A Lakeville man on probation after recently receiving reduced and stayed sentences on theft and burglary convictions has been charged in a new burglary after trying to pose as the grandson of the homeowner.
Charging documents filed in Dakota County this week state that Cody Jay Eggum, 34, posed as the grandson of the homeowner when he was confronted by a neighbor during the burglary of a Lakeville residence last week.
According to the criminal complaint, police were called to a Lakeville, Minnesota, residence on Friday on a report of suspicious activity after a neighbor called a relative of the next door homeowner to report a suspicious vehicle in the neighbor’s driveway. The relative then called 911.
The homeowner had recently moved to an adult care facility and was not at the residence at the time of the burglary. The relative of the homeowner told the neighbor who had called them that no one should be at the residence.
The neighbor also called police and told them that he had confronted the suspicious person who had arrived in a white Cadillac. The neighbor told police that the male had exited the front door of the residence carrying two duffel-style bags. When confronted by the neighbor, the male told him he was the homeowner’s grandson.
The suspect and vehicle were gone when police arrived, but officers observed a screen on the ground and a door that was closed but not locked. Upon checking the residence, police said it appeared to have been ransacked, the complaint stated.
Police contacted the homeowner’s relative who had called police, and she confirmed that the suspicious person was not a grandson or a relative.
After checking ownership records, police eventually located the Cadillac at a residence in Farmington where they observed the duffel bags in plain view inside the vehicle. No one was home at the residence, but police contacted the registered owner of the vehicle who came to the location. The person told police that he had previously sold the vehicle to Eggum, and that Eggum was friends with a person who lived next door, referred to as A.S. in the complaint.
A.S. denied to police that Eggum was at the residence and refused to allow police to check inside. After obtaining a search warrant for the Cadillac and the residence, police located items that appeared to have been taken during the burglary inside the vehicle and on the outside property of A.S. Several of the items had the victim’s name on them.
A witness told police that she had observed a male matching the suspect’s description carrying bags behind A.S.’s residence and then left south on foot.
Eggum was located and arrested the next day on Saturday, and upon questioning admitted to police that he committed the burglary at the victim’s residence.
Eggum has been charged with one felony count of second-degree burglary and was granted a public defender during his initial court appearance on Tuesday.
Eggum is currently on probation in two different counties stemming from three separate convictions on theft and burglary. Most recently, Eggum was convicted in Freeborn County in January in two separate cases involving gross misdemeanor theft and felony third-degree burglary.
The 15-month sentence on the burglary conviction was stayed, and Eggum was alternatively sentenced to 29 days already spent in jail on both the burglary case and the theft case (which called for a 365-day sentence) by Judge Ross L. Leuning. Eggum was placed on supervised probation for terms of four years and two years, respectively.
Eggum is also on probation for a 2017 felony theft conviction in Blue Earth County. In that case, Eggum received a stay-of-imposition (felony sentence not imposed) by now-retired Judge Bradley C. Walker. Eggum was instead given credit for 158 days spent in jail and was placed on probation for a term of five years.
Eggum remains in custody in Dakota County Jail on $50,000 bail and is scheduled to make his next court appearance Oct. 22.
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Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
Crime Watch MN
Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
