Twin Cities man charged after burglarizing while out on bail from Anoka County
by Paul Groessel – Sun Newspapers – A man allegedly responsible for multiple burglaries since his arrest last June has been arrested and charged again for a burglary Monday in Eden Prairie, where police arrested him shortly after watching him in the act.
At least 20 burglaries have taken place since October, when Stewart Eugene Pesheck, 43, was released on bail from Anoka County while facing burglary charges, according to police involved in the cases.
Pesheck was charged Wednesday with one count of second-degree burglary after his arrest in Eden Prairie Monday, but authorities expect to file more charges after sorting through evidence found in his Richfield home that could link him to burglaries in several southwest Twin Cities homes.
According to a criminal complaint and police officers involved in the arrest, Pesheck was under surveillance Monday after allegedly burglarizing an Eden Prairie home on Antlers Ridge.
He allegedly left his car parked in the driveway, broke into the home, grabbed items from the house and put them into the garage; from there he pulled in his car, loaded it up with stolen goods and then left, the criminal complaint said.
After he left, officers found the back door had been pried open and telephone wires to the home cut. Officers then pulled Pesheck over and arrested him.
Pesheck was out on bail after his arrest last June, according Detective Dave Carlson of Edina. He was released on bail in early October, and police from multiple agencies have been tracking him since a burglary report in early November.
Carlson and Sgt. Dennis Paulson of Eden Prairie said they are still compiling evidence from other burglaries connected to Pesheck. Evidence links him to eight other cases in Eden Prairie, Paulson said.
Metrowide, he is suspected to have burglarized at least 20 homes in the last few months, Carlson said. In that time, he has been linked to incidents in Deephaven, Eden Prairie, Edina, Minneapolis, South Lake Minnetonka and Washington County, according to Eden Prairie police.
Last year he ran into authorities in Anoka and Ramsey counties, and he’s had a prior arrest in Edina, Carlson said.
In June and September 2011, Pesheck was charged in Hennepin County District Court with two separate felony counts of second-degree burglary.
The June charge relates to an attempted burglary in Minneapolis around the same time as the Edina burglaries. According to the criminal complaint, in April, Minneapolis officers published photos from a video caught by a surveillance system at a home where the phone line was cut.
Several callers identified the man pictured as Pesheck. One caller said Pesheck was storing stolen goods in St. Louis Park. Edina Police Department officers observed Pesheck at the storage facility. A subsequent search resulted in the recovery of stolen property.
Another charge dates back to a 2009 burglary in Maple Grove. According to the criminal complaint, in June 2011, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension notified Maple Grove police that shoeprints found in inside a burglarized home matched the shoes Pesheck was wearing when arrested near the site.
In the recent burglaries, police believe he has stolen “thousands, thousands, thousands of dollars” in goods, Paulson said. Much of that was gold and jewelry, and police are still compiling details and totals.
Although he afforded bail for his October release, Paulson said the $250,000 bail set after his recent arrest should keep him in custody.
“I don’t think he’s going to be going anywhere for a while,” Paulson said.
Editor’s note: Details on Pesheck’s prior arrests and charges were provided from a December report by Katie Mintz.
