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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
City of Duluth - Police Department
Mike Ceynowa, Chief of Police
2030 North Arlington Avenue • Duluth, Minnesota 55811 • www.duluthmn.gov
2030 North Arlington Avenue • Duluth, Minnesota 55811 • www.duluthmn.gov
For more information contact:
Public Information Officer, Mattie Hjelseth at (218) 730-5434 or mhjelseth@duluthmn.gov
Public Information Officer, Mattie Hjelseth at (218) 730-5434 or mhjelseth@duluthmn.gov
DATE: 11/24/2009
SUBJECT: Suspect with extensive criminal history arrested in burglary
BY: Officer Brad Wick, Information Coordinator
NATURE OF INCIDENT: Home Burglary
CASE NO.: 09403341
INCIDENT DATE: 11/24/2009
INCIDENT TIME: 0226 hours
INCIDENT LOCATION: 1823 East 7th Street
SUBJECT: Suspect with extensive criminal history arrested in burglary
BY: Officer Brad Wick, Information Coordinator
NATURE OF INCIDENT: Home Burglary
CASE NO.: 09403341
INCIDENT DATE: 11/24/2009
INCIDENT TIME: 0226 hours
INCIDENT LOCATION: 1823 East 7th Street
This morning at 2:26 AM, Duluth Police responded to the area of 18th Avenue East and 7th Street on the report from a citizen of a suspicious male dressed in dark clothing checking parked vehicles. The male arrived in a vehicle that was now parked. After a short time he returned to the vehicle carrying a television which he put into the trunk. The male then got into the vehicle and left the area just before police arrived. The caller was able to get a license plate number on the vehicle as it was leaving.
Upon checking, officers found a home in the 1800 Block of East 7th Street with a front window broken out and no one home at the time. Once officers located the homeowner, they found that the home had been broken into and a television along with other items was missing.
Officers located the suspect vehicle parked in a garage in the 1900 block of Garden Street. The vehicle was unoccupied with no one around it. It was later towed by police.
This afternoon at 3:48 PM, Duluth Police arrested Brandon Walter Niemi, age 26 of Duluth for the burglary of the home. Niemi is being held at the St. Louis County Jail pending formal charges for Third Degree Burglary.
Niemi has an extensive criminal history. He is currently awaiting trial for Attempted Second Degree Murder and Second Degree Assault from a stabbing incident that occurred in June 2009. He was released after posting $50,000.00 bail.
He is also awaiting trial on a Counterfeit Currency charge from an incident last month and where Niemi was released on his own recognizance.
In June 2008, Niemi pled guilty to Felony Theft and was sentenced to three years of supervised probation from an incident that occurred in February of 2008. He has other drug and controlled substance arrests on his record.
The Duluth Police Department would like to recognize the importance of alert citizens that have called in suspicious individuals over the last three days. With the information these citizens were able to provide police; two suspects have been arrested for burglarizing homes in these neighborhoods.