Only the other day I was talking to a friend of mine, trying to figure out how somebody could (purely in theory!) cheaply build their own "bait car" and take neighborhood watch TO THE NEXT LEVEL.
Part of what sparked the discussion was my impression the Minneapolis Police Department (god bless them) doesn't utilize bait cars enough.
Well, I was mistaken. They sure do utilize bait cars. And one of those cars allegedly snared a guy named Xia NMN Her-Xiong, who reportedly resides at 2313 Dupont Ave. N. That's his address on the jail roster, but on the criminal complaint his address is 1030 Morgan Ave. N.
A search online turned up the actual criminal complaint filed by the Hennepin County Attorney, rich with juicy detail...
However, the complaint is from 2009. A trial was held and Her-Xiong was found guilty of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. Now there has been a "probation violation" on that old charge, and the date the "probation violation" came to the attention of the courts (3/21/12) is a few days after Her-Xiong landed in jail, again. (3/18/12) He has also been convicted in the past on drug charges.
Her-Xiong currently faces court hearings on two possible drug charges, receiving stolen property, and possession of burglary tools. There's information in the roster about taking a motor vehicle, but it's not clear to me whether that represents a new charge or just being held on the alleged probation violation for that old conviction.
In any case, the 2009 bait car incident is of interest and revealing about how MPD uses this crime fighting tool.
According to Officer Wayne Johnson of MPD, on April 20, 2009, officers were reported to a bait car activation. The car had been parked on Irving Ave. N. at at Oak Park Av. The location of the bait car was, of course, based on auto theft data from that area.
An officer located the bait car at 8th Ave. N. and Irving Ave. N. and saw a male exit the vehicle. Xia Her-Xiong was identified as the male. The keys were found in plain view on the front passenger side floor.
And it was all caught on video.
(Loudly, as though to myself, but not really)
Yeah, it's a TERRIBLE idea to steal a car in North Minneapolis. It could be a BAIT CAR.
5 comments:
Wait, you didn't mention that part about how your friend was RIGHT! :-)
My friend was RIGHT. The Minneapolis Police Department is using bait cars.
But if I were to attach a geographic locator to my car and it becomes a de facto bait car, so be it. I won't purposely make a bait car, but heck if I don't have a right to attach a locator to my car if I happen to have one.
You would also have the right to install a small camera (or two, or three...) - they now have inexpensive wireless IP cameras. This would require you to have it parked close to your house for internet connection, I'm assuming ( but perhaps public wi-fi would work?). There's free software that will start recording video if anything moves (to prevent you from having several terabytes of blank video). Since the recording would be on your computer, even if they later saw the camera, it's far too late to do anything about it!
The PD needs more bait cars. Have you seen how many cars go up for auction every month from the city's impound lot? LOTS. I'm sure ten years ago it cost a mint to convert a standard car to a bait car. It shouldn't cost very much now, just plug in a module, hide a couple cameras and a microphone and you're done.
Xia is back in jail as of 5/17/12
Full Name: HER-XIONG, XIA .NMN
Booking Number: 2012013327
Date of Birth: 6/16/1989
Sheriff's Custody: IN CUSTODY . .
Housing Location: PUBLIC SAFETY FACILITY Address
Received Date/Time: 5/17/2012.. 11:00
Arrested By: MINNEAPOLIS PD
Case/Count Description of Charge Charged By Reason for Arrest Severity of Charge State of Charge Bail Information Court Appearance Date/Time Court Appearance Location
1/1 THEFT/AUTO MINNEAPOLIS PD PROBABLE CAUSE PROB CAUSE FORMALLY CHARGED $1,000
BAIL SET BY DC 5/23/2012..13:30 DOWNTOWN Address
1/2 THEFT-TAKE/DRIVE MOTOR VEHICLE-NO OWNER CONSENT MINNEAPOLIS PD PROBABLE CAUSE FELONY $0
5/23/2012..13:30 DOWNTOWN Address
1/3 POSSESSION OF BURGLARY OR THEFT TOOLS MINNEAPOLIS PD PROBABLE CAUSE FELONY $0
5/23/2012..13:30 DOWNTOWN Address
2/1 OTHER COUNTY/FELONY RAMSEY CO SO HOLD FELONY $10,000
BAIL SET BY JAIL ..
Well guess what, he just keeps coming back and obviously, he's the one who'd put it down for the northside... northside aint shit without him... and thats how a nigga keeps it real in the hood!
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