neighbor, who also called the police. The suspects pushed in a window air
conditioner and grabbed at least a couple things that were in reach, and
dropped the item with the lesser resale value. I lost count of the number of
police cars parked near my house when I arrived, about 30 minutes after the
break-in.
One of the officers asked if I wanted to press charges. I said, isn't
breaking and entering a serious crime, a felony? Yes, I wanted the crime
investigated. Breaking and entering a domicile to steal stuff can be charged as
2nd degree burglary, with maximum penalties of a $20,000 fine and 10 years in
prison. Is this how Minneapolis Police respond to 2nd burglaries, or only in
north Minneapolis?
Bureau of Criminal Apprehension guidelines for handling evidence were not
followed. "Maybe we should have tried to lift some fingerprints [from the air
conditioner and the item taken out of my house and dropped on the ground]" The
chance of successful prosecution of a crime is greatly increased with physical
evidence that ties the suspect to the crime scene. Or is the plan to round up
the usual suspects?
-Doug Mann, Folwell neighborhood