Man sentenced to 25 months for role in local burglaries
A Hermantown man was sentenced to 25 months in prison Monday for two felony counts of theft in relation to a series of burglaries that took place in Carlton County earlier this year.By: Wendy Johnson, Pine Journal
A Hermantown man was sentenced to 25 months in prison Monday for two felony counts of theft in relation to a series of burglaries that took place in Carlton County earlier this year. Judge Dale Wolf sentenced Luke Robert Norlund, 23, to 12 months and one day on one count of theft-take/use/transfer movable property without consent. Wolf also sentenced Norlund to 13 months on the second count. Both terms are to be served concurrently. Both sentences were stayed for one year with credit given for the 41 days Norlund has already served in local confinement.
The third-degree burglary charge against Norlund was dismissed.
Norlund was apprehended following a multi-agency investigation of area burglaries that took place in March.
Dan Danielson, an investigator with the Carlton County Sheriff’s Office, said officers were tipped off after a pick-up truck was stolen from a home on St. Louis River Road in Esko. He explained there had been a problem with people calling tow companies and saying they wanted to sell a car or truck and then telling them to come pick it up at a certain property. In this case, the tow truck driver was called to a residence on St. Louis River Road and, after negotiating a deal with the supposed owner, he then left with the truck.
Danielson said there were witnesses in this case who saw the tow truck leave with the pickup, however, so law enforcement officials were able to track down and recover the truck from the unknowing tow truck driver.
Once the tow truck driver was located, he supplied officers with the cell phone number used to contact him, along with a description of the woman to whom he paid $200 for the truck. Although the woman had signed a different name – Nan Borhdahl – to the bill of sale, the cell phone was registered to a Jacob Norlund and had been mentioned in police reports regarding Jacob, Luke and Ruth Norlund, all of Hermantown.
On April 4, a search of the Norlunds’ Solway Road residence in Hermantown turned up a number of stolen items from the St. Louis River Road burglary, including hand tools, power tools and electronic equipment, according to the search warrant application.
According to a subsequent search warrant, after searching the Norlund residence, officers learned that three other individuals – Tyler Polo, Brian Kinney and Jacob Kinney – had allegedly assisted with two different burglaries at the St. Louis River Road property.
A subsequent search of Polo’s residence on Old Midway Road turned up a stolen ATV from the St. Louis River Road property as well as a number of items stolen from a home on Stark Road.
On Friday, April 6, Polo, 22, along with Norlund and his mother, Ruth Norlund, 50, were each charged in Sixth District Court with one count of felony third-degree burglary and two counts of felony theft/take/use/transfer movable property without consent.
Ruth Norlund appeared for an omnibus hearing this week, and a request for submissions in her case has been taken under advisement by the judge. Polo waived an omnibus hearing set for May 2 and is set for a settlement conference at 9 a.m. June 6. No information is currently available regarding the legal status of Brian and Jacob Kinney.
Jana Peterson of the Pine Journal contributed to this story.
Tags: carlton county, cloquet, crime
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