East metro police blotter

DEC. 15

Theft. A silver 1997 Honda Civic was stolen from the Bakers Square parking lot, 221 County Road 10 NE. A man left the vehicle running and when he returned, the vehicle was gone.

DEC. 17

Drugs. A man was pulled over on Central Avenue NE. and 89th Avenue for having snow obstructing the tabs on the license plate and also for having an object suspended from the rear-view mirror. The man had a canceled and suspended license. Upon searching him, police found a marijuana pipe in his pocket. Another officer and his K-9 partner, Gunner, arrived to conduct a narcotics search. Multiple bags and jars of marijuana were located.

DEC. 19

Burglary. Someone broke a window and gained entry to Lake Phalen Community Church and Liberty Classical Academy, 171 English St. Cabinets and desks were ransacked. Several laptop computers may be missing.

DEC. 25

Burglary. The front door was pried open and a small safe was stolen from the 5-8 Tavern, 2289 Minnehaha Av. S.

DEC. 26

Theft. Two men entered A-1 Liquors, 19 Century Av.; one of them took a bottle of Absolut vodka and put it in his pants. They exited the store and drove off.

DEC. 16

Assist motorist. A woman called police because her vehicle was stuck at the intersection of 10th Street N. and Hadley Avenue. Police advised her to switch lanes to get the vehicle going. She did and was able to get off a patch of ice.

DEC. 17

Property damage. Someone reported graffiti on the back of a stop sign at Upper 26th Street N. and Helmo Avenue. Police found that a penis had been drawn with a permanent marker.

DEC. 24

Drunken driving. Police received a call of an erratic driver westbound on Highway 36. An officer located the vehicle on I-694 driving on the shoulder. A 35-year-old man from Saginaw, Minn., allegedly was intoxicated and carrying a loaded .40-caliber Glock. He was arrested.

DEC. 14

Robbery. Officers went to Mini Mart, 3259 Stinson Blvd., where a suspect had entered the store carrying a knife. The suspect told the employee to open the cash drawer and give him all the currency. The suspect fled on foot. The owner told police he would provide a surveillance DVD.

DEC. 20

Hit and run. Officers responded to a call from Cub Foods, 3930 Silver Lake Rd. A 60-year-old man's vehicle was stopped when a vehicle struck it from behind. The man told police that the suspect started to drive away. He told the suspect to stop, but the passenger was waving for him to get out of the way and arguing with him. The suspect, a 93-year-old man, was located and issued a citation.

DEC. 17

Fire. A resident of an apartment complex on the 700 block of Stewart Avenue was alerted by a smoke detector and found a fire in the eaves of the attached garage. The fire was caused by a resident thawing pipes earlier with a propane torch, igniting a wall fire. The estimated damages are $75,000.

DEC. 23

Theft. A Salvation Army bell ringer working outside Rainbow Foods, 892 Arcade St., was cited for shoplifting after he allegedly went into the store's deli, selected some food items and then ate them in a break area without paying for them.

DEC. 27

Theft. An Inver Grove Heights man told police that someone stole his wedding ring from his unlocked car while it was parked outside Johnny Baby's, 981 W. University Av.

JAN. 2

Burglary. Two men were arrested after allegedly trying to break into an upper-level duplex in the 400 block of W. Lawson Avenue, only to be confronted by a shotgun-toting resident. The suspects ran without gaining entry, police said, and later were arrested at Cook and Western avenues.

Susan Hilliard • 612-673-7131