Charges Accuse Two Rochester Men With Theft Convictions of Brazen Motorcycle Theft

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News)- The Olmsted County Attorney’s Office filed charges Tuesday against two Rochester men accused of committing a brazen motorcycle theft. 

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The criminal complaint says the Rochester Police Department responded to the report of a motorcycle theft at an address in the 50 block of 8th St. Northeast on Monday. The officer reviewed security footage from a neighboring home that depicted two men loading a motorcycle parked in a nearby alley into a pick-up truck then driving away from the area around 11:30 a.m. 

Security cameras at the nearby Sherwin Williams store along 7th St. Northeast also captured the alleged daytime theft. The officer obtained the pick-up’s license plate and learned it was registered to 61-year-old Dana Mathew Schwartz, the charges say. 

Police then went to Schwartz’s residence along Marion Rd. where they found the pick-up then arrested Schwartz. The charges say Schwartz told police he was alerted to the motorcycle by 30-year-old Roger Lee Heinrich. 

Schwartz said he picked up Heinrich and the two went to the motorcycle and loaded it into his truck bed. Schwartz thought Heinrich had bought the motorcycle and was trying to sell it to someone else, court documents say. 

Schwartz said he dropped Heinrich and the motorcycle off at the Northern Hills Condos. The complaint says police then went to the condos where they arrested Heinrich. 

Heinrich told officers he thought the motorcycle was junk saying it was inoperable due to a crash and that he was planning to sell it to a person named Sunny for $700. Heinrich said he placed the motorcycle by a dumpster at condos then noticed it was gone and suspected one of his neighbors of taking it, according to the charges. 

Officers searched the parking lot and found a van with the motorcycle inside. The van’s owner told police they thought the motorcycle was junk and that he planned to haul it away, the complaint states. 

Both men were charged Tuesday with a felony count of aiding and abetting motor vehicle theft and a felony count of aiding and abetting theft. Schwartz and Heinrich were released without bail but with conditions. 

Court records show Schwartz was convicted of a felony charge of receiving stolen property in Olmsted County in 2006 and has been convicted of misdemeanor theft in Olmsted County five times since 20018. He’s also facing a felony burglary charge for the alleged theft of steel grates from a Rochester carwash earlier this month. 

Heinrich was convicted of gross misdemeanor theft in Dakota County in 2021 and misdemeanor theft in Winona County in 2015. Heinrich’s next court appearance is set for May 30 and Schwartz is due back in court on June 14.