An Eden Prairie man has been charged in connection with two incidents of vehicle theft that occurred over the weekend in the parking lot of Scheels, located at 8301 Flying Cloud Drive.
Abdulahi Ahmed Abdi, 32, has been charged with one felony count of theft of a firearm without consent and two gross misdemeanors: one for theft and the other for financial transaction card fraud, according to a criminal complaint filed in Hennepin County District Court.
The felony charge of theft of a firearm carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and/or a $100,000 fine, while the gross misdemeanors have lesser penalties.
Eden Prairie police were called to the parking lot of Scheels at about 8:40 p.m. on Saturday, March 25, to investigate a theft.
A man reported that his vehicle had been unlawfully entered, and two jackets worth $600 had been stolen. One of the jackets contained a debit card. Following the theft of the card, two unauthorized transactions totaling $122.32 were made at Walmart in Eden Prairie. Although no suspect was located or identified at the time, officers worked on acquiring available surveillance footage.
Officers were again dispatched to the Scheels parking lot in response to a theft in progress at about 4:15 p.m. on Sunday, March 26. While en route, officers were notified that two individuals had witnessed a man, who was later identified as Abdi, shutting the door of their vehicle and fleeing the scene. The two discovered that the man had stolen a handgun secured inside the vehicle. One of the individuals pursued Abdi and managed to catch him, recovering the handgun.
After having the handgun taken away from him, Abdi fled toward the Eden Prairie Library, 565 Prairie Center Drive. Officers entered the library and found a jacket discarded in the men’s restroom. The jacket was confirmed to be one of the two coats that had been stolen during the theft on Saturday.
Based on video surveillance footage, the police identified Abdi as the defendant, according to the criminal complaint. The officers proceeded to Abdi’s residence and apprehended him, and he was discovered to have the second stolen jacket. Subsequently, Abdi reportedly confessed to committing the crimes on March 25 and March 26.
Currently, Abdi is in custody.
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