Police Blotter: Police Seeing Holiday Crimes in Golden Valley

Editor's Note: This week's police blotter comes from reports filed with the Golden Valley Police Department Nov. 28 to Dec. 4. For additional details, see attached PDFs.

Golden Valley Police Crime Analyst Joanne Paul says the department is starting to see some traditional Christmastime crimes popping up.

"Someone stole UPS packages from two homes in the same neighborhood," Paul said. "A few years back, we actually found one guy following the Fed/Ex truck waiting for packages to be delivered and left out in the open."

So Paul suggests having packages delivered to work or making sure someone must sign for the package before it can be dropped off at your house.

"This isn't just around the holidays," she said. "It's a good idea all year round."

Paul also said she'll be attending a meeting on Golden Valley's east side in the coming week.

Neighbors say they've had some unusual burglaries on the border of Minneapolis and Golden Valley. While Minneapolis police are handling these, some occurred on Xerxes Avenue—the borderline between the two cities.

"This is part of the data sharing process we are a part of," Paul said. "The bad guys don't know where the border is, so this affects our residents, too."

Also of note in this week's police blotter:

• Police are conducting a death investigation on a resident who lived at 1350 Douglas Dr. The case is pending, and police are not saying if there is any criminal involvement. They say they are waiting on results from the medical examiner before giving more detail. When they do, Patch will pass the information along.
• A non-profit organization on Golden Valley's east side (1501 Xerxes Ave.) was broken into. Police say someone noticed Christmas gifts in the window, broke the window, and stole several gifts, including iPods and other small electronics.
• A 43-year-old man was arrested for two counts of domestic assault and two counts of malicious punishment of a child. He has not yet been charged, so Patch is not releasing further details at this time.
• Police responded to 13 traffic-related incidents, resulting in the arrest of 11 people.