Crime & Safety

Tool Thieves Strike Several St. Louis Park Contractors

A roundup of crimes reported to the St. Louis Park Police Jan. 15-20.

Jan. 15

During the day, unknown thieves cut the catalytic converter out of a car parked at the Metro Transit park-and-ride lot at Louisiana Ave and Interstate 494.

Jan. 16

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A real estate agent checking on a vacant property his company owned discovered $2,500 in copper piping had been torn out of the house's basement some time in the last month. The culprits seemed to have gotten in through an unlocked garage door.

Police discovered a "large mural" had been spraypainted on the back wall of a building on the 5300 block of West 35th Street. Police reminded the owner of St. Louis Park's anti-graffiti ordinance and asked the owner to remove the paint as soon as possible. 

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A 21-year old woman accused her ex-boyfriend of stealing almost $1,000 in cash from her dresser drawer while the man was house- and pet-sitting for her. The man claimed the woman owed him around $700 from loans made over the previous few days. Police advised the woman to pursue the matter through the civil courts.

Jan. 17

A thief broke into a storage unit and several laundry machines in an apartment building near the intersection of Highway 7 and Joppa Ave, causing $350 in damage and stealing over $1,000 in tools and toys. 

Jan. 18

During the lunch hour, thieves broke into a truck left in the parking lot of the Target store on West 36th Street. Nearly $1,000 in tools were stolen. 

A driver on Walker Street smashed into a car traveling southbound on Lake Street while attempting to cross the Walker Street-Lake Street intersection. The first driver blamed the intersection's design for not being able to see the car she ultimately hit. Both drivers complained of minor injuries and were checked out by paramedics.

Jan. 19

A car left overnight in the parking lot of a building on the 2600 block of Huntington Ave South was broken into. Thieves made off with the driver's company-owned laptop and her briefcase.

Jan. 20

Thieves broke into a business on the 5800 block of West 58th Street and stole a $300 Bose radio and $200 in cash from the register.

Overnight, a resident of the 1800 block of Colorado Ave South discovered an unknown man breaking into their parked car. They scared the thief off, but discovered $200 in tools, a $300 dent-out kit, and a $150 knife missing in the morning.

Police warned two men panhandling at the intersection of Highway 7 and Highway 100 to leave and to respect the city's anti-panhandling ordinances.

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