Have You Seen This Man? Photos of Burglary Suspect Released

Photos released yesterday by the Minneapolis Police Department may—or may not—be of a man responsible for a string of burglaries in the southwest Metro, including Wayzata.

Minneapolis police say the same man has been linked to a series of “high-end” thefts from the southwest portion of the city to Wayzata. The severing of phone lines and the types of items taken are, police say, are a common thread in the crime spree.

But Wayzata Police Chief Mike Risvold doesn’t believe the photos released this week are of a suspect being sought by his department.

“They [Minneapolis police] have included us in this by mistake,” Risvold wrote in a Thursday afternoon e-mail to Patch. “We have had no burglaries with…phone lines cut.”

Risvold said Wayzata has not had a burglary where phone lines have been cut and wasn’t the only suburban police official questioning the connections.

Minnetonka Police Captain Scott Boerboom did confirm to Patch that over the last two months Minnetonka has seen a half-dozen burglaries. But he also said that in only one of those cases was an alarm system tampered with or were high-end goods stolen.  

“There are differences,” Boerboom said. “We’re going to continue to work our cases but we’re not going to focus all our energy into this person.”

However, this photo alert from Minneapolis police does come two weeks after Edina Police issued a to be on the lookout for a serial burglar who has reportedly taken more than $100,000 in jewelry from several homes in the city's northwest corner, just across the Edina-Minnetonka border. 

In all the Minneapolis cases, which began in January and were last seen in April, the burglar compromised the homes’ alarm systems to get inside, and then made off with jewelry, cash, checkbooks and high-end electronics.

In one case, Minneapolis police said the suspect also tried to compromise a security camera system. Most of the cases have taken place during the day or when residents were away from home.

Anyone who recognizes the suspects in the photos or can provide additional information as it relates to the cases is encouraged to call Sgt. James Jensen of the Minneapolis Police Department’s Fifth Precinct Property Crimes Unit at 612-673-5587.

Editor's note: Patch sites in Edina, Southwest Minneapolis and Minnetonka all contributed to this story.