GREEN LAKE TOWNSHIP — Two men from the St. Cloud area face four felonies for allegedly breaking in and stealing nearly $40,000 in items from a home in Green Lake Township in September 2018.
Surveillance video at the home of the alleged burglary and their alleged recorded jail conversations helped lead to the charges. A third man seen in the video is not identified in court records.
Craig Dennis Rapp, 36, of St. Cloud, and Coda Lee Johnson, 28, of Sartell, have been charged with two counts of first-degree burglary, theft and first-degree damage to property.
Rapp made his first appearance in Kandiyohi County District Court last week. He was released on his own recognizance on the condition that he stay away from the alleged victim’s home and stay in contact with the court and probation.
A pre-trial hearing for Rapp is scheduled for Sept. 11.
ADVERTISEMENT
Johnson failed to appear at his scheduled hearing. According to Minnesota Department of Corrections records, Johnson has been in prison since Jan. 24 for burglaries in Stearns and Sherburne counties. He is currently at the Minnesota Correctional Facility at St. Cloud.
According to court records, a homeowner reported that he had returned after a week away to find numerous items missing from his home.
The homeowner reported that seven compound bows, a bear skin rug and a handgun, plus other items, were stolen. The owner reported the crossbows had a value of more than $21,000, according to the criminal complaint, and the rug was valued at nearly $2,700.
In total, the value of items stolen was more than $38,000, and damage to the home and its surveillance cameras was nearly $4,000.
Surveillance video showed two men enter the front door the afternoon of Sept. 21 and showed three men entering the home twice that night. They left carrying items, and one of them carried a crowbar during one visit.
The three men were still in the house when the owner returned. They left through a back door, dropping things inside and outside the residence.
During the investigation, the Kandiyohi County Sheriff’s Office learned that Johnson and Rapp may have been involved in the robbery, according to court records.
When Johnson was in the Stearns County Jail in December, he was recorded in a phone call offering to sell a person a bow for $1,000 and indicated it was worth $2,500.
ADVERTISEMENT
In recordings of jail visits and phone calls, authorities heard the two discuss how to dispose of items taken in burglaries, according to court records. Acquaintances of the two men identified them from photos and the surveillance videos.
