At around 3:50 p.m. on January 13th, police were dispatched to the Rushmore Mall for a robbery that had just occurred at Knifeworx. Officers made entrance to the mall and worked with mall security to secure the other storefronts as police worked to investigate the robbery. Officers entered Knifeworx and searched for the suspect. No one was located in the store. Police were then informed that the store employee had fled the store during the robbery and called police from a different storefront in the mall. After making contact with the store employee, police determined that an unknown male subject entered Knifeworx, brandished a handgun, and demanded money from the employee. The employee complied before fleeing the store. It’s believed the suspect exited out the store’s rear entrance before he fled the scene. A review of surveillance video showed the suspect entering a white Volkswagen passenger car before the vehicle fled the area.
On January 14th, at around 1:20 p.m., officers spotted the white Volkswagen parked in the area of 620 Latrobe Avenue. Police made contact with the occupants of a hotel room associated with the vehicle. One of the occupants was identified as 31-year-old Matthew Sullivan of Rapid City. Sullivan agreed to speak to detectives about the robbery incident. After speaking with detectives, it was determined that Sullivan drove the robbery suspect, identified as 19-year-old Daniel Kline of Rapid City, to 2200 Maple Avenue prior to the robbery. Sullivan then drove Kline away from the scene after the robbery. A search of the vehicle turned up an airsoft pistol matching the description of the firearm used in the robbery, as well as a bandana that matched the one the suspect was wearing in surveillance photos. A review of Sullivan’s ankle monitoring system corroborated this information. Sullivan has since been placed under arrest for Accessory to First Degree Robbery, a Parole Hold, Failure to Register New Address (Sex Offender), and Failure to Update Employer (Sex Offender).
Information gained in the investigation indicated that there was a high likelihood Kline had ties to a residence in the 700 block of Saint Cloud Street. With this information, police requested and attained a search warrant for the residence.
Knowing that Kline has a propensity for violence and could be potentially armed, the decision was made to use the Pennington County/Rapid City Special Response Team to help serve the warrant. At around 8:00 p.m., the Special Response Team arrived at the residence and began communicating with occupants of the residence using a loud speaker. The occupants of the residence were safely escorted out of the house, and police learned that Kline was the sole occupant left inside the residence. After repeated commands to surrender, Kline indicated to law enforcement he intended to set the house on fire. Fire units were staged in the area, and law enforcement started to see smoke coming from inside the residence. A short time later, Kline exited the residence and surrendered to law enforcement. He was taken into custody safely, and the fire units were allowed to begin work to extinguish the fire in the home’s attic. Kline was placed under Arrest for First Degree Robbery, and First Degree Arson.
The Rapid City Fire Department was able to extinguish the fire, and detectives worked through the remainder to the evening to continue investigating this case. This remains an open and active investigation.
