Ramsey County sheriff's sergeant caught on video stealing from St. Paul home during search, charges allege

A Ramsey County sheriff's sergeant was captured on video stealing hundreds of dollars from a purse and at least one other item from a home in St. Paul while carrying out a court-ordered search, according to a criminal complaint.

Jason M. Degerstrom, 45, was charged Tuesday in District Court with misconduct by a public officer, a gross misdemeanor, and two counts of theft.

Degerstrom was charged by summons and was scheduled to appear in court on July 9. Messages were left Wednesday with Degerstrom seeking a response to the allegations.

The Sheriff's Office said Tuesday that it placed Degerstrom on administrative leave on April 2, about two weeks after the thefts allegedly occurred in a home in the 600 block of E. Geranium Avenue, and will conduct an internal investigation.

"The alleged conduct outlined in the charging documents is troubling and will not be tolerated by this administration," a statement from the Sheriff's Office read. "We will continue to demand that our staff act within the law and uphold the trust placed in us by the community."

The search was part of an illicit drug investigation, and it turned up suspected narcotic residue in several locations in the home, a digital scale and other paraphernalia, and $13,700 in cash in a backpack, according to an inventory filed with the court.

Criminal charges growing out of the search have yet to be filed against the person who was the subject of the warrant, according to the County Attorney's Office.

Two people living at the home say Degerstrom was among officers executing a search warrant on March 18. One of the residents said that a cellphone charger, a sports trading card, a bag of silver half-dollars and several hundred dollars were seized but not inventoried.

Investigators reviewed video from the home's interior motion-activated security camera and saw Degerstrom putting the charger in his pocket and reaching into a purse and stuffing something into his pocket.

The purse had held roughly $1,000, but the inventory filed with the court said there was only $552 inside. Next to the notation were Degerstrom's initials.

Questioned by investigators from the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office, Degerstrom said he took only the charger and "doesn't think he took [it] out of the house but has no idea where it is," the charging document read.