Rochester, MN (KROC AM News) - Rochester police are trying to locate a man who is suspected of stealing a vehicle that the owner had left running in the alley behind his house.

The same man is also suspected of leading an officer on a chase a few hours earlier. And, it’s believed it’s the same guy who got into a struggle with a homeowner after being discovered hiding in that man’s garage.

It’s believed the man was driving a car that an officer tried to pull over in the area of 7th St and 12th Ave NE around 2:00 AM Tuesday. The driver drove off and the car was found parked a few blocks away. A 30-year-old Pine Island woman in the car told the officer said she had fallen asleep while a man she did not know was driving.

Police received a call around 5:00 AM from a homeowner who lived in the same area who reported he had just struggled with a man he found in his garage. The homeowner said the man had told him he was “hiding from someone” and then ran off.

An hour later a man who also lived in the area of the two earlier incidents called to report his pickup truck had just been stolen.

A police spokesman says officers were able to identify the suspect after finding mail with his name on it in the car the woman had been driving. The suspect matches the description of the man who had struggled with the homeowner who found him in his garage.

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