150 heists: One Twin Cities man’s handiwork?

Over the past year, Timothy Kielb -- working with accomplices -- left a trail of jimmied doors, cut alarm wires, and cracked safes across the Twin Cities.

By SARAH LEMAGIE and MARIA Elena BACA, Star Tribune staff writers

Last update: October 24, 2009 - 1:53 PM

Over the past year, Timothy Kielb left a trail of jimmied doors, cut alarm wires, and cracked safes across the Twin Cities, according to the paper trail of criminal complaints piling up against him.

Court documents and interviews with police depict a burglar who is far from a two-bit smash and grabber.

Suspected in at least 150 burglaries around the metro, Kielb, 42, drove a Cadillac DeVille. Arrested this month in Shakopee, he explained the large wad of cash in his pocket by saying he had just won $17,000 at a casino.

Documents say he has been caught in the late-night possession of a variety of the tools of his alleged trade: sledge hammers, crowbars, cordless drills and walkie-talkies.

His M.O. was to have a lookout watch the front door and keep him informed via two-way radio, police say. Sometimes, he would cut alarm wires, wait from a safe distance for police or the owner to come and go, and then go back inside. He would drill into the safe or ATM, smash them apart with a sledge hammer or even cart them away.

Charged in at least four metro-area counties in the past year, he has repeatedly posted bail, then allegedly kept right on working, hitting a string of coffee shops, bars and other small businesses.

"His name had been coming up continually in burglaries," said Minneapolis police Inspector Kris Arneson, one member of a multiagency group that has been tracking Kielb for months.

Authorities believe he's part of a larger criminal group, according to Minneapolis police Sgt. Scott Downing. Kielb "isn't the brains of the operation," Downing said,

Working together, investigators caught Kielb after 3 a.m. on Oct. 12 by going high-tech: They got a court order allowing them to track his car via an attached GPS device, then watched Kielb attempt another job at a Caribou Coffee in Shakopee. As they watched, police listened on radio scanners while an alleged accomplice acted as lookout as they went through their routine.

"We thought that would be the only way to get him," Arneson said. "He's pretty smart. He knows what he's doing."

Kielb, for whom court records list a Brooklyn Center address, faces charges in Scott County of second-degree burglary and possession of burglary tools. Investigators who searched the Cadillac also found a plastic bag of methamphetamine, which added a count of third-degree drug possession.

Attempts to contact Kielb or his attorney for comment on Friday were unsuccessful. He was in custody Friday evening at the Scott County jail, where his bail was set at $350,000.

This time, Arneson said, "We're hoping he doesn't make bail."

Court records indicate Kielb has a lengthy criminal record that includes convictions for aggravated robbery and burglary.

In Dakota County, he pleaded guilty in late 2008 to possession of burglary or theft tools in the attempted burglary of a Caribou Coffee on County Road 42 in Burnsville. Sentencing in the case is scheduled for Feb. 24.

In Hennepin County, he has a court date Nov. 4 on a second-degree burglary charge. In that case, authorities say he and another man tried to drill and pry their way into an ATM at a mall in Crystal this summer.

And in Anoka County, Kielb has a Thursday pretrial hearing scheduled in the burglary of a Fridley gas station.

The victim of that heist, owner Joe Rmayt, arrived at his BP station on East River Road on the morning of Aug. 11, 2008, to find the ATM smashed and papers and debris all over the store.

As he waited for police to check out the scene, "I was praying to God that they never went into the office," he said, adding that the safe held receipts for the whole weekend.

Sure enough, he lost $27,000 cash, plus a coin collection, cigarettes and more. In all, damage to his shop amounted to $60,000. Insurance paid about half.

Sarah Lemagie • 952-882-9016

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