Incident At 2214 Lyndale Ave. N. (Honor Among Thieves?)

Photos By John Hoff

Yesterday I was driving along, and you might say I was minding my own business but I wasn't. I watch. I look for situations requiring 911 or 311. As I went by 2214 Lyndale Ave. N., I noticed something had changed... 

The yard was full of furniture, only it wasn't a rummage sale. Piles of possessions were in the front yard. The front door was, as always, boarded up. 

The Value Of Knowing The Neighborhood

 

I've driven by this property many times. It is vacant and sits right next to "Upper Drug-O-Topia," Jeff's former apartment. I became well aware of the vacant aspect of this property, because Jeff and other tenants would sometimes make use of the unused parking spots in the back. In fact, during the last tire-slashing incident, that's where Jeff had my car towed.

So suffice to say...I'm well aware the property is vacant. So what was all that stuff doing on the lawn?

I pulled over, thinking of walking across the street to get a closer look. Just then, a truck pulling a trailer parked in the street. Two guys started loading up all that furniture and--somehow this detail stuck out--a set of skis. I couldn't get much of a description on the guys. One of them had a denim jacket, that much I could see. They acted like they had all the business in the world cleaning out that house of all the personal items. Was I just being paranoid, I wondered? It was still daylight. Who would commit a burglary in broad daylight? Who would commit a burglary that involved taking a DRESSER? 

 Then I saw one of them pry, half-heartedly, on the top of the boarded up door with a screw driver. These boards contain "public screws" which require a special drill bit to remove. Why would legitimate workmen show up without proper tools? That tipped it. I called 911. 

I gave as much info as I could to 911 but, darn it, I didn't have a plate number of vehicle description, except it was a truck pulling a trailer and the lights on the trailer were properly hooked up. (That was actually one reason I hesitated...the trailer looked legitimate)

So I pulled around to circle the block and get a plate number. But by the time I got there, the truck had left...and as I went through the alley, one of the MPD squad cars was actually right behind me. I pulled up near the Latino church and walked over toward 2214 Lyndale, not knowing if the police were going to get out of their vehicles and investigate or what. There was an unshaven, unsavory-looking guy in a stocking cap standing directly in front of 2214. He looked like one of the chronic inebriates who hang around the Merwyn's Liquor a short distance away. 

Honor Among Thieves 

I was about to ask him some kind of question...something along the lines of, "What's up? Are you working on this property?" (Who wants to know?) "The neighborhood association. We watch these houses. Are those your friends with the truck--?"

But just then, a portly white guy in a denim jacket came walking out rapidly, cell phone in one hand and what looked like a Phillips screwdriver in the other. A cop was right behind him--extremely tall and muscular. The guy with the cell phone was saying, "Honey--"

The cop told him to put the phone down. Put it down now. The chubby white guy kept talking in the phone. Who directly disobeys an officer like that? What cell phone conversation with somebody named "Honey" is so important that you'd disregard a police officer THAT LARGE?

In retrospect, the guy was warning his criminal confederates, the guys in the truck. Meanwhile, the old guy with the stocking cap just FROZE. I think the officer told him to remain where he was. He just acted like a statue of a chronic inebriate and didn't move, while right in front of him the officer grabbed the portly guy's wrist. It happened so quick, but I think it was the hand with the SCREWDRIVER. As he went down to the grass next to the sidewalk, up against the chain link fence, he was STILL TRYING TO TALK INTO THE PHONE.

I told Jeff and Bryan about this, later, and Jeff said (though he hated to say it) it was "almost honorable" how this guy (apparently) went out of his way to warn his buddies with the truck. A true (apparent) case of "honor among thieves." 

Soon enough, the portly guy was handcuffed--though he resisted the officer's commands to put his hands behind his back--and stuffed in the squad car. The old unshaven guy got arrested, too, and said something like, "I've never been arrested before." He also looked at me and said, "Why did you call the police?" I asked why the stuff from the house was being loaded in a truck. He looked right at me and said, "What truck?"

That's when I knew he was a liar and a thief, but I also knew it was a question of what the officers could prove. Apparently, I was the only one who saw the truck with the trailer. One of the officers asked me for a better description. I also learned one of the guys had a deadbolt lock and claimed to be installing it at the house.

Uh huh. Who goes to a boarded up house and installs a dead bolt? With no tools but a Phillips screwdriver?

The person who owns the house is a matter of record. If that person called some no-accounts to install a deadbolt, the officers would get to the bottom of it, I was certain. The uncooperative actions of one of the subjects--his desperate attempt to complete the phone call to somebody called "Honey" instead of simply explain his business to the officer--tells me enough. 

A Judgment Call

I still agonize about whether I did the right thing. But Jeff thought it was the correct call. That house is vacant. It is well known to be a vacant house. If somebody pulls up to a vacant house and starts taking everything inside, they can certainly expect somebody--possibly even a squad car--to ask questions. Best to have an answer and paperwork ready, instead of a Phillips screwdriver grasped in the hand. 

If there are people who think North Minneapolis is not like that...if they think neighbors will hide behind their window blinds, and not ask questions while a house is cleaned out like a bargain rack at Target...those individuals are mistaken. North Minneapolis is filling up with people who give a rip, and things are getting better every day.

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