, 21, Who Died At 2600 Block Of Penn Ave. N.

Photo and blog post by John Hoff

The 2600 block of Penn Ave. N. is one of the roughest areas in North Minneapolis, partially because of the situation with the Penn Gas Stop "inconvenience store" which has served as a "thug sanctuary" for many years. So nobody was surprised when 21-year-old Charles Means ended up dead of multiple gunshot wounds in an alley next to a vacant lot on the "2600 block," on the evening of National Night Out.

I have some experience with that vacant lot. It was the location of the first house I ever looked at in North Minneapolis when I set out to find a home. I always thought of it as the "skanky red thong" house because of an item left on the kitchen counter. Now a vacant lot marks the spot. Even with no run-down, decrepit structure at the location, trouble still finds its way there.

The photo above documents the profusion of candles and (of course) whiskey bottles which inevitably mark these shooting memorials and, it should be noted, say much about the lifestyle of these victims of gun violence. None of the media accounts I have read reveal the criminal record of Charles Means, age 21. It is left to the blogosphere to fill in these sordid details...

Charles Means was identified in the mainstream media as 21 years old. Therefore, he appears to be the very same Charles Anthony Means who is identified in online court records as having a birthday of 8/28/88. Means was, it appears, just short of being 22 years old when he died. He had a laundry list of criminal charges, and that laundry list was as follows:

27-CR-06-072021
MEANS, CHARLES ANTHONY
08/28/1988
10/19/2006
Hennepin Criminal/Traffic/Petty Downtown
Crim/Traf Mandatory
Closed
PROHIBITED PERSON IN POSSESSION OF A FIREARM
FLEEING A PEACE OFFICER IN MOTOR VEHICLE


27-CR-07-013413
MEANS, CHARLES ANTHONY
08/28/1988
03/01/2007
Hennepin Criminal/Traffic/Petty Downtown
Crim/Traf Mandatory
Under Court Jurisdiction
BURGLARY FIRST DEGREE
BURGLARY FIRST DEGREE
BURGLARY FIRST DEGREE
PROHIBITED PERSON IN POSSESSION OF A FIREARM
PROHIBITED PERSON IN POSSESSION OF A FIREARM

27-CR-07-013569
MEANS, CHARLES ANTHONY
08/28/1988
03/01/2007
Hennepin Criminal/Traffic/Petty Downtown
Crim/Traf Mandatory
Closed
DOMESTIC ASSAULT-HARM
DOMESTIC ASSAULT-FEAR
DISORDERLY CONDUCT

This appears to be a textbook case of the Biblical admonition "he who lives by the sword shall die by the sword." Charles Means' death is unfortunate, and clearly there are those who loved him who are in mourning. There is, however, not a single surprising aspect to his death. It was, in fact, predicted more than 2,000 years ago. The only question is:

HOW ARE WE GOING TO CLEAN UP THE 2600 BLOCK OF PENN AVENUE NORTH?