Crime & Safety

Blood Leads Police to Truck Theft Suspect

Erich Jacob Beck, of Minneapolis, has been charged with receiving stolen property.

Blood on a steering column led police to the suspect in an August car theft, according to court documents released Tuesday.

A man told Hopkins police Aug. 5 that someone stole his 1987 Chevrolet K10 sometime in the past day, Detective Renee Meuwissen wrote in the criminal complaint.

On Aug. 13, Minneapolis police recovered the vehicle at 3425 Bryant Ave. with a punched steering column. On the column, they found “a blood-like substance” and entered the DNA profile into an electronic database. On Oct. 31, investigators learned the DNA matched the profile of 40-year-old Erich Jacob Beck, of Minneapolis. 

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Beck has been charged with receiving stolen property—a felony that carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Earlier this year, Beck was also accused of his fourth drunken driving offense in four years and violating a protection order right in front of police.

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He’s being held in Hennepin County jail on $100,000 bail for the drunken driving charge. There is no bail for the protection order violation, and bail has not yet been set for the stolen property charge.


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