MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Police arrested three people early Thursday morning after they allegedly invaded a Chisago Lakes Township home and held its owner and renters against their will.

The suspects were booked into the Chisago County Jail on charges of burglary, false imprisonment and other felonies, the county sheriff’s office said. They were identified as 40-year-old Keith Michael Vandekamp, of Vadnais Heights, 36-year-old Mark Joseph Engebrit of Andover, and 26-year-old Kristin Kay Ingram of Isanti.

The sheriff’s office said the home invasion was reported just before 4 a.m. at a residence on the 32500 block of Lofton Lane. The suspects had allegedly entered the home and were holding the homeowner and a family that rents the basement against their will.

Police were alerted to the incident after a someone in the family texted a friend, who then called authorities.

When police got to the home, they helped the family escape while the suspects were upstairs with the homeowner. The suspects were then arrested.

One of the suspects was an acquaintance of the homeowner, the sheriff’s office said.

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A 43-year-old man will spend nearly 8 years in prison for his role in an Anoka County home invasion and assault, the Anoka County Attorney’s Office announced Monday.

On Friday, a jury convicted Eddie Manuel Demmings on charges of burglary and aggravated robbery after a six-day trial. He was then sentenced to 93 months in prison.

On Nov. 7, 2013, an 88-year-old victim was alone in his Oak Grove home when he heard a car pull up to his house. He wasn’t expecting anyone, so he went out to investigate. That’s when Demmings confronted the victim and beat him with a Maglite flashlight.

Demming’s accomplice then went into the house and stole a small safe containing $20,000 in cash. An investigation revealed that Demmings knew about the safe and its cash from his son’s ex-girlfriend.

Demmings was arrested when DNA left at the scene connected him to the crime.

‘This was a horrific crime committed against an elderly man,” Anoka County Attorney Tony Palumbo said. “We are glad the victim recovered fully and that justice for the victim required a lengthy prison sentence.”

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — An Anoka man who climbed atop a north Minneapolis home after fleeing law enforcement was charged Friday with multiple crimes.

The Hennepin County Attorney’s office says Richard Dean Podvin, 37, is charged with two counts of fifth-degree drug possession, one count of first-degree burglary, one count of a prohibited person in possession of a gun and one count of fleeing police in a motor vehicle.

The Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office’s Violent Offender Task Force and U.S. Marshals were searching for Podvin Wednesday, who had been convicted of third-degree assault.

He was spotted in a car on Humboldt Avenue North. Podvin drove off, and led law enforcement on a high-speed chase. Podvin hit a Hennepin County Sheriff’s squad car head-on, and then fled on foot.

He forced his way into a home with a family inside and climbed to the roof, where he stayed for three hours until officers talked him down and arrested him.

Police found a gun, pills and a small amount of meth on Podvin.

The date of his first court appearance has not been released.

(credit: CBS)

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A Duluth man who robbed a Subway franchise at gunpoint and assaulted a woman, whose home he was burglarizing, with a glass vase was sentenced to 13 years and four months in prison on Thursday.

Tommy Ray Morgan, Sr., 28, was found guilty in March of assault, robbery, burglary, credit card fraud and possession of a controlled substance.

In May 2014, the month after he robbed the Subway, he entered a woman’s home as she slept and, after hitting her with the glass vase, stole her jewelry. He also burglarized another home later that month.

The prosecutor had asked for a 30-year sentence.

“The victim came into the courtroom and courageously told the court how the defendant’s actions forever altered her life,” Jon Holets said in a statement after the hearing. “We’re pleased that justice was done, but the sentence was far short of what we thought he deserved.”

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Three days after a 68-year-old woman was murdered in her north Minneapolis home, friends and neighbors came out Sunday evening to take back their streets.

The outrage over Susan Spiller’s senseless killing is being channeled for greater good. They want to show how Spiller changed her Lind-Bohanon neighborhood for the better.

Spiller was instrumental in creating the Lind Community Garden, just a short walk from her north Minneapolis home.  On this gorgeous summer evening there was grass to mow and at the nearby sandlot, games to play. Both are images of what’s normal in Susan Spiller’s neighborhood.

“I’m so proud of you people showing up and helping us get through the hard times,” David Boyd, association treasurer, said.

But Thursday’s senseless killing of Spiller inside her home graced by gardens, has tapped outrage. After signing condolences to Spiller’s family, a crowd both young and old, black and white, took to the streets.

“We’re a diverse community. We’re here showing that no matter what happened we’re going to bounce back and we’re going to do it for the love of Susan for what she was trying to show everybody else,” Boyd said.

