East metro police blotter

BLAINE

JAN. 28

Theft: A man in the 600 block of 88th Avenue NE. reported that someone stole his vehicle. Pieces of the dashboard were found on the driveway. St. Francis police recovered the vehicle in the 23200 block of Tammack Drive.

JAN. 30

Theft: A woman in the 11500 block of NE. Arnold Palmer Drive reported that she left a Nintendo game system and games outside her front door for her son's friend to pick up. Immediately after, the woman said a pizza delivery driver arrived with her pizza. After he left, she noticed that the items were missing. Police went to the restaurant where the delivery driver works and spoke with him. He said he did see a bag by the door but didn't take it. The man consented to a search of his vehicle. Inside the glove box, police found the stolen game system and eight of the games. The vehicle was towed and he was taken to jail.

HASTINGS

JAN. 28

Burglary: A man in the 500 block of Westview Drive found that his 1978 15-horsepower Evinrude motor had been taken from his garage. Also stolen was a DVD player, a stereo system, an empty tackle box, a gas tank and three fishing rods and reels.

FEB. 1

Burglary: A man in the 500 block of 5th Street reported that during a 10-minute period when he was gone from his apartment, his door was kicked in and his laptop was taken from a coffee table. The bedroom door was also damaged.

OAKDALE

JAN. 28

Auto theft: A Honda Civic was stolen from the Carmike Cinemas parking lot, 1188 Helmo Av.

JAN. 29

Found property: Someone found a $20 bill in a parking lot in the 1500 block of Hadley Avenue and turned it in to police.

ST. PAUL

JAN. 31

Possession of drug paraphernalia: A 14-year-old student suspected of being high while at Monroe Community School, 810 Palace Av., was cited for possession of a pipe that he had in his jacket, police said. The boy admitted to having smoked marijuana the previous night and apparently still was feeling its effects in class. Police spokesman Tom Walsh said there was no evidence of the student having smoked at school.

FEB. 1

Child placement: Police went to a residence on Iowa Avenue west of Dale Street to take two infants into protective custody through court order, but apparently learned that the kids weren't there. Asked later if the kids now were in danger, police spokesman Tom Walsh said that the issuance of such an order against a parent implies that there was a threat of some kind, but he didn't know how serious it might be. Authorities probably will need additional court intervention, he said, to get the mother to comply with the order.

FEB. 2

Graffiti: A woman living in the 1100 block of Minnehaha Avenue on the city's East Side discovered that 18th Street gang graffiti that had been spray-painted onto her privacy fence no longer was visible, but for the wrong reason: A rival gang, Surenos 13, had spray-painted over it, police spokesman Tom Walsh said.

FEB. 5

Aggravated assault: Three people assaulted a man with tuna and other food cans in an apartment in the 1400 block of Magnolia Avenue E., police said. The incident began with an argument over drugs, police spokesman Tom Walsh said, and ended with the suspects tossing the cans at the victim, who was taken to Regions Hospital with a cut to his face. The suspects were gone when police arrived.

Drug possession: In two separate incidents about three hours apart, police confronted people suspected of possessing drugs, and in both cases, suspects swallowed the suspected narcotics, police said. Officers also resorted to using pepper spray in both incidents, police spokesman Tom Walsh said. The first incident occurred during a traffic stop at Bush Avenue and Frank Street about 7 p.m., and the second during an on-street investigation at Front Avenue and Rice Street at 10 p.m., according to police reports. The suspects were arrested and taken to Regions Hospital for evaluation, but neither was believed to be in danger, Walsh said.

Aimee Blanchette • 612-673-1712