After eluding law enforcement at least three other times, two teenage boys with prior criminal acts have been arrested and charged with pulling off more than 30 crimes in Edina just this year.
2 Minneapolis teens arrested, accused of two-month crime spree in Edina
The 17-year-olds eluded capture three other times while fleeing law enforcement, police said in describing some 30 incidents since January.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
March 14, 2025 at 7:08PM
The tally from Jan. 3 to March 6, according to police:
- Nine stolen vehicles
- Four burglaries
- 16 thefts from or tampering with vehicles
- Fleeing law enforcement on three occasions
Most of the crimes occurred from January to early March, but the 17-year-olds also are suspects in a vehicle theft last spring, police said Thursday night.
One of the teenagers was given a winter holiday pass from a northern Minnesota detention facility to travel to the Twin Cities and did not return as scheduled, court records showed.
Both were charged this week in Hennepin County District Court with felonies and remained in custody as of Friday afternoon, the County Attorney’s Office said. The Minnesota Star Tribune generally does not identify juvenile criminal defendants.
One teenager, from north Minneapolis, is charged with two counts each of auto theft and receiving stolen property. He is due back in court on April 9.
His accomplice, from south Minneapolis, is charged with illegal gun or ammunition possession and aiding an offender after the fact. His next court date is March 26.
In the wake of the arrests, Edina police reminded the public to “make sure to lock your vehicle doors and take the keys with you, don’t leave valuables and garage door openers in your vehicle, and lock all of your house doors.”
The charging documents spell out specifics for just a few of the crimes. Among them:
Suspects broke into a home, grabbed a key fob from a purse and stole an SUV from the garage. The woman also had her wallet stolen with a debit card inside.
The SUV was recovered in Minneapolis. In the vehicle was a receipt from McDonald’s in Uptown for a purchase made after the break-in. Video surveillance showed one of the teens behind the wheel at the restaurant drive-thru.
Another stolen vehicle from Edina was recovered near the other suspect’s home. In the car were two gun magazines and a receipt from the same McDonald’s. Again, video captured the same driver at the restaurant.
Police went to the home of one of the teens on March 7 and found both teens there. In the residence police recovered the SUV’s key fob from a bedroom and a stolen iPad. Police also found 10 live .22-caliber rounds in a bedroom drawer.
Both teens had earlier run-ins with the law, according to publicly accessible Minnesota juvenile court records.
In Hennepin County, one was convicted in October for fleeing police and in November for illegal gun or ammunition possession.
While housed at the Northwest Minnesota Juvenile Center in Bemidji, one teenager was granted a pass to leave the facility on Dec. 24 for a family visit to Minneapolis but failed to return on Dec. 29 as scheduled.
The criminal history for one of the teens includes a conviction in March 2024 in Hennepin County for illegal gun possession.
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