Police Search For Lakeville Man Accused In String Of Dakota Co. Thefts
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Police have issued a warrant for the arrest of a Lakeville man who is accused in a strong of thefts from April to June in Dakota County.
Nathan James Clark, 22, faces one felony count of theft and four counts of felony theft from a person for allegedly stealing four purses from people in Apple Valley and thousands of dollars worth of merchandise from Dakota County stores.
According to the criminal complaint, police officers from Apple Valley took four reports of purse thefts at retail stores from April 22 to April 26.
Police said the first victim was at a Rainbow on Cedar Avenue on April 22. She told police that her purse was taken from her cart when she had her back turned.
The purse was later recovered, but her wallet, $30 of cash, her driver's license and her social security card were missing.
The second victim was at Cub Foods on Cedar Avenue on April 24. She also told police her purse was taken from her cart as she was grocery shopping. The purse was later located in the freezer section, but $10 cash was missing.
Police said the third victim was shopping at a Target store on Cedar Avenue on April 25. The purse was once again taken from a cart, located later and was missing a wallet and $30 of cash.
The fourth victim was shopping at JoAnn Fabrics on April 26. While shopping she sat down at a table and placed the backpack by her feet. She told police when she got up the backpack was gone.
As with the other alleged thefts, the backpack was found later.
Police said she was not missing any property from the backpack, and that she didn't have any cash in her wallet.
According to the criminal complaint, surveillance video obtained from the stores showed the same male suspect taking the purses.
After sending out a tri-county alert, officers were able to identify the suspect as Clark.
According to the criminal complaint, officers searched the defendant's residence on May 5. They found clothing that was identical to what was seen on the surveillance video.
Police spoke with Clark's mother who positively identified the man on the tapes as her son.
Police said she told officers that her son had a heroin addiction and had recently enrolled in a treatment program.
Dakota County officers encountered another string of thefts from May 12 through June 18.
According to the criminal complaint, eight thefts of merchandise were reported at stores in Lakeville, Burnsville and Apple Valley during that time.
Police said surveillance video from all of the retail stores show Clark handling the merchandise.
Additionally, his pawn history shows numerous transactions with items identical to the stolen items.
Officers spoke with Clark's mother again on Sept. 5. She told them she hadn't seen Clark in a while, and that the thefts were most likely related to his chemical dependency issues.
Police said total cost of merchandise stolen by Clark is $1,879.92.
Officers have issued a warrant for his arrest.
