A 25-year-old St. Paul man has been charged after police arrested him Monday in Eden Prairie and found two handguns and a duffel bag full of ammunition in the U-Haul pickup truck he was driving.

John Ross Whitaker was charged Tuesday in Hennepin County District Court with burglary and possession of stolen property, according to Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman.

Whitaker is believed to have burglarized the Frontiersman Sports gun store in St. Louis Park on March 9. Surveillance video from inside the store showed a man dressed in black from head to toe take two handguns from a display case and stuff about 40 boxes of ammunition and magazines for the guns in a duffel bag before leaving out the back door. The man drove away in a light-colored pickup, according to criminal charges filed Tuesday.

Whitaker showed up at the Eden Prairie home of a doctor just after 5 a.m. Monday. The doctor opened the door and recognized Whitaker as one of his patients. Whitaker, dressed in all black, "began talking nonsense," the complaint said.

Whitaker left and drove off in a light-colored pickup with U-Haul lettering on the side. The doctor called police.

An officer found Whitaker on Seneca Pointe near the doctor's home about an hour later and noticed he had a handgun in his left coat pocket. Police arrested Whitaker and found another handgun in another coat pocket. The guns were loaded and matched the description of the weapons stolen from the Frontiersman, the complaint said.

Police also found a duffel bag containing a black ski mask, lock-picking tools and ammunition, the charges said. They also found two more guns in a backpack in the rear of the truck, the complaint said.

Tim Harlow