Two men face felony burglary charges after one told Woodbury police about a burglary… and investigators later learned that the duo likely committed the crime themselves.

Harley Davidson Sullivan, 18, of Hastings, and Jared Michael Sternaman, 20, of White Bear Lake, both were charged with felony burglary in connection with a Jan. 23 incident in Woodbury.

According to the criminal complaints:

After responding to an alarm at Prestwick Golf Club at 5:20 a.m. on Jan. 23, an officer spotted an SUV driving slowly through the area.

The officer recalled an inner-department memo regarding a theft suspect who drives a similar vehicle and conducted a traffic stop.

There were three people in the SUV, and they provided documentation that they were delivering newspapers.

One of the men, identified as Sullivan, told police they had witnessed a crime 25 minutes before. He told the officer he saw two men slide beneath a partially open garage door.

Police followed Sullivan to the home, at the 10300 block of Dorset Lane, where they made contact with the homeowners and learned that three vehicles in the garaged showed signs of tampering. A purse was missing from one of the cars.

Sullivan and Sternaman were allowed to leave.

Authorities later discovered that one of the homeowner’s credit cards had been used later that morning at a gas station in Cottage Grove. Surveillance images from the station matched Sullivan and Sternaman. (The credit card was also used for $481 worth of purchases at a Wal-Mart and $24 in purchases at a McDonald’s before being declined for $369 worth of goods at a SuperAmerica.)

On Jan. 24, Ramsey County deputies arrested Sullivan and Sternaman and transported them to the Washington County Jail.

During an interview with investigators, Sullivan told police they committed the crimes but said the third individual in the vehicle was unaware of the criminal activity.

The burglary charges carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $35,000 fine.

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