Crime & Safety

Burnsville Police Arrest Minneapolis Man with 150-Item Rap Sheet

Richard Chip Dougherty, who was charged in 2008 with 150 felonies after a DUI traffic stop in Florida, now faces Dakota County charges of drug possession and possession of burglary or theft tools.

A Minneapolis man who was stopped for suspected DUI in Florida three years ago and ended up facing 150 felony charges in connection with a scheme to forge prescriptions has been arrested in Dakota County.

Richard Chip Dougherty, 41, was arrested in Burnsville and charged with three felony counts of drug possession – a heroin-morphine mixture, cocaine and methadone – and felony possession of burglary or theft tools. 

Each of the drug charges carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. The maximum penalty for possession of burglary tools is three years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

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Dougherty also faces a misdemeanor charge of theft and a petty misdemeanor charge of possession of drug paraphernalia.

Dougherty was arrested Nov. 7 in the locker room at a Burnsville health club after employees called police, telling them that Dougherty had been asked to leave another branch of the club earlier in the day for stealing debit cards from the locker room.

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An employee showed police an identification card with Dougherty’s name and photo on it. When police found Dougherty, he admitted that he had stolen items from the locker room, showing them a debit card and $13 in cash, according to the criminal complaint.

Because Dougherty admitted to stealing from patrons, police searched his duffel bag, finding a plastic bag containing eight syringes and a “large amount” of drug paraphernalia, the complaint says.

Police also found a small metal container that held a mixture of heroin and morphine, a plastic bottle containing methadone and eight small pieces of tin that they recognized as tools used to open padlocks without damaging the locks, according to the complaint.

In October 2008, while living in Key West, Fla., Dougherty was stopped on suspicion of DUI and eventually was charged with 58 counts of forgery, 31 counts of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud, 31 counts of criminal use of personal identification information and 29 counts of drug trafficking. 

Dougherty was a computer engineer who used a laptop and software programs to manufacture fake prescriptions for drugs including Percocet, Roxicodone and Xanax, according to criminal documents. He was also accused of forging a doctor’s name and numbers for the medical license.

No information was immediately available on the resolution of the Florida charges.

As of press time, Dougherty remained in the Dakota County Jail on a $3,000 bond. He is also being held on three outstanding warrants charging him with theft elsewhere in the state.


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