Minneapolis man facing 8 separate theft charges arrested during retail theft crackdown in Roseville
Police arrested nearly three dozen people last week in the north Twin Cities metro during a crackdown on retail theft in the area, including a man facing eight other theft-related charges.
The Roseville Police Department says 24 retailers participated in the initiative to "tackle the rising trend of organized retail crime." Many of the businesses brought in extra staff and additional loss prevention personnel to help.
Officers recovered thousands of dollars in stolen merchandise and arrested a total of 29 people — three were arrested for organized crime, five had active warrants and seven were arrested for felony or misdemeanor thefts.
One of the suspects, a 21-year-old Minneapolis man, is accused of committing at least eight different thefts across the Twin Cities metro, totalling tens of thousands of dollars. At the time of his arrest, court documents say the man had pending trials for multiple theft charges in Hennepin, Dakota, Washington, Ramsey and Olmsted counties.
Police arrested him and two others, his sister and his girlfriend, at the Roseville Home Goods store on Wednesday. The items they attempted to steal totaled nearly $500, according to a criminal complaint.
Charges say after the man and his girlfriend allegedly stole from a Best Buy store in Oakdale last October, staff told police the two had stolen over $50,000 worth of merchandise from Best Buy stores in the area during the previous eight months.
Court documents from Olmsted County allege the man told police he and his girlfriend "steal whatever they like," while she allegedly said she steals "because it's fun and she gets to keep what she steals as she cannot afford to buy things for herself."
The man has prior felony convictions for receiving stolen property and a prior adjudication for first-degree robbery. A warrant was issued for his arrest at the beginning of March due to a probation violation.
The man is being held on a $200,000 bond. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison.
