Golden Valley Man Arrested in Theft of TV, Firearms

A Golden Valley man has been charged with stealing a flat-screen television and several weapons from a neighbor’s home while they were out of town for the holidays.

Reed Wayne Erickson, 18, faces two felony charges in the Dec. 28 incident: theft of a firearm, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $100,000 fine, and second-degree burglary, which has a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine.

According to the criminal complaint, were called to a home in the 6800 block of Country Club Drive on Dec. 28 after a relative of the homeowner reported the thefts.

Golden Valley Police Officer Ryan Matthew’s report says the relative had come to the house to care for the homeowners’ cats while they were out of town, and he noticed that the television was missing, along with bloody fingerprints in several areas leading to the home’s basement.

The witness told police that the burglar had apparently entered the home through a window on the home’s south side. On further investigation, he discovered several guns missing.

Matthew’s report says police learned on Jan. 3 that Erickson had pawned the stolen television Dec. 28 at a Minneapolis pawn shop. Police also received a list of the five stolen firearms, all older models and considered collector’s items, according to the report.

Golden Valley police arrested Erickson during a traffic stop on Jan. 5 and subsequently executed a search warrant at his home, a few houses away from the victims’ address. “A number of firearms were recovered, none of which were those stolen in the Dec. 28 burglary,” Matthew’s report notes.

Erickson admitted to police that he threw a rock at a window in the victims’ home and took the television, taking it back to his home and setting it outside so his mother couldn’t see it, according to the report. He told police that he stole the firearms on a subsequent visit, then went home and stored them in a duffel bag.

Erickson told police that he intended to sell the guns to pay off a drug debt. He said that when he couldn’t find anyone to buy them, he drove with a friend to Wisconsin and threw them in a river.

Erickson is free on a $1,000 bond. His next court appearance is scheduled Feb. 9 in Hennepin County District Court.