Robbinsdale Police Issue Crime Alert for Garage Break-ins
Robbinsdale police have issued a crime alert after a slew of garage break-ins.
Most of the incidents happened in an area near Victory Memorial Parkway from 43rd Avenue south to 38th Avenue and Abbott Avenue east to York Avenue. There were at least 24 break-ins in this area from Friday into Saturday. As a result, police increased patrols. Almost all of the break-ins involved forced entry, police said.
“This is definitely incidents where it’s not average that we have this amount of forced entry,” said Robbinsdale police officer Casey Landherr. “It looks like it was most likely the same individual or individuals doing it.”
Thieves rifled through detached garages in alleys. Home surveillance video shows two men checking out cars and garages.
“What they were trying to do is get as many as they possibly could. So it was mostly service doors that were forced open, and I believe one window that had been broken,” explained Landherr.
One neighbor says their garage service door was kicked in, while others say their locks were busted. Even some deadbolts didn’t hold up. The thieves stole power tools, a television and possibly propane heaters, Landherr said.
Robbinsdale police say they will continue canvassing the area. Meanwhile, they say the winter months is not the time to let your guard down.
“Sometimes people get relaxed because it’s colder weather and they don’t think that people are going to be out,” said Landherr. “But we don’t actually see that trend. We actually see an increase in bad weather.”
Police say there are no suspects yet in the cases. Robbinsdale police ask residents to watch out for their neighbors and if they see something suspicious to give them a call.
The city of Minneapolis also had break-ins in the nearby Victory neighborhood. Robbinsdale police continue to investigate to see if the cases are related.
