A Cottage Grove man was charged in Dakota County Nov. 14 with felony theft over $5,000.
Christopher Lee Kujawa, 45, Cottage Grove, and William Raymond Walter, 50, Chicago, allegedly stole a pierce of construction equipment from a St. Paul business.
According to the criminal complaint, Mendota Heights Police Department officers responded to a business in St. Paul to investigate the theft of a 2011 CAT skid steer valued at $40,000. Surveillance footage shows a dark colored sedan driving in the area of the business on Jan. 21, 2024 at about 4 p.m. At 6:42 p.m. that evening, a truck with an empty trailer pulled into the business parking lot following the same sedan. The complaint states that both vehicles exited the business parking lot at 7:04 p.m. with the skid steer on the trailer.
Later that evening, the Oakdale Police Department responded to a theft in progress at a construction site. A man reportedly was near a skid steer, and another was in a pickup truck with an empty trailer. The man near the skid steer fled in a black Chevy Impala, and officers noted the license number. The man in the truck attempted to flee and was followed to a dead end, where the man attempted to flee into a cemetery.
Walter was apprehended at that time. Data from his cell phone shows that between Jan. 14-21, Kujawa’s phone number was called 42 times. Data from the phone shows that Kujawa’s phone was present in the area of the skid steer theft and attempted Oakdale theft. The same Impala was later found in Kujawa’s driveway.