Police: Women Stole Car—From U.S. Marine Corps

OUTSIDE MINNEAPOLIS -- Two local woman have been charged with breaking into cars in a parking ramp, then stealing a car belonging to the U.S. Marine Corps recruiting center and driving it to Fridley—where police found them with the help of the stolen car’s GPS unit.

Tonya Annamae Losh, 33, of Fridley and Sarah Elizabeth Burrington, 27, of Minneapolis are each charged with three felonies:

• car theft, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine
• theft and first-degree criminal damage to property, each of which has a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine

Heart of the City
According to the criminal complaints:

Burnsville police were called to the Heart of the City parking ramp Monday on several reports of thefts and damage to vehicles, along with the theft of a 2010 Chevrolet Malibu that belonged to the United States government. 

One victim reported that two windows were broken on his work vehicle, also the property of the United States government, and a gas card was missing. Another said numerous items were stolen from his vehicle, including a compound bow, a 32-inch television, a DVD player and a fishing system.

A third victim said a bag and a phone charger were missing from her vehicle, and a fourth said a window had been broken on her car and her husband’s gym bag was missing.

GPS Fridley
The Marine Corps recruiting center employee who reported the stolen car said the Malibu was equipped with a GPS, and provided information from the system to the officers, who passed it on to other police departments.

Shortly afterward, the Malibu was located in Fridley. Police with that city watched two women, later identified as Burrington and Losh, park the car at an apartment complex. The two were arrested as they stepped out of the car.

The government license plates that had been on the stolen Malibu were gone, and had been replaced by license plates reported stolen from a car parked at an apartment complex in the 300 block of McAndrews Road in Burnsville.

Three other thefts and property damage were subsequently reported in the same apartment complex parking ramp: Windows were broken on three vehicles, and a set of keys for a storage locker were stolen from one of them.

'Make Some Money'
Police searched the stolen Malibu and found some of the items that had been reported stolen from cars in the Heart of the City ramp, according to the complaint. Surveillance video from the ramp showed Burrington and Losh entering the ramp in an SUV, getting out, approaching numerous vehicles and pulling on their door handles.

Burrington is seen on the video carrying bags full of stolen items and putting them in the SUV, and she is also seen driving the stolen Malibu from the ramp, according to the complaints.

In a subsequent interview, Burrington admitted stealing the Malibu, items from several cars and the license plate, according to the complaints. Losh admitted that she gave Burrington a ride to the Heart of the City ramp after Burrington said she needed to “make some money,” and also said she pawned the television that Burrington stole from a vehicle, the complaints charge.

Past Convictions
Burrington’s criminal record includes convictions for:

• receiving stolen property in 2005 and 2008
• check forgery in 2005 and 2007
• theft by swindle in 2006
• third-degree burglary in 2008
• mail theft in 2009

Losh was convicted of:

• offering a forged check in 2005
• falsely using another person’s name and date of birth in 2006
• theft in 2006, twice in 2007 and 2010

Next Court Date
Losh has been released from custody on bond. Burrington remains in the Dakota County Jail on a $30,000 bond and also on a probation violation for the 2008 third-degree burglary conviction. Both women have omnibus hearings scheduled Oct. 30 in Dakota County District Court in Hastings.