Crime & Safety

Charges Filed in Theft of Truck from Dodd Road BP

A 40-year-old Mantorville resident is accused of theft and a reckless drive south.

A man was charged Tuesday with theft of a vehicle, possession of stolen goods and reckless driving after he allegedly stole a 1993 Chevrolet pickup truck from the BP on Dodd Road April 20.

Mantorville resident Michael Allen Tapanila, 40, was identified by the BP’s manager as the man who drove off in the truck, which had been repaired but not yet paid for at the service station.

The manager followed the truck after it left the lot about 6:30 a.m. that morning, according to the police report.

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The driver of the stolen truck reversed into a tree while traveling south along Dodd and through the Rogers Lake neighborhood. After running the stop sign at Lake Drive and Mendota Heights Road, the driver crossed into Eagan where the vehicle eventually jumped a curb and crashed into a fence at the bottom of a hill, according to the statement.

The witness saw a man running away from the scene of the crash. Police arrested Tapanila running nearby.

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Tapanila did not give a statement to police.


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