Serial Burglar Targeting West Metro

Edina police are linking a string of recent burglaries in that city with similar crimes in Minnetonka and Plymouth. They are urging local residents to be on the lookout for a man believed to have stolen more than $100,000 in jewelry from several area homes.

Today, Minnetonka Police Captain Scott Boerboom confirmed that over the last two months, Minnetonka has seen a half-dozen incidents, which do appear to have similarities to the Edina burglaries. 

"It could be the same thief," Boerboom said, also telling Patch that Minnetonka detectives are working with detectives from Plymouth and Edina to investigate the cases.

According to Edina police, the suspect is described as a white male in his 40s, with dark hair and a receding hairline. He has been observed driving two separate vehicles during the burglaries—a red pickup truck with a black topper and a brown sedan.

Edina police said the burgled homes in that city—located in the city’s northwest corner, near the Minnetonka border—were broken into during the day likely using a crowbar, with the suspect cutting phone lines on two of the residences. During the most recent burglary, which took place Tuesday, May 10, a female homeowner surprised the suspect in her front hall and scared him away.

The burglar in those cases, according to Edina police, appeared to have been looking solely for jewelry, bypassing other valuables in the process. However Minnetonka’s Cpt. Boerboom said that in the Minnetonka cases, other items, such as electronics and cash, were also stolen.

Edina Police Detective Dave Carlson said that he suspects the person responsible for the burglaries to be a repeat offender.

"It's more common with older burglaries to see cut phone lines...Before we had cell phones they'd cut phone lines and that'd disable an alarm system, but with cellular backups it doesn't accomplish much," Carlson said.  "Burglaries stop, they get out of prison and get back to it, we put them back in prison and the cycle begins anew."

Carlson also said the suspect likes to ring the doorbell at a residence to see if anyone is home before attempting to force his way in, reporting one of the burglaries actually happened several hours after he initially cut the phone line.

"We got the alarm and went there to see nothing had been stolen, then he came back two hours later and broke in," Carlson said.