Robbed Ham Lake Couple Find Attacker Via Craigslist

Date: May 17, 2012
http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2012/05/24/police-craigslist-ad-leads-to-teen-thiefs-arrest/

A Ham Lake couple was robbed last Thursday at gun point in their home in the middle of the night:

A man with a handgun busted into the home on the 1000 block of 173rd Lane NE early last Thursday morning, and took cash and other items from the couple who were there. 

“They were awakened by the male, brandishing a gun and pointing it at the two complainants and demanding cash and property. He basically held them at bay with a gun while committing this crime,” said Commander Paul Sommer of the Anoka County Sheriff’s Department.

The offender then gets caught when he tries to sell the camera on Craigslist.

On Wednesday, one of the victims noticed a listing for a camera on Craigslist that matched the one that had been stolen the week before. 

“There’s virtually thousands of cameras listed on Craigslist,” said Commander Paul Sommer of the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office. “But there was a certain way (the victims) had attached a strap to their camera that made it unique to all the others out there, so they were fairly certain it was their camera.”

He called the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office, which set up a meeting with the seller, a 17-year-old boy from Andover. 

An undercover officer met the teen at a McDonald’s, where the officer confirmed it was the stolen camera. The teen was arrested, and deputies say they found a gun in his car. 

... 

“If this person at this age is willing to go to these extremes there’s no telling at what point he would have stopped,” Sommer added.

Nice follow through Anoka County Sheriff office! Reading between the lines, the kid did the robbery. Hopefully, they'll shut him down before he can move on to even bigger and worse crimes.

Chanhassen woman fights off home invasion assailant

Date: April 25, 2012

http://www.chaskaherald.com/news/public_safety/chan-woman-fights-off-home-invasion-assailant/article_96958979-80b5-558f-a8da-ee229929f951.html

At 10:46 a.m., April 25, Carver County Sheriff's Office deputies were dispatched to the 900 block of Santa Vera Drive in Chanhassen for a report of a 1st degree burglary and assault. It appears that the suspect forced entry into the home through the locked front door, according to the Sheriff's Office The female victim in the residence was able to fight off her assailant and escape. The suspect eventually fled the home in an unknown direction, the release stated. ...

It sounds like the suspect is still at large as of mid May.

1 killed, 3 injured in home invasion; suspect held

Feb 21, 2012
http://www.crookstontimes.com/newsnow/x565040698/1-killed-3-injured-in-home-invasion-suspect-held

Police were called to a Blue Earth home about 12:30 a.m. Monday after a masked man entered attacked its occupants.

The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said the suspect bludgeoned the victims with a blunt object, killing the man and seriously injuring a 38-year-old woman and her two teenage daughters. Another daughter, 6, was not injured. The three injured people were transported to United Hospital District Hospital in Blue Island, and then airlifted to St. Mary's Hospital in Rochester.

Man, Toddler Stabbed in Morning Attack

3/01/2012
http://www.kimt.com/content/localnews/story/Man-Toddler-Stabbed-in-Morning-Attack/-heGZ0ita0ODGoDjDpxjFA.cspx

According to Captain Brian Winters, Rochester police were called to a second-story apartment on the 10 block of 10th Street Northwest at 6:05 Thursday morning. After an investigation, police determined that a man armed with a knife entered the home, waking a 24-year-old woman who lives there. She went into the room where here two children, a four-year-old boy and two-year-old boy were staying. She found a man armed with a knife in the room, and called for help. Her brother, a 23-year-old man, and a houseguest, a 26-year-old man, ran in and began fighting with the intruder. The 26-year-old was stabbed in the upper torso, and the 23-year-old was cut by a knife. The intruder jumped out of the window and ran off before police arrived.

Man Allegedly Brandishes Handgun During Eagan Home Invasion

February 8, 2012
http://eagan.patch.com/articles/man-allegedly-brandishes-handgun-during-eagan-home-invasion

Police say Lee burst into a home on the 4900 block of Rusten Rd. in Eagan at 1:30 p.m. on Jan. 30. The 28-year-old allegedly demanded money from the owner of the home, saying that she owed him and that he would kill her. To back up his claims, Lee allegedly pulled a black semi-automatic handgun out of his jacket and pointed it at the victim, even taking the time to pull back the magazine and show her a row of bullets in the loaded pistol.

Reward Offered For Info. In Alexandria Home Invasion

February 14, 2012
http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2012/02/14/reward-offered-for-info-in-alexandria-home-invasion/

Officials say shortly after 1 a.m. on Feb. 1, 85-year-old Robert Nelson woke up to a man with a handgun inside his home, in the midst of a robbery.

Police say the man assaulted Nelson, who suffered cuts to his face that required hospitalization.

Home Invasion in Moorhead Overnight

February 09, 2012
http://www.wday.com/event/article/id/58868/

Moorhead, Minn. (WDAY TV) - Moorhead Police and Concordia College are reminding students living near campus they need to lock their doors at night.

The reminder comes after a drunk man walked into an unlocked home near Concordia last night, rented by 5-college students. All females.

The girls did not know the intruder, who walked into a bedroom and said he needed to use a phone. The man would not leave and so the young woman screamed for help. He then ran from the house.