Mourners marched through the neighborhood to make a statement. The first stop was the once troubled street corner of 52nd and Bryant Avenue North.

“She (Spiller) helped out to make sure this was getting done and what we ended up with was this camera here,” friend Sheila Scott said.

Spiller made certain the city installed a security camera. Just one example of the influence Spiller had as a community activist.

Then it was on to Spiller’s DuPont Avenue home and the scene of her killing. That’s where the crowd of 150 mourners paid tribute in silence. A silence punctuated only by the sweet sounds of an evening cardinal.

There on the sidewalk outside Spiller’s home, the group grasped hands and listened to a prayer asking for strength.

“Whoever the perpetrators are, we’ve got to get the word out, and whether white or black, got to come together because all lives do matter, and we’re showing that today,” V.J. Smith, the leader of Minneapolis Mad Dads, said.

And to show the victories of someone so committed to community by overcoming the ugliness of crime, with the beauty that one woman left behind.

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A 20-year-old man who escaped from the Black River Correctional Camp in Black River Falls, Wisconsin earlier this month is now suspected in a home invasion and a high-speed pursuit, according to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office.

On the evening of Aug. 2, the sheriff’s office received a report from the Black River Correctional Center located in Jackson County, Wisconsin regarding an inmate — Keaden Timothy James Dumholt – who escaped from their facility.

Then, on Aug. 6, Sawyer County deputies responded to a report of a home invasion where two male suspects entered a home and confronted the homeowner at gunpoint. They then left and the homeowner was uninjured.

Soon after, there was a high-speed pursuit of the suspect vehicle that began in Hayward, Wisconsin on State Highway 77. The vehicle was identified as begin stolen from Jackson County.

Authorities pursued the suspect vehicle to a location on County Highway E where the male driver, the only occupant of the car, fled the vehicle on foot. Search efforts were unsuccessful.

Dumholt is suspected in both the home invasion and high-speed pursuit. Sheriff Mark Kelsey says he should be considered armed and dangerous.

Dumholt is described as 5-foot-10, 145 pounds with brown hair and eyes. He was last seen wearing a gray T-shirt and green pants.

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Authorities are still searching for a 20-year-old inmate who escaped a Wisconsin correctional center 12 days ago.

Kaeden Timothy James Dumholt fled the Black River Correction Center in Black River Falls, Wis. on the night of Aug. 2. He is also suspected of an armed home invasion four days later, which led to a high-speed chase with Sawyer County deputies. The suspect fled on foot and was not found.

Investigators have received several tips on Dumholt’s whereabouts, and have searched several residences with no luck.

Dumholt is described as a white man with brown hair and eyes. He stands 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighs about 145 pounds. He was last seen wearing green pants and a gray T-shirt.

He may now have a buzz cut, and may show signs of facial injuries.

Authorities say he is considered armed and dangerous and should not be approached.

Anyone with information about this case is asked to call the Sawyer County Sheriff’s Department at 715-634-4858, 877-699-4112 or 911.

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Four people were shot after a home invasion in Brooklyn Center early Wednesday morning.

According to Brooklyn Center police, around 3:15 a.m. officers responded to a shooting in the 5000 block of Drew Avenue North.

Upon arrival, officers learned three men and one woman had been shot in a home invasion.

Police believe they are looking for four male suspects in the home invasion shooting, all in their late teens to early 20s. They do not think the victims knew the suspects.

Three ambulances were on the scene for the four victims. One of the victims is in critical condition. The three other victims suffered non-life threatening injuries.

No one is in custody in connection with this incident. Police are still searching for the suspects.

BROOKLYN CENTER, Minn. (WCCO) — The Brooklyn Center Police Department is on the lookout for four men responsible for a home invasion.

A home in the 5000 block of Drew Avenue was the target. Police say the men entered the home, made demands and then shot four people inside.

It was shortly after 3 a.m. when police got the call that someone had forced their way inside a home in the Brooklyn Center neighborhood.

“Upon arrival officers found that there was three adult males and one adult female that were shot,” Brooklyn Center Police Commander Tony Gruenig said.

Commander Tony Gruenig says their injuries were not life threatening. He says four unknown men busted into the house, looked around and made demands to the people inside before shooting them.

“They were unknown to the party so yes it was a home invasion,” Gruenig said.

Brooklyn Center Police say this appears to be a random attack, but say the public should not be concerned. Neighbors say they are on edge.

“Panicking because it’s so close to home,” neighbor Julie Schneider said.

