Crime & Safety
SLP Police Arrest Man for Car Theft, Drug Possession
Police say Shinny Thao stole a car in St. Louis Park and that he had methamphetamine in the car when he was arrested.
A Brooklyn Park man has been charged with stealing a car in St. Louis Park and having methamphetamine in the vehicle when he was arrested.
Shinny Thao, 22, is charged with two felonies: car theft and fifth-degree drug possession, each of which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
According to the criminal complaint, compiled by St. Louis Park Police Officer Aaron Balvin, a St. Louis Park man reported that his Honda Civic was stolen on April 6.
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Shortly after the report was taken, St. Louis Park police found the car near Park Place Boulevard and Cedar Lake Road.
Officers arrested the driver, identified as Thao. A subsequent search of the car turned up a punched ignition, a screwdriver, a glass pipe and a bag of suspected methamphetamine.
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The drug was tested and turned out to be .3 grams of methamphetamine.
Thao’s criminal record includes a conviction for theft in 2007, when he was 17, and a conviction for car theft in 2009. He was sentenced to five years’ probation in that case, which was still in effect when he was arrested April 6.
Thao is free on his promise to make all future court appearances. An omnibus hearing in his case is scheduled for May 10 in Hennepin County District Court.
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