Suspects broke into a sprawling arts complex over the weekend and made off with money, electronics and other items while leaving behind gaping holes in some interior walls, Minneapolis police said.
Burglars break into sprawling arts complex in NE. Minneapolis
Police say two suspects were seen running from the Northrup King Building on Saturday.
April 10, 2019 at 4:40AM
The burglary was reported to law enforcement while in progress about 10:35 p.m. Saturday at the Northrup King Building in the 1500 block of NE. Jackson St., said police spokesman John Elder.
Two suspects "were seen running from the area" and remain at large, Elder said.
The two tunneled from one work space to another while making off with various items from four victims, Elder said.
One of the many occupants in the building, Michelle Brusegaard, gave a detailed account on her Instagram account that included photos of some of the damage and other mayhem. One photo showed a hole in one wall from the floor to near the ceiling.
Brusegaard wrote that several artists on the second floor of the building were victimized.
She said the suspects broke in through a window and "proceeded to tunnel through the studios by cutting holes in the walls. ... They seemed to be after money and electronics. I feel pretty fortunate that although they threw my 2013 iMac on the floor, they didn't take it, because it contains everything I need to survive, pretty much! They did get away with my cash drawer and my birthday AirPods."
As for the perpetrators, Brusegaard wrote, "People who steal from artists and small business owners are a special kind of cruel. ... I don't know why people do what they do, but I know it's made my fellow artists and I feel violated and downright crappy."
Built in 1917 for the Northrup King and Co. seed company, which occupied the site until the late 1980s, it's currently owned by Shamrock Properties and is home to more than 300 artists and arts-related businesses. It bills itself as the state's largest arts complex.
The building is open to the public on a limited basis and hosts two of the Twin Cities' biggest shows — Art-A-Whirl, which takes place in the spring (May 17-19 this year) in locations throughout northeast Minneapolis, and Art Attack, held in the fall strictly at Northrup King.
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