Unlike CSI, Solving Crimes Takes Teamwork, Lakeville Police Chief Says

Experienced police officers know that in police work, crimes are solved by getting the right information to the right people at the right time and being able to act on that information right away. Unlike what you may see on TV, the best police work is a result of teamwork, with a number of officers contributing to the effort. In one day last week, our detectives and patrol officers were able to demonstrate that type of teamwork during a burglary investigation which led to the arrest of two individuals and the recovery of stolen property thereby solving multiple crimes.

This all started when Detective Jeremy Lerfald was working on a burglary investigation last Thursday in which some guns and electronics were stolen from a residence the previous week, when he developed some information about two possible suspects. Detective Lerfald communicated that information to our patrol officers, and Officers Jim Stevens and Mike Lamm stopped a vehicle containing the two burglary suspects.

Working closely with the two patrol officers, Detective Lerfald and Detective Dave Watson developed information from the suspects about the potential locations of the stolen weapons and property from the burglaries. Realizing that the scope of the investigation was growing rapidly, the officers put together a team of detectives and officers that included Sergeant Mike Sheady, Detective Kelli Coughlin, Detective Brad Paulson and Officer Jason Haider.

Based on the information gathered from the two burglary suspects, the officers executed five search warrants in one day in Lakeville, Farmington, rural Dakota County and St. Paul. The officers recovered two of the weapons stolen in the burglary and recovered narcotics leading to two additional individuals facing charges. In addition, the burglary investigation solved the original burglary case as well as two burglaries and a felony theft in neighboring communities. The teamwork of the officers and detectives resulted in a good day for the department and, even more importantly, for our community.

Weekly LPD Snapshot

Sampling of activity for the week of April 6 to April 12, 2012

Traffic crashes 9, Alarms 27, Animal Calls 29, Medical Emergency Calls 24, Thefts 16, Traffic Stops 198

Suspicious Vehicle Stop Leads to Arrest

Officer Mike Katzovitz was on patrol one morning this week when he observed a vehicle on the road that matched the description of a vehicle suspected to have been involved in a burglary. Officer Katzovitz stopped the vehicle and identified the driver. The driver was found to have two active arrest warrants out for him, so Officer Katzovitz arrested him on the warrants. Upon completing a computer check on the suspect, Officer Katzovitz also found that his driver’s license was revoked, that he had no proof of insurance and that the car had license tabs from another vehicle. Officer Katzovitz placed the driver in the Dakota County Jail on the arrest warrants and the new charges.

On Patrol - On the Scene

You know that you are doing a good job on patrol when you arrive at the scene of an incident before it is even called in to 911. This happened for our officers twice last week: Officer Jim Stevens came upon a personal injury crash one afternoon last week. The crash involved one vehicle that had rear ended another, causing significant damage to both of the vehicles. There were injuries to the occupants of both vehicles. Officer Jessica Swaner came upon another traffic crash early one evening last week involving three vehicles in an intersection. Fortunately, the damage to the vehicles was minor and there were no reported injuries.

Dumb Criminal of the Week

Officer Jensen took a theft of services report of a suspect who decided he needed a place to rest, so he found a room at a local motel and decided to go in and sleep for the night. Long story short, the suspect had stayed in the same motel a couple of times in the past month, and apparently did not return the key to one of the rooms when he checked out of the motel.

The motel manager recognized the suspect’s car in the lot and knew that the suspect was not currently registered, so he decided to check the room previously rented by the suspect, with the missing key. He found the individual fast asleep in the bed. The manager woke up the suspect, but the suspect left prior to officer’s arrival. The motel manager, however, had all of the suspect’s information from the previous stays so the officer simply sent the suspect a citation for theft of services.