Rochester Man Avoids Prison for Assault and Robbery

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - A Rochester man has been given the opportunity to avoid prison despite his earlier guilty pleas to felony assault and aggravated robbery charges.

23-year-old Yiep Lam has been placed on probation for 15 years, and during that time, he will have a stayed prison sentence hanging over his head that could be imposed on him if he doesn’t stay out of trouble. He was also sentenced to the 50 days he has already spent in jail for robbing a man after forcing the victim to withdraw cash from an ATM last September. The man was also kicked and punched during the incident, which was the source of the first-degree aggravated robbery conviction.

Lam also admitted to a third-degree assault charge connected to his arrest about a week after the robbery. In that case, he was behind the wheel of a vehicle that crashed into a building near Gage Elementary School. The vehicle belonged to a 17-year-old boy, who managed to jump into it and was fighting for control of the car after two met late in the night and Lam tried driving off in the teenager’s car.