West Metro Burglars: Nabbed?

A six-week investigation involving law enforcement agencies from Minneapolis, Wayzata and St. Louis Park has led to the arrest of three men who could be responsible for a recent rash of home burglary cases in the west metro.

According to court documents, police arrested two men following a sting operation in which undercover officers purchased a Browning Citori shotgun that had been stolen during a burglary at a Wayzata home. Once taken into custody, the suspects reportedly admitted involvement in burglaries in Minnetonka, Wayzata, Plymouth and Maple Grove. They also led police to a third person believed connected to the spree.

All three men are now in police custody but have yet to be charged with any crime. According to court documents, DNA evidence will likely play a role in the case.

In the meantime, Wayzata police, one of the lead agencies in this investigation, today issued a crime alert that warned, “the western metro area continues to experience an abnormally high number of burglaries.”

But Minnetonka police could not confirm that any of the men arrested in this investigation are responsible for burglaries within Minnetonka, and also refuted any claim that the city has seen a recent surge in home burglaries.

“We are aware of the recent arrests and we will investigate further,” said Minnetonka Police Captain Scott Boerboom. “But to say we’ve had a spike—I don’t think it’s a spike.”

Boerboom said that while the number of burglaries often rises during warmer months, the number of recent Minnetonka burglaries is consistent with numbers from this time last year. Twenty-five burglaries have been reported in Minnetonka over the last 90 days.

“We haven’t seen anything higher than what we normally see,” he said. "But if you see anything suspicious...call 911 immediately."

While Minnetonka police were not directly involved in this investigation, detectives from Minnetonka are in constant communication with investigators from surrounding communities, specifically “looking for overlap” between cases.

Wayzata police reportedly suspected that one of the men arrested in this investigation also participated in at least one burglary in Edina—. But Edina Police Spokeswoman Molly Anderson told Patch that the men apprehended by Wayzata police "don't have anything to do with" burglaries in that city within the last couple of weeks. 

Just last week, Minneapolis Police  they believed was responsible for burglaries in Minneapolis, Minnetonka, Edina, Wayzata and Plymouth. At that time, both Minnetonka and Wayzata police characterized the Minneapolis PD link as premature.

Patch will have updates to this story as they become available. For more information from the Minnetonka Police on preventing burglary, click here. 

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Patch Editors Jay Corn and Ryan Gauthier contributed to this report.