Suspicious Activity Call Leads Lakeville Police to Serial Thief

We frequently ask our residents to call and report suspicious activity in their neighborhoods because residents are often the best judge of what is suspicious activity in their own neighborhood. Lakeville residents are very good at watching out for their neighbors and calling when they see suspicious activity. In 2011 alone, our officers responded to over 1,800 reports of suspicious activity. 

Sometimes, officers are very close by when the call comes out and, as a result of someone calling in suspicious activity, we are able to apprehend the offender right as the crime is occurring. That is exactly what happened late one night last week when a resident called in when he heard someone rattling a storm door on his house and saw a person looking into parked vehicles in the neighborhood. 

Officer Shawn McMahon arrived in the neighborhood a short time later and located the subject a short distance away. Working with assisting Officers Chad Loeffler and Josh Berkebile, they were able to quickly take the subject into custody. 

The officers found evidence on the subject that revealed multiple thefts from parked vehicles and mailboxes in the area. The subject later admitted to the officers to committing the thefts. 

As is often the case in property crime investigations of this nature, the arrest of this one individual resulted in solving multiple thefts that night and recovering the property for the victims. That was great work by the officers working that night in locating and capturing the subject, but the whole case started because a person called to report suspicious activity in their neighborhood. 

STREET CRIMES SEARCH WARRANT 

Street Crimes Unit Officers Thor Howe and Jason Haider executed a warrant at a residence this past week that resulted in two subjects being charged with felony 5th Degree controlled substance charges. The case developed from the SCU officers working with patrol officers’ information about the residence. 

OFFICERS RING THE BELL FOR SALVATION ARMY CHARITY 

Officers Kevin O’Neill, Andy Hentges, Jason Haider, CSO Jacob Edwinson and I each spent part of last Saturday afternoon donating our time to ringing the bell for the Salvation Army “Red Kettle” campaign at the Lakeville Fleet Farm store.

The store was very busy as it was one of the last shopping days before Christmas and people were very generous in their donations to the red kettle. School Resource Officer Andy Hentges was able to recruit a group of Lakeville North High School students and student advisor, Lisa Holien, to join him in ringing the bell. They were all appropriately attired in red hats and singing Christmas carols to encourage donations from the shoppers. 

WEEKLY LPD SNAPSHOT

Sampling of LPD activity for the week of Dec. 20 to Dec. 27, 2012 

Traffic crashes: 33 Alarms: 14 Animal Calls: 16 Medical Emergency Calls: 41 Thefts: 18 Traffic Stops: 102.