Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 29, 2009
TRANSIT POLICE ARREST LAPTOP THIEF
MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL – (Jan. 29) – Metro Transit Police today announced the arrest of a man suspected of stealing a laptop from a blind woman on a bus in November.
The woman reported that her backpack was stolen Nov. 18 while she was riding a bus in downtown Minneapolis. The backpack contained a specialized Braille laptop computer valued at about $6,500.
Video from onboard cameras, which record activities in the passenger areas of all Metro Transit buses, showed the suspect, identified as John Harold Richardson of St. Paul, reach down under the victim's seat and take the backpack. Richardson's photo was circulated to Metro Transit officers and bus drivers and released to media.
On Wednesday, Transit Police officers on patrol in downtown St. Paul located a man matching the suspect's description boarding a bus to Minneapolis. They approached the suspect and brought him to the Metro Transit Police Station. Investigators questioned him about the laptop and he confessed to the theft.
Richardson was charged this morning with felony theft from person by the Hennepin County Attorney's office. He is being held on a $25,000 bond.
"The diligence of our police officers, assisted by surveillance video, brought this man to justice," said General Manager Brian Lamb. "The security of our customers – and their belongings – is important to us, and if a crime is committed on one of our vehicles, onboard cameras help us identify and prosecute offenders."
Transit Police Captain Michael LaVine said the laptop was not recovered. The suspect told officers that he threw the laptop in a dumpster after his mother said she had seen him on the news. Private citizens donated a replacement laptop and software after the incident.
Metro Transit is a service of the Metropolitan Council. Customers boarded its buses and trains 82 million times in 2008, the highest annual ridership in 27 years.
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(Editors: For information contact Bruce Howard, director of marketing, at 612-349-7694 or at bruce.howard@metc.state.mn.us.)
