Suspect arrested in serial vandalism to elderly woman's Minneapolis home

A man suspected of vandalizing an elderly south Minneapolis woman's home nine times over the past few months was arrested Friday, according to a police spokesman.

The break in the case came after a team of detectives from several departments, including the homicide and sex crimes units, volunteered to work on the case, some on their own time, said spokesman John Elder.

"They asked to be assigned to it" because of the nature of the crime, which targeted and terrorized an 89-year-old woman in her own home, he said.

Nine times, including Thanksgiving morning, windows were shattered at the woman's home in the 5100 block of S. Cedar Avenue, Elder said.

They would be fixed, only to be shattered again.

Detectives were able to gather DNA at the scene and to match it to a Minneapolis man arrested Friday at an apartment in the 3500 block of Park Avenue.

Security cameras showed a lone man approaching and leaving the house during the attacks.

He apparently used a hammer to break the windows.

"Our officers worked closely with the community and the woman's family on this one," Elder said.

The suspect, who is 44, has frequently been booked at the Hennepin County jail under an alias and as a 45-year-old, was jailed Friday night on suspicion of stalking and making violent threats. He has not yet been charged.

Elder said the suspect was known to the family, but not a part of it, and that he was involved in a property dispute with the home's owner.

"It feels good to get this one solved," Elder said. "Our detectives were determined to make that happen."

Pamela Miller • 612-673-4290