MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A 34-year-old Minneapolis man is accused of trying to steal copper from an unoccupied Minneapolis home so he could use it to buy heroin, according to charges filed Friday in Hennepin County Court.
Wayne Kennedy was charged with one felony count of second-degree burglary in connection with the incident, which happened Wednesday on the 1200 block of 26th Street East in Minneapolis.
According to the charges, officers responded to the scene after a report of a burglary in progress. When police arrived, they found a man heading towards the back of the home. The man, later identified as Kennedy, was arrested as he tried to exit the back of the home and dropped a hammer.
Kennedy then told police there was another man in the home. Officers searched and found him on the second level hiding behind a stove, according to the complaint. Eddie Lee Harper was arrested but tried to flee police as they left the front of the home.
Police recovered a few pieces of copper that were on the floor in the kitchen. There were also holes in the wall where copper piping had been in place.
Harper told police he broke a window in the home and opened the front door to let Kennedy in. Kennedy told police they broke into the home to look for copper wire to sell to scrap yards and ultimately use that money to buy heroin.
If convicted, Kennedy faces up to 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine.