“Scary, two houses away,” Brittani Schmidt said.

Homeowners say the victims have not lived there long. They own a party supply and bouncy house business and neighbors say their yard is a magnet for kids on the block.

“This is a quiet neighborhood full of hard working folks any town USA and to have something like that happens so close to home is very sad,” Karen Greene said.

Neighbor Karen Greene says she refuses to be held hostage by fear.

“I feel safe here this has always been a really good neighborhood, long time people live here,” Greene said.

Greene says she will be vigilant all while hoping police find those responsible so this quiet, tight-knit neighborhood can return to the way things were.

“I’ve never had any problem in the 19 years that I’ve lived here,” Greene said.

Investigators say the description of the four men is vague. If you have any information about this crime or suspects, please call the Brooklyn Center Police Department.

COLUMBIA HEIGHTS, Minn. (WCCO) — Columbia Heights police are searching for the armed intruder who followed an elderly man into his home, then robbed and shot him.

It happened around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday evening, as the 76-year-old widower was bringing groceries in from his car that was parked in his driveway.

Investigators were going door to door Wednesday morning, searching back yards and garbage cans.

Anoka County Sheriff’s Department Cmdr. Paul Sommer says it was dark outside when Paul Turner pulled into his driveway and brought groceries into the kitchen.

“It’s a pretty brazen and violent act,” Sommer said.

Turner was about to go back outside to his parked van to get his luggage from a trip he had just taken. That is when a lone gunman surprised him as he stood in his kitchen.

When Turner put his hands up, he was shot in the wrist and leg.

The intruder then rifled through Turner’s pockets as he was prone on the floor and grabbed his wallet.

“They just walk in through their automatic garage door into their house, and before, you know, they can even turn around and close the garage door, there’s someone inside committing a robbery,” Sommer said.

Brian Gerdin lives down the street from where the home invasion occurred and says crime rarely visits this quiet neighborhood.

“I think that everybody kind of feels the same way. It’s kind of like this stuff kind of happens randomly in places,” Gerdin said. “Are you going to be any safer the next day?”

Babysitter Joanne Mortensen says neighbors are frightened that a gun was used in the crime.

“They’re really scared about this,” Mortensen said.

She says folks in the neighborhood will be much more vigilant by securing garage doors and locking all entries.

That was something Turner did not yet have the chance to do when he was so suddenly attacked.

“They’re going to be extra cautious on this deal, until they catch the guy at least,” Mortensen said.

Anyone with information about the crime is asked to contact the Criminal Investigations Division of the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office at 763-323-5000.

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Officials in Columbia Heights say they’re searching for a vehicle of interest in connection to an incident earlier this week where a 76-year-old man was robbed and shot in his home.

The crime happened on Tuesday night on the 5000 block of Johnson Street Northeast, just as Paul Turner was returning from Target and unloading groceries.

An intruder entered Turner’s home, surprised him in the kitchen, shot him twice, and then went through his pockets.

The Anoka County Sheriff’s Office says surveillance footage from a nearby the Target store shows a dark-colored sedan pull up to Turner’s car that night after he entered the store.

No one got out of the suspect car, which was seen following Turner’s vehicle after it left the parking lot.

Officials describe the suspect car as a likely late model Dodge Charger, or a similar dark-colored sedan.

The suspect is described as being in his mid-20s and wearing dark clothing.

Anyone with information on the vehicle or the suspect is asked to call the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office at 763-427-1212.

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Police in Columbia Heights are offering a $1,000 reward for information that will lead to the arrest of a suspect in a home invasion and robbery last week.

In the evening of Sept. 22, 76-year-old Paul Turner was robbed and shot when an intruder followed him inside his home in the 5000 block of Johnson Street NE.

Turner had been bringing groceries in from his car when the suspect followed him in, robbed him and then shot him in the wrist and leg.

On Sept. 24, officers said they were able to identify a vehicle of interest using surveillance footage from a nearby Target.

(credit: Anoka County Sheriff’s Office)

Further investigation of the footage showed a dark-colored sedan pull up to Turner’s car on the evening of Sept. 22 as Turner entered the store. No one got out of the car, and eventually it followed Turner as he left the parking lot.

Officers described the suspect car as a late model Dodge Charger, or a similar dark-colored sedan.

According to the Columbia Heights Police Department, the suspect is described as being in his mid-20s and wearing dark clothing.

The Columbia Heights Police Department and Anoka County Criminal Investigations Division is now offering up to a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest.

