Burnsville Woman Catches 2 Burglars in the Act

A Prior Lake man has been charged with burglarizing a Burnsville home, leaving the scene just as the woman who lives there was arriving home with her young son.

Marcus Abrham Hemsworth, 20, is charged with second-degree residential burglary, a felony with a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine.

According to the criminal complaint, Burnsville police were called to a home on Valley View Drive just after 6 p.m. July 11 on a report of a burglary in progress.

The victim told police that as she and her son were arriving home, she saws a maroon car backed up into her garage, and two men coming out of the house. The woman said she recognized a towel that one of the men had wrapped around his head as one that she owned.

The victim backed down the driveway and began driving down the street to get away from the intruders because she feared for her life, she told police. One of the suspects fled in the maroon car, and the other fled on foot.

Officers searched the area and found Hemsworth, whom the victim identified as one of the two men she had seen coming out of her house.

Police searched the home and determined that the burglars had forced the front door open and ransacked the house. The victim discovered several items missing, including a PlayStation 3, a Nintendo Wii and several iPods.

Hemsworth remains in the Dakota County Jail on a $25,000 bond. An omnibus hearing in his case is scheduled July 31 in Dakota County District Court in Hastings.