Man Sentenced to Prison After Crime Spree Involving Burglary, Police Chase, and Corn Dog Clue

(KNSI) – A Stearns County man who admitted to breaking into a business, fleeing from police and crashing into a building in Melrose has been sentenced.

Deputies were called to Bueckers Recycling in Millwood Township on January 28th. The owner reported someone had tried to break into a vehicle in the parking lot. Deputies saw footprints leading to the garage door, indicating a potentially bigger theft. Staff reported that $3,350 was missing, along with a shotgun and tools. The business’s security system’s hard drive had been ripped out. In a potential break for law enforcement, it appeared the suspect also got hungry during his crime spree, allegedly cooking a corn dog taken from a freezer. The stick was found in the trash and taken for DNA evidence, along with a pair of mechanic’s gloves at the scene. The same boot prints found in the parking lot were also seen walking to two detached sheds on the property. The footprints then led officers to a neighbor’s property, where the hard drive from the security camera was found. Evidence on that tape showed a man wearing muck-style boots, a black jacket, and a stocking cap entering a truck parked out front.

A conservation officer responded to a call near the business for a suspicious person. The officer said they saw the person described by the caller walk into a nearby home. The first deputy on the scene spoke to a woman, who reportedly identified the man as her son, Carlos Lee Rey Garza. She said the 32-year-old man was sleeping, and he refused to come to the door.

According to the criminal complaint, later that day, deputies saw Garza driving and pulled him over. When he was told he was being arrested, he fled at a high rate of speed toward Melrose before crashing into a business. A deputy searched the crashed car and found a black jacket, a camouflage bag and a hat. The bag contained various items, including a headlamp, torch, lighter, and screwdriver. Garza fled the crash on foot and was found by a K9 team hiding in a box truck. He was arrested without further incident.

Garza pleaded guilty in February to one count of first-degree burglary and fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle. He was sentenced on Thursday to two and a half years in prison and given credit for 108 days in jail.

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