A robbery gone wrong in a hotel in Fargo over the weekend resulted in the stabbing death of one of the robbers.
Fargo Police were called to the AmericInn in Fargo at 2:30 am on Saturday on a report of "a male in the hallway with a firearm." They arrived to find 23 year old Jakob Dirks lying in the hallway with a stab wound to his abdomen. Deputy Police Chief Joe Anderson says Dirks had arrived with Robert Peightal, 22 to the hotel room of brothers Alan and Shawn Bear, 21 and 24 years old respectively, who were with 19 year old Jordan Plouffe.
"The investigation has shown that Dirks and Peightal arrived at the AmericInn shortly before 2:33am with intentions to commit robbery on the occupants of a hotel room, which were known to them. Dirks and Peightall pushed their way into the room and engaged in a fight with the occupants, we believe to be Alan Bear and Shawn Bear. During the incident Alan Bear stabbed Jakob Dirks with a knife, ultimately causing the fatal injury."
Anderson says Dirks was transported to a nearby emergency room where he later died of his injuries. Cass County States Attorney Birch Burdick says Alan Bear was initially arrested in connection with a murder, but further investigation shows Bear stabbed Dirks in self defense.
"In the end you take a look at the evidence as it comes in and you figure out what's happening. So like in lots of investigations, you're presented with a plate full of stuff, and then you try and figure out what you've got and you add things to it. It's a process. It was in this case too. Obviously there was a death. Arrests of Alan Bear were appropriate at that time. Today upon the information we have now, we believe it's appropriate to release him under the facts we now have."
Deputy Chief Anderson says Alan Bear has been released from custody with no charges. Peightal and Plouffe have both been charged with Conspiracy to Commit Robbery and Conspiracy to Commit Terrorizing. A number of knives and one gun were taken from the hotel room. Anderson says the investigation into the incident is ongoing.