Charge: Maplewood store clerk's daughter, 8, hits armed robber with baseball bat

A St. Paul man accused of attempting to rob a Maplewood liquor store over the weekend took several blows from a baseball bat wielded by the store clerk's 8-year-old daughter, court documents show.

Prosecutors in Ramsey County have charged 37-year-old Conchobhar Joseph Morrell with one count of 1st-degree attempted aggravated robbery in connection with the incident Saturday night at Big Discount Liquors on White Bear Avenue North.

The thwarted robbery has drawn national media attention thanks to the swift action of the store clerk's 8-year-old daughter who, according to the criminal complaint, hit Morrell several times with a baseball bat as her father wrestled over Morrell's replica firearm.

The weapon was later found to be a BB gun designed to look like a Sig Sauer .45-caliber handgun.

According to court documents, the store employee called police around 9:30 p.m. to report an armed robbery.

The employee told officers that a customer brought a bottle of liquor to the counter, placed what appeared to be a firearm beside it and told him to hand over "everything", referring to money in the cash register, the charge states.

The employee said he told the robber he'd comply, but asked the man to put the gun away because his daughter was present.

That's when the suspect, later identified as Morrell, allegedly came behind the counter to rob the cash register.

The employee told investigators he feared for his daughter's safety and grabbed the gun from the man, punching the man several times as he did. Morrell then allegedly fled on foot.

According to the complaint, surveillance footage from the store corroborated the employee's account of the attempted robbery.

The footage also shows the store clerk's daughter strike Morrell several times with a baseball bat as Morrell and the clerk struggled over the weapon.

Morrell was wearing a blue Amazon Prime vest at the time of the incident, the charge states.

Police located Morrell walking north of the store. He resisted officers' commands but was eventually detained, the charge states. He had a fresh, bloody wound beneath his left eye and dried blood on his lips, but was no longer wearing the Amazon vest, sweatshirt or hat seen in the surveillance footage.

According to the charge, police recovered the clothing items in Morrell's vehicle, which was parked in the area. Morrell's cell phone also fell out of his pocket while he was inside the store.

In an interview with investigators, Morrell allegedly denied having been inside the liquor store and claimed that his injuries were from a fight two days ago.

Court records show Morrell has a prior first-degree aggravated robbery conviction dating back to 2004.