Crime & Safety

Year in Review: Hopkins Crime

A look back at the biggest crime stories of 2011.

Hopkins justifiably has a reputation as a quiet community, but 2011 wasn’t without news on the law enforcement front.

Here’s a look at the biggest crime stories of the year:

  • An image of a masked robber pointing a gun at a local bank teller Dec. 5 brought home the fact that Hopkins was the latest community to be visited by an unknown man who’d hit several banks across the metro—most recently, the Franklin Bank in Minneapolis on Dec. 20. The robber is suspected of hitting at least a half dozen other banks around the Twin Cities. Authorities for any information that leads to his arrest. Those with information are asked to call the FBI at (612) 376-3200.
  • On June 12, Hopkins police learned that someone had broken into about 30 vehicles parked in underground garages along Blake Road and Hiawatha Avenue. The thieves struck again two weeks later on 11th Avenue South—and that time they stole a car. Then someone . The case is still considered open, and to anyone with information about the break-ins. If you have information, call Hopkins police at (952) 938-8885.
  • The news was dramatic enough when all residents knew was that someone opened fire inside . The details became even more dramatic when police charged the bar owner’s son, 36-year-old Nick Robert Lindee. But the most dramatic details were in how the incident ended. The saloon owner, Bob Lindee, reportedly handed the phone to his son as he was talking to police during the brief standoff. While his son was distracted, Bob Lindee threw water in his face, hit him in the head with the glass and choked him into unconsciousness—capping it off with a movie-worthy, “He’s out cold, handcuff him,” as police rushed into the bar. On Oct. 14, Lindee was convicted of first-degree damage to property and terroristic threats with reckless disregard to the risks—with sentences of 30 months for the terroristic threats and 15 months for the property damage. However, the judge stayed the sentences for five years. If Lindee doesn’t get into trouble, he’ll never have to serve the time. He must also attend treatment at New Beginnings.
  • A woman was changing in the Goodwill dressing room when she heard a bang on the door. She looked below the gap between the door and the floor to see a shopping cart parked against the door. Taped to the bottom shelf of the cart, she saw a small, pink box with a hole cut into it. She tore it loose and opened it, discovering an iPhone in the process of recording her. The phone was later found to belong to Manuel Mesias Tigre-Brito. He has been charged with interfering with privacy by installing or using a surreptitious device. He pleaded not guilty and is scheduled for a pre-trial hearing Feb. 13.
  • It wasn’t so much the prostitution charge that upset Hopkins city staff as it was the ease with which the massage parlor implicated was able to reopen after one of the masseuses was caught in an undercover sting. Police received a report in early August that Hopkins Asian Massage had been rated on a prostitution-review site. A masseuse reportedly initiated a sex act during the ensuing sting. By the first council meeting in December, Hopkins had approved that would enable the city to shut down any massage parlors that allowed prostitution. The case that sparked the license change is still under investigation.
  • The Blake Road Walgreens joined the group of Twin Cities Walgreens robbed for medication when a man walked into the store with a gun Nov. 20 and demanded Percocet and Xanax. The store was one of three Walgreens hit between Nov. 18 and Nov. 23. On Nov. 29, police eventually named Vincent Mark Smith—who told police he robbed the first store “because he was desperate to sell the drugs for money.” He told police he robbed the Blake Road Walgreens with a BB gun. Smith has been charged with two counts of simple robbery, two counts of first-degree aggravated robbery and two counts of second-degree aggravated robbery.

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Find out what's happening in Hopkinswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Be sure to check out the entire series, to be published on the following dates:

  • Dec. 26:
  • Dec. 27:
  • Dec. 28:
  • Dec. 29: Hopkins Crime
  • Dec. 30: Hopkins Schools
  • Dec. 31: Editor’s Choice
  • Jan. 1: Most-Read Stories

Find out what's happening in Hopkinswith free, real-time updates from Patch.


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