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Crime & Safety

Oakdale Police Blotter: Men Seen Stealing Hundreds Worth of Copper Piping

In other reports, argument breaks out at a garage sale, suspected arson at elementary school.

About $900 worth of copper piping was stolen from a construction site at Thursday, July 21, according to an Oakdale Police Department report.

At about 2:20 p.m. that day, an Oakdale man reported seeing a car stop off on the shoulder of the road at 50th Street, near the site, and two men get out and take the copper, according to the report.
The witness got the car’s license plate number, and police are following up, the report says.

The following incidents were also reported to Oakdale police July 20-22:

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July 20:

  • An Oakdale man who works for a large company from his home reported that the company said they were withholding his earnings because he owes the state of California $5,100 in taxes. The man has never lived in California. He contacted the state and learned that the information on the taxes is a post office box. Police mailed him an identity theft brochure.
  • A 74-year-old woman got a call from a man at a blocked number claiming to be her grandson. He told her he was in jail in Mexico, and that he needed her to send him money. She did not send money. She called her grandson and confirmed that he was at home sleeping.
  • A 15-year-old Oakdale girl and a 14-year-old Chicago girl worked together to shoplift $181 worth of clothes from by stuffing it into their purses. Both declined to speak to police
  • Police had to get involved at a dispute at a garage sale in the 6700 block of Upper 28th Street. A woman had made a deal with the complainant’s daughter to buy a stroller for $7. The woman went home to get cash, but when she returned the complainant refused the deal. The woman was yelling and would not leave until police asked her to.
  • A Woodbury man reported that $290 worth of items were stolen from his locked vehicle while parked at . Stolen were coins, clothing, sunglasses and a cooker. There was no damage to the vehicle.


July 21:

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  • Police stopped a driver in the 6000 block of 14th Street for his brake lights being out and found that he was intoxicated by using a preliminary breath test. Police then found that he had an active felony warrant for first-degree DWI-test refusal. The 47-year-old St. Paul man was arrested and booked into the Washington County Jail.
  • An officer stopped a driver after observing her throw a cigarette out of her window at the corner of Highway 5 and Hadley Avenue. Police found the 42-year-old Maplewood woman had no insurance on her car. She was ticketed for not having insurance, and her vehicle was towed.
  • Police located a 38-year-old Minneapolis man and 37-year-old St. Paul woman in at 1:45 a.m., which is after park hours. While police were doing warrant checks on the two, the man tried to walk away. An officer tried to physically stop the man by grabbing his left arm, and he pulled away. Police took him to the ground with an arm bar and handcuffed him. The two were cited for being in a park after hours.
  • A 36-year-old St. Paul woman is being charged with using a forged check to purchase $2,035 worth of items from Best Buy.
  • After applying for loans online an Oakdale man found that a fraudulent $150 purchase was put on his checking account.
  • Between 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 20, and 9:45 a.m. the next day someone entered an unlocked vehicle parked in a lot in the 1100 block of Hadley Avenue and stole a $50 garage door opener.

July 22:

  • Police responded at 2:25 a.m. to DeMori’s for a report of people fighting. A man who allegedly punched another man, causing his teeth to break had left when police arrived. Police are investigating the report.
  • Arson was reported in a field at at 1:50 a.m. An object was burning in the field south of the school behind the softball field backstop. The Oakdale Fire Department put the fire out. They suspect that the object burned was a box of athletic equipment.

The above items are taken from the . In all incidents where an arrest occurred, a charge is merely an accusation, and not evidence of guilt. The arrested person is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Incidents are listed in the order in which they were reported, not necessarily the order in which they occurred.

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