Anoka Man Charged with Stealing DVDs, Computer and Car from Burnsville Home

An Anoka man has been charged with breaking into a Burnsville home and stealing the resident’s car, along with a computer and 67 DVDs, which police say he subsequently pawned.

Peter Harold Stevens Jr., 20, is charged with three felonies: first-degree burglary, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $35,000 fine; and car theft and theft, each of which has a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. 

Stevens remains in the Dakota County Jail on a $5,000 bond. An omnibus hearing in his case is scheduled July 10 in Dakota County District Court in Hastings.

According to the criminal complaint, police were called to a Burnsville home just after 1 p.m. June 8 on a report of a burglary.

Officers spoke to the homeowner’s adult children, one of whom said he woke up about noon, looked out a window and saw that his father’s car was gone from the driveway, but the family’s Nissan was parked there. He said he went to take a shower, and that his sister arrived shortly afterward and asked him where the Nissan was.

The two discovered that the back patio door was open, and a window that was usually secured with a bar was no longer secured. When the homeowner arrived, he found that a notebook computer and at least 50 DVDs were missing.

On June 9, Bloomington police stopped the stolen Nissan and identified the driver as Stevens. Stevens told investigators that he had been homeless for about three weeks, and the son of the Burnsville burglary victim had been letting him stay at the house during the day when his father wasn’t home, according to the complaint.

Stevens told police that he and the victim’s son had been walking around Burnsville early on the morning of June 8. He said the son had gone home, but told Stevens he could come over later.

Stevens said he had returned to the home later and admitted stealing 67 DVDs and leaving in the Nissan, according to the complaint. He admitted pawning the DVDs at a Pawn America store in Bloomington, the complaint says.

Although Stevens denied stealing the computer, police learned that he had pawned it at the Burnsville Pawn America store on June 8, according to the complaint.