A felony burglary charge against a former Eden Prairie woman has been dismissed, months after she was accused in connection with a break-in at a local storage facility.
Mikki Rebecca Broen, 39, was one of three individuals initially charged in February with second-degree burglary involving possession of burglary tools. On June 11, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office dropped the charge against Broen “in the interests of justice,” according to court records.
A spokesperson for the office said the dismissal was due to insufficient evidence. “Dismissal was a sufficiency of evidence issue. No issues with the investigation by law enforcement, just not enough to go forward after re-evaluation,” the spokesperson said in an email.
Broen had been released earlier this year on $40,000 bond and was under court-ordered restrictions, including GPS monitoring and travel limits. She currently faces no pending charges in Hennepin County.
In a message to Eden Prairie Local News, Broen said she wants to clear her name and believes she was wrongly accused. “I didn’t do anything wrong,” she said.
The original charge stemmed from a Dec. 25, 2024, burglary at a storage facility in the 7900 block of Eden Prairie Road. Investigators said locks had been cut on 10 storage units and a hole made in the facility’s back fence. Footprints and sled tracks in the snow led to a nearby parking lot.
Surveillance video from the apartment, where Broen lived with Jiri Edwards Odvarka, showed Odvarka and Shayne Elliot Gill making multiple trips with carts and a red suitcase consistent with stolen items. Gill’s complaint lists his address as Monticello, though court records also list Bloomington.
Cellphone messages between Gill and Broen on the morning of the burglary were cited in the complaint, including requests for a trailer and references to broken bolt cutters.
During a Feb. 13 search of the apartment, Odvarka reportedly admitted to helping transport the stolen property, while Gill was accused of selling it. According to the complaint, Broen denied knowing the items’ origin and later speculated they may have come from “dumpster diving.”
As of this week, both Gill and Odvarka still face active charges in connection with the case. Odvarka has a jury trial scheduled for Sept. 15 at the Hennepin County Government Center in downtown Minneapolis. Gill has omnibus and evidentiary hearings scheduled for Aug. 27 and Oct. 13 at the same courthouse.
Comments
We offer several ways for our readers to provide feedback. Your comments are welcome on our social media posts (Facebook, X, Instagram, Threads, and LinkedIn). We also encourage Letters to the Editor; submission guidelines can be found on our Contact Us page. If you believe this story has an error or you would like to get in touch with the author, please connect with us.