In Woodbury: 17 Burglaries, 19 Thefts From Cars, 1 Arrest

Two felony charges have been filed against a Woodbury man in the wake of 17 residential burglaries and 19 thefts from motor vehicles in the city last year.

Paul Thomas Harrington, 19, lives about a half mile from the reported thefts, which occurred between August 2011 and December 2011, according to a criminal complaint.

While he is not a suspect in all the incidents, he is a suspect in several, said Jay Alberio, public information officer with the Woodbury Police Department.

"Obviously, we can only charge the crimes we have evidence of," he said.

He faces two counts of second-degree burglary and up to 20 years in prison and $40,000 in fines if convicted.

According to the complaint:

Last December, were investigating a series of burglaries, the bulk of which occurred about three blocks from Harrington’s home at the 6200 block of Birchwood Road. All were within a mile of his home.

Officers were able to obtain fingerprints from one burglary, and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension later matched them to Harrington.

Officers on Dec. 9, 2011, were patrolling the area following a burglary and came across Harrington near . He was acting nervous and continuously looking at the squad car.

They found a pipe used to smoke marijuana in his possession, along with a cell phone that contained video of an apparent burglary. The video showed a person opening drawers and taking coins, cash and jewelry. A nearby homeowner later confirmed that his home is shown in the video.

Also, police noted during the encounter at the school that the soles of Harrington’s shoes had a distinctive herringbone pattern similar to footprints found at the scene of an Oakwood Road burglary.

On Dec. 16, Woodbury police executed a search warrant at Harrington’s home and found several pilfered items, specifically “Dan’s iPod” previously reported stolen.