Bag of Chips Breaks Open Rochester Liquor Store Burglary Case

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News)- The Olmsted County Attorney's Office has filed charges in connection to a Rochester liquor store burglary that occurred over the summer. 

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Two young men from Rochester are charged in connection to the burglary. The criminal complaint indicates a bag of chips may have provided a key break in the case for investigators. 

The break-in happened around 3 a.m. on July 17. Rochester Police responded to an alarm at the Apollo Liquor Store at 4040 E. Frontage Road and found someone had smashed out the building’s front window. 

An investigator reviewed surveillance footage captured by cameras at the nearby Best Buy store and saw three individuals walking in the area and eating from a bag of chips shortly before the break-in. The cameras showed a rock being hurled at the store window then two individuals entering it. 

Police then obtained surveillance footage from a Kwik Trip near the burglary scene and found images of three individuals matching the description of the three seen on footage captured by the other cameras. 

Through stills taken by the Kwik Trip cameras and cross references of other images, investigators identified the burglary suspects as 22-year-old Abdikarem Kasim Mohamed and 20-year-old Katavion Lamar Leggins. The criminal complaint says the duo stole eight liquor bottles worth a combined total of $260.00 and inflicted $3,900 in damage to the store. 

Leggins is charged with felony third-degree burglary, felony first-degree criminal damage to property and misdemeanor theft. Mohamed is facing aiding and abetting charges for the same alleged crimes. 

Both young men are due to make their first court appearances in the case in January.