Suspect charged in Valley Buick GMC burglary
Sam Berry
A Minneapolis man who allegedly tried to steal the safe from Valley Buick GMC in Apple Valley was charged with burglary last week in district court.
Apple Valley police arrested 57-year-old Sam E. Berry outside the car dealership at 7500 W. 145th St. in the early morning hours of Sunday, July 8. The safe was recovered in the business’ parking lot near Berry’s vehicle.
According to the criminal complaint, officers were summoned to the business after a witness called 911 to report suspicious activity in the Valley Buick GMC lot at about 2:30 a.m. A man had parked his vehicle in the lot, the witness reported, and shortly thereafter the same man was seen pushing a dolly with a large box on it toward his vehicle.
When officers arrived, the safe was still on the dolly near Berry’s vehicle, though Berry had taken off running north across 145th Street. He was subsequently arrested and booked into the Dakota County Jail.
He was charged last week with third-degree burglary, a felony, for the Valley Buick GMC incident. He’s facing another felony charge for an alleged overnight burglary of an Apple Valley restaurant in August 2011.
The restaurant, located on the 7000 block of 149th Street, reported on Aug. 7, 2011, that sometime in the night the register area in the front of the restaurant had been disturbed and money had been taken.
Outside the restaurant, police found a blue and white bandana on the sidewalk, and the bandana was sent to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for DNA analysis.
Analysis revealed that DNA on the bandana matched a DNA sample from Berry in the Minnesota convicted offender database, the complaint said.
If convicted of both counts of burglary, Berry faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and $20,000 in fines.
This isn’t the first time Berry has faced burglary charges. According to Minnesota court records, he’s been convicted of more than a dozen theft- and burglary-related crimes in the Twin Cities area since the late 1970s.
Berry remained in the Dakota County Jail as of Tuesday afternoon, with bail set at $150,000. His next court appearance is scheduled for July 31 in district court in Hastings.
