Minneapolis man charged with alleged burglary of Minnetonka home

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Suspect had previous warrants out for second-degree burglary

A Minneapolis man has been charged with second-degree burglary for allegedly breaking and entering a Minnetonka apartment and stealing many of the owner’s belongings.

Edwin Dale Meaney, 59, had been a fugitive for the past two years after having Department of Corrections and Hennepin County warrants for his arrest for a previous burglary case.

On July 9, Minnetonka officers were dispatched to a burglary call at a residence on the 10200 block of Greenbrier Road in Minnetonka.

When police arrived, they spoke with the woman who made the call – the girlfriend of the man who lived at the residence. She told officers that when she entered his apartment, it appeared to have been burglarized, according to the Minnetonka criminal complaint.

According to the woman, her boyfriend had been out of the country on vacation since July 2, and she had planned on picking him up later that day.

Before she left to pick him up, she stopped at his residence to turn on the air conditioning and noticed the front door was unlocked. There was also a pry mark on the door latch and another on the outer edge of the door.

She took a couple of steps into the apartment and noticed that there were items scattered all over and lights left on that had previously been turned off. She immediately left the apartment and called police.

Police at the scene observed two kitchen knives lying on the floor near the front door and saw that several cabinets and drawers were hanging open. There were items scattered on the floor in the dining area and on the bed in the master bedroom, and there was an aluminum briefcase open with items scattered on the bed in the spare room.

The Hennepin County Crime Lab was called and processed the scene.

The resident of the apartment arrived home about two hours after police were called.

After examining his home, he told police several items were taken, including a Pentax camera, a lens, a camera bag, camera filters, a Canon Powershot digital camera, a 60 GB iPod, a Flip Ultra video camera, a Celtic ring, a silver and gold five-year anniversary ring from American Express, a large piggy bank, a messenger bag, a Timex watch and a Garmin GPS.

He told police that he did not give anyone permission to enter his residence or take any of his belongings, according to the charging documents.

As part of its investigation, the Hennepin County Crime Lab collected and processed DNA swabs from the kitchen knives that had been left on the floor in the apartment.

Early last month, the crime lab received a match showing that the DNA profile recovered from the swabs of the knife handles matched the DNA of Meaney.

This match was confirmed by comparing the known DNA profile collected from Meaney as part of a 2009 burglary case in St. Louis Park.

In an attempt to locate Meaney, police learned that he was listed as a fugitive by the Department of Corrections and the department had an active felony warrant on him for second-degree burglary.

Likewise, police learned that Hennepin County also had an active warrant for Meaney for second-degree burglary.

On Oct. 31, Meaney was charged with second-degree burglary, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison or $20,000 fine.

He is in custody at the Sheriff’s Jail at Minneapolis City Hall on a $40,000 bond.

His court date is Tuesday, Nov. 20.