Men Charged in Connection With Oakdale Car Break-Ins

Two men have been charged in connection with a in the early morning hours of Oct. 13.

Kizshad R. Henderson, 31, of Minneapolis, and Jerelle A. Ellis, 21, of St. Paul were both charged with aiding and abetting receiving stolen property and Henderson was also charged with aiding and abetting theft of a motor vehicle.

In the early morning Oct. 13, a resident in the 5400 block of Golfview Circle reported that he had been asleep when he heard his garage door open or close, according to the Washington County District Court Complaint. He went to the garage and discovered that a chainsaw had been stolen, the complaint says. A garage door remote had also been stolen from a car parked in the driveway.

At about 3:45 a.m., while police were still on the scene of the burglary, they were dispatched to the 2600 block of Granite Avenue on a report of car prowlers, the complaint says. The caller said three men were walking north from Granite Avenue, according to the complaint.

On Granite, an Oakdale officer spotted a car with its headlights out, but its brake lights on sitting in the middle of the street, the complaint says. The car turned on its headlights, started traveling south on Granite Avenue, and then turned south on Gresham Avenue, according to the complaint.

Police stopped the vehicle, and an Oakdale officer saw a chainsaw in the rear driver’s side seat. Henderson was driving, Ellis was in the passenger seat, and a juvenile was in the rear passenger-side seat, the complaint says.

The homeowner who had been burglarized identified the chainsaw as his, according to the complaint.

While officers were on the scene of the traffic stop, they learned that two residents in the 2700 block of Granite Avenue were reporting that their vehicles had been rummaged through, the complaint says. One of the residents said a $300 GPS device and a $200 cell phone were stolen from her car, which had been unlocked.

One of the officers called the missing cell phone and heard it ring in the back of the squad car, the complaint says. The juvenile tried to turn the phone off, however one of the officers answered it and confirmed it was the one that had been reported stolen, according to the complaint.

At the traffic stop, police called the registered owner of the vehicle the men were driving, a North St. Paul woman, and she said the car had been stolen overnight.

While booking the men into jail, authorities found two credit cards and a driver’s license that belonged to one of the Oakdale residents whose car was broken into.

The Oakdale Police Department received at least six reports of motor vehicle theft the morning of the arrests.

Ellis is charged with one count of felony level aiding and abetting receiving stolen property, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and $10,000 in fines.

Henderson is charged with one count of aiding and abetting motor vehicle theft, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and $10,000 in fines. He also faces a charge of one count of gross misdemeanor level aiding and abetting receiving stolen property, which carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison and $3,000 in fines.

Henderson’s initial appearance in court is scheduled Nov. 17, and Ellis’ initial appearance is scheduled Nov. 23.