Stealing Stereo a 'Mistake,' Said Fridley Man: Police

Two men, one from Fridley and one from Minneapolis, were charged with burglarizing a north Minneapolis home after a neighbor witnessed the midday break-in and called police.

Malcolm Cornell Hood, 21, of Fridley and Marlon Terrelle Collins, 20, of Minneapolis are charged with second-degree burglary, a felony with a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine.

Police are still seeking a third suspect in the Nov. 27 burglary.

Minneapolis police were called to a home in north Minneapolis at about 1:30 p.m. Nov. 27 when a neighbor called and said three men had broken into a home and were leaving in a black Ford Crown Victoria, according to the criminal complaint, signed by Minneapolis Police Sgt. Ryan Lynch.

An officer on his way to the burglarized home was passing a gas station when he spotted a car with a license plate matching the description provided by the neighbor. He turned around and followed the vehicle as it left the gas station and stopped.

Two men got out of the car and began walking south on Penn Avenue. When the officer stopped behind the car and got out of his squad car, the two began running through residential yards. They were caught after a short chase.

Police towed the suspects’ car and found a stereo docking station on the floor of the back seat, a flat-screen television in the trunk and a black plastic mask beneath the front passenger seat, according to the complaint. An officer found a stereo remote control in Hood’s right jacket pocket, the complaint charges.

Collins denied any involvement in the burglary, and told police he ran because he thought he had outstanding warrants.

Hood told police that he and Collins were involved in the burglary, according to the complaint, but he refused to identify the third suspect. He said they broke into the house because he was hungry, and he admitted taking the stereo from the kitchen, though he denied knowing that the television was in the trunk, the complaint says.

Hood repeatedly told officers that the burglary was “a mistake” and that he was wrong to do it, according to the complaint.

Hood and Collins remain in the Hennepin County Jail, Hood on a $25,000 bond and Collins on a $15,000 bond; Collins is also being held on three outstanding warrants. An omnibus hearing in Hood’s case is scheduled Jan. 7 and in Collins’ case Jan. 4, both in Hennepin County District Court.