Burnsville Neighbors Nab Burglary Suspect

A St. Paul man was arrested this week and charged with burglary after authorities say more than a dozen quick-thinking Burnsville residents grabbed and subdued him when they saw him removing a flat-screen TV from a house whose owner was on vacation.

Yahya Omar Osman, 21, is charged with felony second-degree burglary, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine. He remains in the Dakota County Jail in Hastings on a $15,000 bond.

According to the criminal complaint, a resident in Horizon Heights area of Burnsville called police just before midnight Sunday to report a burglary.

When police arrived, they found Osman seated on the top step of the home’s front porch, surrounded by 15 to 20 people.

The original caller told police that he was outside when he saw an inside light flicker on and off in the home, whose owner was on vacation. He said he told a few other neighbors, and they agreed that something wasn’t right.

The caller said he walked to the back of the home, where he saw a screen that had been cut and four unidentifiable masked men inside, wrapping cords around a large flat-screen television.

The man waited on the side of the house while another neighbor knocked on the front door. All four men inside fled when they heard the knock, according to the complaint, but neighbors were able to catch Osman and subdue him.

The neighbors told police that Osman was carrying a backpack when they grabbed him, and that he asked them not to call police.

Police found a PlayStation unit and several PlayStation games in Osman’s backpack, all of which the home’s occupant said were hers.

An omnibus hearing in Osman’s case is scheduled for July 18 in Dakota County District Court in Hastings.