Home of former Vikings player Linval Joseph among those targeted in Sunfish Lake robberies – Twin Cities

The home of Dallas Cowboy and former Minnesota Viking Linval Joseph was the last home visited. Sunfish Lake’s wealthy St. He was the target of a string of burglaries in suburban St. Paul.

Theft to Gazi home of defensive tackle West St., which provides police services in Sunfish Lake. It was discovered Monday, according to St. Paul police.

Three other residential burglaries were reported in Sunfish Lake on Sept. 27, Oct. 25 and last Friday, Nov. 15. The properties in question are located on Sunfish Lane and Salem Church Road in suburban Dakota County, home to more than 500 people.

John Johannson, who lived on the same street as Joseph, returned home in October to find his house had been burglarized. He said the suspects damaged his house and stole his valuables.

“It’s a nice, quiet neighborhood, and it’s shocking how often someone has success,” said Johannson, a commercial real estate developer who played professional hockey for the New Jersey Devils in the 1980s and later in Europe. “The police know what they are doing and they will catch these guys somehow.”

The thefts are similar to more than 60 cases in the Twin Cities metro and others across the country. targeted professional athletesWestSt. According to St. Paul Police Chief Brian Sturgeon.

Law enforcement has been investigating burglaries at luxury homes in Eagan, Richfield, Minneapolis, Edina, Minnetonka, Fridley, Medina, Minnetrista and Orono since last November. Timberwolves’ point guard Mike Conley’s home in Medina was burglarized in September.

“We know they used some sophisticated techniques to determine when people in the house left and where outside cameras were placed in the houses” and that the burglaries were the work of more than one person, Sturgeon said on Monday. It was learned that the thefts occurred when citizens were not at home.

Joseph, 36, played six seasons with the Vikings before being released in 2020. A Cowboys representative said the players were off Tuesday and had no comment on Joseph’s behalf.

Second floor entrances

Johannson said a common theme is thieves breaking in through second-story windows. West St., who is in charge of investigations. St. Paul police Lt. Matt Swenke said many alarm companies will put glass break sensors in first-floor windows, but not higher levels because they don’t think people will climb the buildings.

“Unfortunately, in some of these cases, this goes against well-thought-out concepts,” he said. Still, if they have an alarm system, the best thing people can do is make sure it’s on, Swenke said.

“Because it’s such a peaceful city with no crime, most of us haven’t turned on our security systems in the past,” said Sunfish Lake Mayor Dan O’Leary, who has lived in the community since 2006. O’Leary said that since the thefts, he has made a point of turning on the security system, even if he is just going to the grocery store.

West St. Paul police captured a mobile surveillance camera system at Sunfish Lake on Wednesday.