An 85-year-old woman in St. Paul's Highland Park neighborhood interrupted an attempted vehicle theft by closing her garage door after a man entered her home, took her car keys and reached the garage. The man left without the vehicle, according to the reported account.
The incident occurred on Bayard Avenue near Horace Mann School and St. Catherine University, according to twincities.com. Police were called about a burglary in progress at 1:40 p.m. on Sept. 15. Officers established a perimeter and searched with a K-9, but did not find the suspect that day. The woman was not injured.
Chief Praises Homeowner's Composure
Deputy St. Paul Police Chief Nicole Spears said the department was relieved the encounter did not turn violent. “We're very thankful the homeowner was not injured during this incident,” Spears said, according to the same account, praising the woman's composure.
A man was arrested the next day, Sept. 16, according to the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office. The available account does not detail how investigators connected him to the Highland Park incident or establish that the person arrested was the person who entered the home.
What Officials Say Residents Should Know
For vehicle-theft prevention, the Saint Paul Police Department's Auto Theft Unit advises residents: “PARK IT! LOCK IT! POCKET!” The department's Crime Prevention Unit also provides safety resources and presentations to residents, businesses and community groups, according to the Saint Paul Police Department and its Crime Prevention Unit. An arrest or a clearance classification does not by itself establish a conviction. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension defines an offense as “cleared” when at least one person involved in the offense has been arrested, a definition that is distinct from a conviction, according to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. The materials reviewed for this article do not establish the charging or prosecution outcome in this incident.
What Remains Unverified
Broader claims connecting the arrested man to other break-ins, a stolen vehicle, ramming another car during a chase, or a guilty plea and pending sentencing in a separate Roseville case have circulated elsewhere, but those details are not independently confirmed in the reporting reviewed for this article. It is also not confirmed here whether the man taken into custody Sept. 16 is definitively the same person who entered the Highland Park home.
Separately, national crime-tracking data from the FBI's Crime Data Explorer shows burglary fell 12.4% and motor-vehicle theft fell 21.7% nationwide between June 2025 and May 2026, though that data does not break out figures specific to St. Paul.
The confirmed account is narrower: a homeowner encountered an intruder in her garage during an attempted vehicle theft, closed the garage door and was not injured.
