Maple Grove Homeowner Surprises Would-Be Burglar in Garage

A Brooklyn Park man has been charged with burglarizing a Maple Grove home in an attempt to steal items to sell for scrap.

Simon Donnell Brown, 59, is charged with first-degree burglary, a felony with a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $35,000 fine. He is also charged with fourth-degree DWI, a misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.

According to the criminal complaint, signed by Maple Grove Police Detective Robert Seidenkranz, police were called to a home on Arbor Lakes Parkway just after 8:30 a.m. Aug. 4 on a report of a burglary in progress.

Police spoke to the homeowner, who said she walked into her attached garage and found a man standing near the door that led inside the house. She told officers that the man fled and drove away in a white minivan.

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Officers found the van a short time later and arrested Brown. Police noticed that Brown smelled of alcohol, and found open beer bottles in the passenger compartment of the van, according to the complaint.

The victim identified Brown as the man whom she had found in her garage.

Brown’s blood-alcohol content registered .13 percent. He told police that he had gone into the victim’s open garage because he wanted to steal something to sell for scrap.

Brown is free on a $30,000 bond. An omnibus hearing in his case is scheduled Sept. 12 in Hennepin County District Court.