Mystery Thieves Steal More Landscaping Lights Worth Hundreds

Thieves once again struck a Southwest Minneapolis home early Wednesday morning, carrying off ornamental outdoor lights for the third time this week.

According to a report filed with Minneapolis police, 2 large "landscaping lights" went missing from a house on the 4700 block of Lake Harriet Parkway sometime between 10 p.m. on Feb. 19 and 8 a.m. on Feb. 20. The homeowner told police they were woken up around 3 a.m. by strange noises in their front yard.

The lights are worth $685 apiece, according to the polcie report.

The house is the third along the rim of Lake Harriet to be thus victimized since Sunday.

Feb. 19

Around 1 a.m., police were called to an apartment building on the 3200 block of Nicollet Avenue to help remove an unwanted person. On their arrival, they spotted their quarry running towards the rear of the building. Routine checks revealed he had an outstanding felony warrant from Hennepin County for failing to register as a predatory sex offender, and a second outstanding felony warrant from Ramsey county for Second-Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct.

The Hair.e.tic Salon at the corner of West 43rd Street and Bryant Ave South was burglarized overnight. The criminal or criminals managed to sneak into the business—no signs of forced entry were evident, according ot the police report—and made off with unspecified items from the receptionist's desk.

Thieves broke into a locked parking garage underneath an apartment building on the 3500 block of Dupont Ave South, and left in a car owned by one of the building's residents.

Two garages on the 100 block of West 38th Street were burglarized overnight.

Feb. 20

A few minutes after 3 p.m., burglars kicking down the door of a home on the 3500 block of Stevens Ave South evidently got quite a fright when the victim, a 35-year old woman turned out to be home and confronted them. The criminals quickly fled.

A 23-year old Minneapolis man was cited for providing a forged driver's license to police after being pulled over on the corner of 1st Ave South and 31st Street around 3 p.m. for unspecified offenses. The driver was booked into the Hennepin County Jail.

A 19-year old woman became the victim of a domestic assault around 1 p.m. on the 100 block of West 33rd Street. The suspect "physically assaulted" her, broke a mirror in her home, and fled with her purse. The purse contained her cell phone, WIC card, and photo ID. The suspect was gone when officers arrived.