Suspect charged in Woodbury safe theft

A burglary suspect returns to court this week on allegations that he helped steal a safe from a Woodbury business.

Washington County prosecutors charged Travail Adam Crumble with one count of third-degree burglary. The 24-year-old makes his initial court appearance Thursday, June 7.

Authorities identified Crumble as a suspect through fingerprint analysis found on materials from Haven Chemical Health, located on Wooddale Drive.

According to a criminal complaint:

Police responded to a burglary complaint Nov. 1, 2011 at Haven Chemical. Workers there spotted two males carrying something toward an exit door inside the building.

During the incident – which occurred while employees were at a meeting – the males were observed carrying an object down some stairs and then out a door, where a vehicle was waiting. The object was placed in the vehicle’s trunk before it sped off.

It was soon determined that Haven Chemical’s safe was missing. The safe contained numerous checks.

The witnesses provided a rough description of the suspects, but were not able to provide license plate information of the getaway vehicle.

Police collected fingerprints from papers that had been moved off the safe.

Later in the day, St. Paul police received information from a resident on Aurora Street in St. Paul that a safe had been discovered behind his home. The safe, which had been pried open, included documents stamped with the Haven Chemical Health Systems name, as well as checks left inside.

Woodbury police received the safe and identified it as the missing safe.

A Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension analysis of the collected fingerprints matched up with prints on file for Crumble. It was determined that Crumble had no connection with Haven Chemical that would have provided a legitimate reason why his prints would have been on the material.

On Nov. 14, another St. Paul resident reported finding papers belonging to Haven Chemical.

A search of Crumble’s records revealed he lived in the same block of Aurora Street where the safe was located and four blocks from where the papers were recovered.

Woodbury and St. Paul officers went to the Aurora Street address to find Crumble. They found his mother, who said he was not welcome at the residence and didn’t know where he was.

If convicted, Crumble faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Tags: crime and courts, news, crime