Anyone with information on the vehicle or the suspect is asked to the call the Anoka County Criminal Investigations Division at 763-247-1212. Information can also be submitted to crime stoppers by calling 1-800-222-8477.

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Authorities have identified a man who was shot and killed in a Maplewood home invasion early Saturday morning.

Police say they were called at about 4:47 a.m. to a home on the 2200 block of Hazel Street on a report that a man had been shot. When officers arrived, they found a resident of the home with a gunshot wound to the upper portion of his body.

The man, identified by authorities as 31-year-old Justin Niles Wright, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The victim’s girlfriend, who was in a different part of the home during the shooting, called police. She was not injured. Police blocked off the area to search for the shooter — who is still at large.

Investigators at the scene said that the suspect likely got into home through forced entry by a back door. A gun was found discarded on a driveway a short distance from the home. Authorities say it was sent to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to determine if it was liked to Wright’s death.

The BCA is assisting the Maplewood Police Department in the investigation. Anyone with information should contact Maplewood Police at (651) 767-0640.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) — Within minutes of a family being terrorized in their home, St. Paul police were able to capture two suspects, in part because of a watchful neighbor.

Two masked men broke into a lower-level apartment on Stinson Street Monday night where Nancy Brown and her six kids were sleeping. Her husband was at work.

Brown said she wasn’t sure anyone on the home would live to tell the story.

“You’re thinking that’s like the end of your life, not knowing if they’re going to shoot you and your kids or just you,” she said.

Brown said two men burst through her front door and went right to her bedroom, with one of them pointing a gun.

“And he’s asking me ‘where is it, I know you know where the stuff is, where is it? Tell me,'” she said. “I says, ‘I don’t have anything, I don’t have anything.'”

Her children had been sleeping, but then one of the burglars noticed her 10-year-old daughter in the kitchen.

“(He was) pointing a gun at her and says, ‘if you want to live, follow me,'” Brown said. “And that’s when he brought her back to my room and told her to lay face down on my bed with my youngest daughter.”

(credit: CBS)

Laverne Jackson lives upstairs and noticed a suspicious vehicle across the street, under a street light.

“I was looking out the window,” she said, “there was this guy walking really slow. I’m getting a good look at him walking towards the car casually.”

While she and Brown were still on the phone with the 911 operator, police pulled over a vehicle, less than half a mile away, at Maryland and Mackubin.

Officers then drove Brown and Jackson to that intersection, where they got a good look at the suspects and the masks inside their vehicle.

“They were pulling out the masks, they had the gun,” said Jackson.

“Sickening, absolutely sickening,” said Brown. “I haven’t had any sleep since Monday night.”

Brown said the intruders were asking for marijuana and money, but she had nothing to give them.

Police arrested 27-year-old Justin Valencia and 21-year-old Darius Brown and found a stolen gun in their car.

Both were booked into the Ramsey County Jail.

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A man has been charged with murder after a deadly home invasion in Maplewood in early November.

Thirty-year-old Brandon Lamar Cooper is charged with two counts of second-degree murder for breaking into a home and then killing a man who lived there, according to the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office.

(credit: CBS)

Police were called to the house on Hazel Street early Saturday morning on Nov. 7. A woman who lived there told police she saw someone shoot 31-year-old Justin Wright.

Investigators were able to track down Cooper as part of a burglary ring. They say that ring was responsible for other home invasions which targeted known marijuana dealers.

Investigators also used information from cellphone towers to track Cooper’s phone to the home in Maplewood.

MAPLEWOOD, Minn. (WCCO) — An elderly woman was threatened with a gun and strangled until she was unconscious during a home invasion over the weekend.

Maplewood Police say two men were caught on surveillance video using stolen credit cards suspects and need your help identifying them.

Police now have a camera keeping an eye on the Carefree Cottages. It’s where a 75-year-old woman was the victim of a home invasion.

“I can’t believe someone actually had the audacity to do a broad daylight, come into someone’s home. How do you feel safe?” Rose Jordan said.

Police said the victim went back to her home after realizing she left something inside. That’s when a woman came to her door, asking to use her phone.

“The suspect pulled out a gun backed her back into her home,” Police Chief Paul Schnell said.

Schnell said the woman then called two men. They came to the home, bound the victim’s hands and then ransacked the unit taking jewelry, credit cards and keys.

“Before they left they made her get down on the floor, they wrapped a clothing item around her neck and strangled her to the point she went unconscious. Really they left this woman for dead,” Schnell said.

Once the woman came-to, she went to neighbor Joel Johnson’s to call police.

“She was pretty out of it at that time matter of fact when police came, they got the paramedics out here too. It was very difficult, very traumatic,” Johnson said.

People living nearby call the attack devastating and criminal.

“We’re easy pickings, we’re out and we’re alone, most of us,” Mary Louise Pasutti said.

“We’re leaving our lights on and we’re all watching out for each other here but that’s all we can do,” Jordan said.

Police are meeting with the Carefree Cottages community Tuesday afternoon. Chief Schnell calls this a random attack and is concerned the group could strike again and someone else could get hurt if they’re not stopped.

If you have any information about the two men, or the woman working with them, contact police.

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Tips from the public helped Maplewood police catch one of three people wanted in connection with a home invasion.

The crime took place Saturday afternoon at Carefree Cottages in Maplewood.

Calls to police resulted in a traffic stop at about 2 a.m. Tuesday, which led to the arrest of 25-year-old Deandre Vershawn Wims.

He is expected to be charged with using the credit cards stolen from the home invasion, but more charges may follow.

Now investigators are trying to tie him and two others still wanted to another home invasion in the area.

People who live in the 250 units at Carefree Cottages packed the community room Tuesday to hear about the steps that are being taken to keep them safe. Two incidents have left many of the residents on edge.

“We have made an arrest in this most recent case,” Maplewood Police Chief Paul Schnell said.

Residents applauded after hearing that Wims is in custody. They are now trying to place him at the unit where a 75-year-old woman was strangled and left for dead.

“We had suspicion or concern that that may have been related to another incident, a burglary of an unoccupied unit,” Schnell said.

He believes Wims also used a credit card taken from a separate home invasion.

“I got notice that one of the credit cards that I had left at home that was being used,” resident Annette Peterson.

She was not home during the break-in at her unit. Police now need to find two others believed to be involved in both cases.

“Never feel safe completely,” resident Howard Hobbs said. “You can’t now a days, it’s a bad time.”

Residents say increased police presence, and a portable camera on site providing surveillance, helps their sense of security.

They will not rest well until all parties involved in these home invasions are caught.

Police say the 75-year-old victim should make a full recovery.

The search continues for the other two suspects. Search warrants are now being served, and investigators hope to find them soon.

Anyone with information about these crimes is asked to contact police at 651-767-0640.

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — The man arrested in connection with the armed invasion of a 75-year-old woman’s residence has been charged with fraud.

Deandre Vershawn Wims was charged with one count of financial transaction fraud, according to the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office.

The fraud was allegedly committed with credit cards Wims stole from a resident of Carefree Cottages in Maplewood Saturday.

Police say the victim was strangled until she went unconscious during the afternoon home invasion.

Investigators are still looking for two other suspects involved.

Wims will make his first court appearance Thursday afternoon in St. Paul.

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) –

A Minneapolis woman has been arrested in connection with a Maplewood home invasion last week.

Shonice Lacyra Harmon, 23, was arrested on an aggravated robbery charge in connection to her role in the home invasion.

On January 2, Harmon and two men threatened an elderly woman at gunpoint in her home and strangled her until she was unconscious.

According to the Maplewood Police, officials identified Harmon as the female suspect that first approached the victim’s door. Harmon asked to use the victim’s phone and when the victim refused, she pointed a gun at her and entered by force.

Harmon and the two men then robbed the home, taking jewelry, money and other items. One of the men then strangled the victim until she was unconscious.

Maplewood police arrested one of the male suspects on Wednesday. According to police, tips from the public helped police apprehend 25-year-old Deandre Vershawn Wims.

He is now charged with using the credit cards stolen from the home invasion — two counts of 1st degree aggravated robbery, one count of 1st degree burglary and one count of kidnapping.

Officers are actively seeking the third suspect.

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A man charged with fraud in connection with a January home invasion in Maplewood has been sentenced to more than 10 years in prison.

Deandre Vershawn Wims, who had also been charged with first-degree aggravated robbery, kidnapping and first-degree burglary, was sentenced Thursday in Ramsey County Court to 126 months in prison with credit for 122 days served.

Wims, along with another man and a woman, committed the home invasion of a 75-year-old woman’s residence in January. She was threatened with a gun and strangled until she lost consciousness. The fraud was committed with credit cards Wims stole from the woman, a resident of Carefree Cottages in Maplewood.

Police say a woman came to the victim’s door asking to use the phone. The woman then called two men, one of which was Wims. They came to the home, bound the victim’s hands and then ransacked the unit taking jewelry, credit cards and keys.

Two men, one of which was Wims, were later spotted on surveillance cameras using the stolen credit cards.