Burglars target Cloquet neighborhoods

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Neighborhoods in the vicinity of Cloquet’s Washington and Doddridge avenues have been targeted in a series of burglaries within the past month.

According to Detective Darrin Berg of the Cloquet Police Department, the area affected lies roughly between 15th Street and Highway 33, and several items of value have been taken in each of the burglaries.

On Feb. 25, officers responded to a residence in the 1200 block of Washington Avenue to investigate a burglary reported by a neighbor. Officers discovered the window pane of a rear door had been smashed and the lock was then opened from the inside.

The homeowner reported that an Emerson 32-inch LCD television set was missing, as well as a diamond wedding ring with small baguettes on the side, a 22-carat gold ring with a half-inch stone, a half-carat diamond in a plain gold setting fused together with a matching band, and a half-carat ruby ring with 11 diamonds around the edge.

Officers responded to another report of a burglary, this time at a residence in the 1100 block of 15th Street, on March11. This incident was reported by a neighbor who was keeping an eye on the residence for the homeowners, who were out of town at the time. Upon investigation, officers noted that the residence had been entered through a bedroom window. Missing were a Remington 30.06 rifle, a Winchester .32 rifle and a .22 Colt pistol.

On Monday, officers responded to a call to the 1000 block of Washington Avenue, where the homeowner had discovered his residence had been entered while he was out of town for the weekend. The intruder(s) had gained entry through a side bedroom window by smashing the window and cutting the screen. Though the homeowner is still in the process of developing a definitive list of items taken in the burglary, at this time it is known that several hundred collectible coins are missing, mostly 50-cent and one-dollar pieces.

A fourth burglary occurred on Tuesday outside the core area of the other incidents. According to Berg, a house in the 200 block of St. Louis River Road reportedly had an ATV, power tools and firearms stolen.

No suspects have yet been taken into custody in relation to any of the burglaries. Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Berg at the Cloquet Police Department, 218-879-1247.