Lynnhurst Burglary Victim's Car Taken...By Burglar

 Minneapolis Police Department officers were again dispatched to Lynnhurst after criminals who appear similar to Friday’s purse burglars hit two houses and a car on Sunday, Sept. 30. 

One house on the 4800 block of Irving Avenue South was broken into between 1 a.m. and 8 a.m., and another resident of the same block reported an unknown trespasser in the same time period. According to police reports, a car break-in on the 1400 block of West Minnehaha Parkway in the same time frame may also be related. In that case, the criminal or criminals stole a backpack containing an emergency kit, but left at least some of its contents scattered in a front yard on the 4800 block of Irving Avenue South.

One house on the 1400 block of West 47th Street was hit the hardest, though. The burglar struck between 10:30 p.m. and 9 a.m. Sunday night while the residents were asleep, stealing a purse and a laptop. They also stole the victim’s car keys, and drove off in her car. The purse was recovered nearby.

To prevent burglaries, police offer the following tips: 

• Lock your home, apartment, and garage doors and windows at all time, even if you are at home.
• Record the make, model, and serial number of all valuables and keep in a safe place.
• Secure windows and doors of homes and garages. 
• If you have a security system, use it even while at home.
• Consider using timers on lights, radios and/or TVs when not at home.
• Don’t leave valuables on porches, in the yard, or in other unsecured areas.
• Use outdoor lighting that eliminates shadows and hiding spots.
• Leave outdoor lights on from dusk ‘til dawn by installing inexpensive photo-electric censors.
• Know your neighbors and look out for one another.
• Join or initiate a block group.
• Call 911 to report a burglary or any suspicious activity in your neighborhood.

Sept. 30

A Brooklyn Park resident left her purse in the front passenger seat of her car when she went for a run around Lake Calhoun at 11 a.m. When she returned to her car, parked near the Bakken Museum on West 36th Street, a window had been smashed out and the purse stolen. One of the car’s doors also had obvious pry marks on it.

A shoplifting incident was reported at the Windom Cub Foods.

A driver baked her car into a parked car at the intersection of West 47th Street and West Lake Harriet Parkway, and then drove off. A witness reported the incident to police.

A domestic assault by strangulation was reported to police. The incident happened on Friday.

A car was stolen from the 4700 block of Harriet Avenue South, despite the presence of a Club-type device on the steering wheel.

Officers pulled over a car for tailgating another on the 4400 block of Lyndale Avenue South around 9 p.m. The driver was arrested for driving without a license or insurance on the car, and the passenger was arrested for possession of narcotics and drug paraphernalia. The car was impounded.

A resident of the 4000 block of Linden Hills Boulevard was arrested for an outstanding warrant from Oak Park Heights Prison.

A car parked by the Lake Harriet Rose Garden was broken into between 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

A pedestrian on the 3500 block of Colfax Avenue South was mugged by a mace-wielding person while he walked down the sidewalk, listening to music and texting.

Drivers on the 100 and 200 blocks of West 58th Street were cited for driving without insurance after failing to stop for stop signs.

Sept. 29

The owner of a duplex on the 4900 block of Xerxes Avenue South reported that a former tenant took a large tool chest and miscellaneous tools, a lamp, and a large wooden cabinet when they moved out earlier this month.

An unknown person slashed a screen on a house on the 3100 block of Garfield Avenue South.

A car was stolen from the 4300 block of Bryant Avenue South.  Unfortunately, the caller told police “there were no specific descriptors about her car that would make it stand out.”

Officers patrolling Lake Harriet Parkway around midnight stopped a juvenile and cited her for being out past curfew. At the arrestee’s mother’s request, she was transported home in the back of a police cruiser.

Drivers on the 5800 block of Blaisdell Avenue South, the 6000 block of Nicollet Avenue South, and the 300 block of West 58th Street were cited for driving without insurance.