Brooklyn Park police arrest suspect accused of breaking into homes, sexually assaulting 2 women
Brooklyn Park police have arrested a suspect who allegedly broke into two homes in less than a week and sexually assaulted two women.
On Friday, Brooklyn Park police said they were looking for a man armed with a gun who entered a home on the 7600 block of Hampshire Avenue North at about 5 a.m., demanded money and sexually assaulted a woman.
RELATED: Police ask for help finding suspect who held woman at gunpoint in Brooklyn Park home
Then at around 6:30 a.m. Wednesday, Brooklyn Park officers responded to reports of an assault in the 7500 block of Jersey Avenue North. Police said the suspect entered the home through an unlocked door at about 5:30 a.m. and held a gun to the victim’s head before sexually assaulting her.
The suspect left before officers arrived at the scene, and the department created a task force focused on the suspect.
Officials held a press conference at around 4 p.m, with Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley saying their department, along with the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, were searching 40 square blocks door to door, looking for potential leads and any video related to the crimes.
“These types of crimes, to enter somebody’s home with a weapon and sexually assault them, is so intrusive and so violating … and that’s why we’re coming to the community asking for help,” Bruley said.
Then at around 6 p.m., Brooklyn Park SWAT and detectives executed a search warrant in the 7600 block of Hampshire Avenue North. A 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS photographer captured multiple law enforcement officials entering a home at the scene.
Police said that a 25-year-old man was taken into custody and is being held at the Hennepin County Jail on probable cause criminal sexual conduct, aggravated robbery and burglary.
During a later press conference, Bruley said that the man’s mother helped coordinate getting him out of the house and no one in the home was injured.
Bruley added that the man is someone the department has had contact with in the past and “exhibited similar behavior many years ago of breaking into the homes of victims.”
Authorities said the man had been released from prison on a firearm charge on July 7 and moved into a home in the area where the victims were located.
Court records show that the man was charged with illegally possessing a firearm in 2019 and 2023 and fourth-degree assault of a peace officer in 2019.
There will also be an informational event regarding the sexual assaults for residents in the Hartkopf Park and Shingle Creek neighborhoods at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church at 6 p.m. on Thursday.
