Sector One - 3rd Precinct - Minneapolis Police Dept.
Jan. 28, 2013
East Phillips – Midtown Phillips – Phillips West - Ventura Village Neighborhoods
A TALE OF TWO BURGLARIES
This incident happened recently and was reported by two 3rd precinct Officers who responded to a burglary call.
After running an afternoon errand, a resident observed a male going door to door on his block as he was returning home. He followed the male in his vehicle and at one point stopped to talk with him about what he was doing on the block. He was told by the young man that he was looking for an individual who lived on the block. The resident was pretty certain that no one by that name lived on the block. The young man was carrying a back pack.
The young man left the block as the resident returned to his home and found that his house had been broken into. Among other items of value, his laptop computer was gone.
He then called 911. When officers responded to the burglary, the victim told them that he was reluctant to call 911 about the suspect when he saw him on the street because he was concerned about “stereotyping” him, even though he was clearly behaving in a suspicious manner.
A little earlier, a suspect fitting the same description as the young man was reported to be going door- to- door and kicking doors on the next block over. A burglary had occurred on that block as well.
It’s imperative to call 911 in these situations. If you describe the persons suspicious behavior (e.g. trying or kicking at doors, going to multiple homes, etc.) you are not stereotyping them. It’s important to describe the person well enough so that officers can locate him when they arrive so they can talk to the right person. It’s possible, that if the police had been called when the young man was seen on the street that the stolen items from the burglary might have been found in the young man’s back pack.
Questions: Contact CPS Don Greeley at 673-3482 or
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