Southwest Minneapolis Man Charged After Undercover Sting

A Southwest Minneapolis man has been charged with stealing $20 from an undercover officer on a sting operation targeting thieves.

Nicholas Dion Monson, also known as Nick Dion Monsun and Nicholas Dion Munson, 19, is charged with theft from person, a felony with a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

According to the criminal complaint, signed by Minneapolis Police Officer Phillip Sosnowski, police were conducting an undercover theft investigation in the bus shelter at the northwest corner of Franklin and Nicollet Avenues South in Minneapolis just after 6 p.m. Sept. 19.

Sosnowski, not in uniform, was sitting in the bus shelter acting as though he was intoxicated, with a $20 bill behind a pack of cigarettes visible in his shirt pocket.

Monson rode a bicycle up to the bus shelter and walked inside, and Sosnowski asked him for a light, according to the complaint. Monson walked outside the shelter, asked a friend for a lighter, came back in and handed Sosnowski the lighter, then left.

Monson returned a short time later, came into the bus shelter, retrieve the lighter from Sosnowski and then snatched the $20 bill out of his shirt pocket, the complaint charges.

Sosnowski alerted nearby officers, who converged on Monson. Monson fled on his bicycle, but was later found walking north on Nicollet, approaching Franklin, and was arrested.

Monson has been released from custody on bond. His next court appearance is scheduled Sept. 26 in Hennepin County District Court.