Northfield Man Charged After Couple Tracks Stolen iPad To His Car

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A 24-year-old Northfield man is accused of receiving stolen property after a couple tracked items taken from their home last July to his vehicle and confronted him about it, according to charges filed by the Dakota County Attorney's Office.

Taylor Collin Heckers was charged by summons with two felony counts of receiving stolen property in connection with the July 21, 2014 incident in the south Twin Cities metro.

According to a criminal complaint, officers with the Dakota County Sheriff's Department were called at about 8:09 p.m. on July 21, 2014, to a residence in Greenvale Township after a couple had located items that were stolen from their home earlier in the day.

They told officers the burglary happened between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. that day and several items had been stolen, including an iPad with accessories and jewelry. The complaint states the iPad was originally purchased for more than $1,000 and after filing a report with the Northfield Police Department, the couple used a cell phone app to track the device to an address in Minneapolis.

According to the complaint, the couple headed that direction and the app told them it was in a vehicle heading back towards the Northfield area. They eventually tracked the vehicle to the 28700 block of Garrett Avenue in Greenvale Township and parked behind the vehicle so it couldn't leave the area while they contacted authorities.

A white male came out and asked them why they were there and after they demanded their iPad back, he denied knowing anything about it and said it wasn't his car. The car's owner came out and denied stealing the iPad, and when the couple told him they tracked it to his car, he opened the trunk, got the device out and gave it back to them, the complaint states.

They also demanded their jewelry back, but the man denied having it. When authorities arrived to the scene, the two men had fled the area on foot. After obtaining a search warrant for the vehicle, officers located an iPad charger and jewelry inside a metal box.

An investigation determined the vehicle was registered to Heckers, and the couple later identified him as the second man who came out and recovered the iPad from the car. Heckers also has a 2013 conviction for felony-level receiving stolen property.

If convicted of both charges, Heckers faces up to 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine.