A Ponsford man has been sentenced to prison for mugging a woman in Detroit Lakes.
Derek Dwayne Croud, 20, of 288770 County Road 129, Ponsford was sentenced Monday to 33 months in prison for felony robbery.
According to court records:
On Feb. 5 at about 9:40 p.m. Croud robbed a woman who had just left Central Market -- throwing her to the ground and stealing her purse, then running off towards the railroad tracks. Several witnesses saw it happen, including one who knew Croud and identified him.
Police found the woman's purse near the residence where Croud was arrested. Store surveillance video also showed him in the store at about the same time as the robbery. He has several prior felony convictions, including two for car theft, and a lengthy juvenile record.
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District Judge Peter Irvine sentenced him to 33 months in prison, with credit for jail time served since Feb. 5.
He was fined $50 plus court fees, to be taken from prison earnings. He was ordered to have no contact with the victim, other than to write a letter of apology, if he so chooses, to be reviewed by his parole officer and the county attorney's office and forwarded on by them.
In a letter to Croud, the woman said she suffers from anxiety and concerns about being out at night, and from leg numbness and back pain from the robbery -- medical issues she never had treated because she has three children in college and did not want to run up big medical bills.
She nevertheless told Croud that she forgives him and hopes he will be able to turn his life around, because her god "believes in second chances."
