Burglar Chased by Burnsville Homeowner Crashes Car Into House

Friday, 01 Apr 2011
http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/dpp/news/minnesota/burnsville-citizen-chase-car-crash-apr-1-2011

According to Burnsville police, the incident started around 11:50 a.m. Friday when a homeowner interrupted a burglary on the 1400 block of McAndrews Road. The suspect pointed a gun at the homeowner before speeding away in a vehicle. The homeowner chased the burglary suspect in his own car for about a mile, before the suspect crashed into a house near 134th Street and Burncrest Court.

I don't recommend chasing an armed burglar yourself, but I'm happy the thug got caught.

Savage man faces charges in Burnsville home invasion

07/02/2009

http://www.twincities.com/allheadlines/ci_12743395?nclick_check=1

A Savage man faces charges he broke into a Burnsville home through the kitchen window on Monday and caused a nine-month-old child to fall and hit her head.



He then told the woman he was going to kill her, according to the complaint against him.

Update: Man Pleads Guilty in Violent Burnsville Home Invasion

Update to this.

06/22/2009

http://kstp.com/article/stories/s990633.shtml?cat=1

According to police, Whitfield and two other suspects broke into a man's home and stole his car, cologne, and a set of commemorative coins.

When the 52-year-old homeowner woke up, officers said the men stabbed him in the head and back, before setting his house on fire.

Burnsville Man's Home Invasion/Stabbing/Fire Story

June 5, 2008

http://www.startribune.com/local/south/19562209.html

This story contains a lot of details about what happened to Mr. Traub on May 11th. There's a lot of sobering stuff in it.

Summary:

Two men broke into Traub's Burnsville home on May 11, stabbing him -- 17 times in the back, twice in the head and once in the cheek-- and setting seven fires in his home before fleeing in his car. He was hospitalized for a day and a half and is living in an apartment for several months until his home, which was heavily damaged by smoke, is habitable again.

Then read about what happened before the fires:

"So he tells me; 'You gotta pick A or B. And you pick the right answer, you live, and you pick the wrong answer, you die,'" Traub remembered. "I was laying there, I thought I was conscious through all of it, but looking back on it, I probably wasn't."

And after he came to, he ended up running through a fire to flee his house and go to a neighbor to get help.

The upside, if you could call it that is that a lot of people are being more careful now; their complacency has been reset...for a while:

Traub said that his neighbors are more conscious now of locking garages and locking doors.

"They've got a more heightened awareness of people walking in the neighborhood," he said. "In a sense, it's a good thing ... [but] it's a shame that we have to resort to things like that."

Burnsville Man Stabbed, Home Set On Fire

May 11, 2008

http://wcco.com/crime/burnsville.home.invasion.2.721211.html

A man in Burnsville, Minn. was stabbed, his home set on fire and his car stolen early Sunday morning, police said.

[snip]

Police said two intruders walked through an open garage door to steal a car and then likely entered the house for the keys. When the homeowner awoke and walked-in on the robbery, they attacked him.

"Why did you have to beat him so bad, why did you have to stab him?" said Wanda Trousmil.

Needless, pointless, random viciousness. This escalated from car theft to murder in the space of a few heartbeats.

These thugs walked into an open garage, and apparently, the connecting door was unlocked.

Two things:

First, the door to an attached garage is an exterior door. Treat it as such and put a deadbolt on it. Keep it locked.

Second, keep your garage door closed. All a thief has to do to get some privacy is close the door after walking in. Then, he can attack the door to your home in peace. I recommend something similar to this to keep your garage door closed. I can't speak to how well it works, because I don't have one. My garage isn't attached, however, so it's not as much of a safety issue.