A Plymouth man suspected in eight residential burglaries in the early morning hours of May 31 in southwestern Eden Prairie has been charged with five first-degree burglary counts.
Jaleel Francis Wah, 24, is being held in Washington County on similar charges in that county, according to Hennepin County District Court charging documents signed June 23. Bail is set at $200,000.
Eden Prairie Police announced on June 8 that it had a suspect in the burglaries that occurred in the area of Frontier Place, Acorn Ridge, Overland Trail and Cedarcrest Drive.
According to the criminal complaint:
Eden Prairie Police responded to several burglary reports in the southwestern Eden Prairie Settler’s Ridge neighborhood on the morning of May 31 and gathered security camera footage from several homes in the area.
Video footage showed a man in his early 20s wearing a hooded sweatshirt with “splat” marks containing smiley face designs on it. It also showed the man approaching residences to determine if they were locked and entering unlocked doors.
One victim’s video footage showed a man arrive in an unidentified sedan at about 1:30 a.m. and leave at around 1:52 a.m.
The complaint refers to 15 individual victims, including several children, who were in the homes when Wah entered them. Each of the homes entered were occupied at the time.
None of the victims had direct contact with Wah, although one victim was awakened by a Ring camera notification showing a man unsuccessfully attempting to enter the home’s front door.
Most victims didn’t discover until the next morning that their homes had been entered.
Several homeowners reported missing cash totaling about $1,000, gift cards, credit cards, passports, bank records, birth records, driver’s licenses, and other miscellaneous items.
One victim reported the theft of Louis Vuitton handbags valued at $11,650. Another victim reported Yeezy 350 shoes missing. They were valued at $350.
At least four victims reported having left sliding glass doors unlocked, and most said they had not heard anything while sleeping.
One of the victims reported that her car had been tampered with. She was visiting her daughter’s home and said that five $100 bills and a checkbook containing unused checks were missing.
Other police departments involved
On June 3, Woodbury and Cottage Grove police reported several similar residential burglaries in their cities.
Eden Prairie Police reviewed booking photos from those incidents and identified Wah from surveillance footage provided by Eden Prairie victims.
Eden Prairie Police obtained a warrant to search Wah’s vehicle and found financial records, a photo album, passports, vehicle titles, and tax returns taken from the Eden Prairie residences on May 31.
They also found a shoebox for Yeezy brand shoes in the car’s trunk.
If found guilty of the five first-degree burglary charges, Wah faces a maximum sentence of 20 years and/or a fine of $35,000 on each count. A sixth felony count for theft carries a maximum sentence of five years and/or a $10,000 fine.
Because Wah has been convicted of burglary multiple times in the past, a warrant for detention has been requested to ensure he appears in court.
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