Teen admits to break-in as spree grows with 3 burglaries in Eden Prairie

A Maple Grove teenager has pleaded guilty to a home break-in that authorities suspect was among many carried out by multiple suspects this summer around the Twin Cities.

Brendan A. Durant was one of two 18-year-olds charged last month in Wright County District Court with felony burglary as well as misdemeanors for fleeing police and receiving stolen property.

Durant pleaded guilty to the burglary count and struck a deal with prosecutors that caps his potential time in lockup at six months. A 10-year stint on probation is also possible when he's sentenced on Sept. 25.

The same charges remain pending against Durant's alleged accomplice, Davion M. Allyn, of Coon Rapids. Allyn is due back in court on Monday.

The two are suspected of fueling an especially busy burglary spree that has hit many communities, with the perpetrators working in small groups and getting into homes by using garage door openers left in unlocked vehicles.

On Wednesday, police in Eden Prairie disclosed that burglars struck three homes recently late at night and while residents were inside sleeping.

Two of the break-ins were in the 9000 block of Crestwood Terrace and another was nearly 3 miles northeast in the 16000 block of Biscayne Blvd.

Items were taken from the unlocked vehicles parked inside garages and elsewhere on the properties included credit cards, cash, jewelry and sunglasses.

Allyn and Durant were arrested June 10 in connection with a residential break-in in Otsego.

Investigators also suspect the two stole items from four vehicles in the area and took a television and golf clubs from another home nearby.

Before they were caught, the Wright County Sheriff's Office said it had received 20 calls about stolen vehicles, thefts from vehicles and residential burglaries believed to have been carried out by the two and others.

Police in nearby Big Lake said earlier last month that its residents have been targeted by what they called "a very sophisticated ring" of burglars who have also struck Monticello, Buffalo and Plymouth. They use stolen vehicles to get around and commit more crimes, Big Lake police added. Police in Bloomington and Maple Grove also were looking into recent burglaries with similar characteristics.