Blotter: Police Respond to Number of Car Break-ins, Thefts

The following incidents occurred between March 26 and March 31, and were included in the St. Louis Park Police Department's most recent weekly report, sent out on April 6. Specific details come from individual incident reports maintained by the department.

March 26- A 35-year-old male reported to police that his car was broken into overnight. The vehicle was parked in back of his house in the 6300 block of 35th Street West. The man said he believed the car was locked at the time. There were no smashed windows, but the man said it looked like someone used a tool to enter the car. Stolen were two pairs of designer glasses, valued at $700 each. No suspects have been identified.

March 26- A vehicle caught fire near the intersection of 16th Street and Jordan Avenue, but the two occupants were unharmed. They said the vehicle started to overheat while driving on Highway 169, so they pulled over and got out. The vehicle was then engulfed in flames.

March 28- Police responded to at around 1 a.m. on a report of a stolen vehicle. A 22-year-old woman said the car was running in the parking lot and unattended when it was stolen. Surveillance footage is too dark to provide useful details on a suspect. The car was recovered a day later in St. Paul, sitting unoccupied and undamaged.

March 28- A 29-year-old Appliance Smart (7350 Excelsior Boulevard) employee said two of his vehicles were broken into at his place of work. An unknown suspect or suspects pulled a locked cylinder from each vehicle to gain access. Reported stolen were several GPS units, as well as miscellaneous tools. The total value of the stolen items is roughly $2,400. There was also $600 in damage done to the vehicles.

March 28- Police responded to a report of a stolen vehicle in 2800 block of Nevada Avenue. The owner, a 32-year-old male, said the car was unlocked but that he had all the keys. The vehicle was spotted a few days later sitting just blocks away from the man’s home. It apparently had been rummaged through away from the owner’s view, but nothing was reported stolen. No suspects have been identified.

March 29- Police responded to a reported burglary in the 2200 block of Kentucky Lane. A 27-year-old woman who had come over to walk the homeowner’s dog in the afternoon noticed the garage door wide open. Police discovered that a backyard gate had been broken. It then appeared that the unknown suspect or suspects used a flexible metal saw blade to pick the lock on the patio door. The suspect or suspects next rummaged through the home, stealing several undisclosed household items, and apparently left through the garage, leaving the door open.

March 30- A 24-year-old male reported that the windows of his two vehicles had been smashed while the cars were parked in the driveway of his home in the 3200 block of Florida Avenue South. Nothing was stolen, but $800 in damage was reported. No suspects have been identified. Police said the incident is similar to another “car prowl” on Georgia Avenue recently.

March 31- A 64-year-old man reported that his vehicle’s window was smashed while parked in the 7500 block of Excelsior Boulevard. It appeared as if the unknown suspect or suspects then tried to steal the radio but were unsuccessful. The total damage was roughly $700.

March 31- A 51-year-old male reported that his snowmobile trailer—containing two snowmobiles—was stolen from a parking lot in the 7000 block of Highway 7. No suspects have been identified. The trailer is valued at $2,000, while the snowmobiles are valued at a combined $6,000.

Be sure to check with St. Louis Park Patch for daily reports from the St. Louis Park Police Department.