Couple Charged with Stealing iPads from Burnsville Target

A Brooklyn Park woman and a Minneapolis man have been charged with theft after authorities say they were part of a group that smashed a display case at the Burnsville Target store, grabbed iPads and left the store with them.

Police say Stephanie Lashay Boyland, 25, and Jerome Collins, 32, were arrested July 13 at the Woodbury Target just before they tried the same maneuver.

Boyland and Collins are charged with aiding and abetting theft, a felony which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

According to the criminal complaints, police were called to the Burnsville Target on July 6 on an after-the-fact shoplifting complaint.

The store’s loss prevention manager showed police surveillance video that showed a Chevy Suburban entering the parking lot just after 4 p.m. Three women entered the store, followed by a man.

The man headed directly to the electronics department and looked at the display of iPads. He then spoke with a store employee and walked away into the gaming systems section of the store.

A few minutes later, the three women walked into the electronics department with a shopping cart. The video shows the women walking around the iPad display case and looking around; one woman attempted to get into the case by pushing on it, and when that didn’t work, another woman shattered the glass.

Two of the women then grabbed iPads and put them in a shopping cart, with the other woman standing beside the cart, according to the complaint. The women concealed the iPads in large purses and walked past the checkouts without paying for the items, the complaint says.

Burnsville police and Target sent a tri-county alert to law enforcement in an effort to identify the four people in the surveillance video. “Numerous” police officers identified the man as Collins, and one of the women was identified as Boyland.

Another alert was sent to law enforcement officials and Target stores to watch out for the group. On July 13, just after 8 p.m., Burnsville police were told that Collins and Boyland were at the Woodbury Target store.

When they arrived, they interviewed Collins, who denied being involved in the July 6 Burnsville theft. He did, however, admit to police that he went to the Woodbury Target with the intention of stealing iPads, according to the complaint.