On 8/16/22 Minneapolis police took a report of a motorcycle theft. The vehicle’s owner, ZSB, said that his 2003 Triumph Bonneville T100 (MN/84712MD) had been stolen. According to JD Powers, the value of a 2003 Triumph Bonneville T100 today ranges from about $2,000 to about $6,000. On 06/19/2025, at about 1345 hours, Roseville Police found the stolen motorcycle parked at [ADDRESS REDACTED] B in Roseville, Ramsey County. Most of its VIN had been scratched off. Auto thieves commonly deface a vehicle’s VIN in order to thwart law enforcement efforts to identify it.
Police however were able to identify the motorcycle from the partial VIN that remained and through a positive identification from its owner; ZSB. The stolen motorcycle was parked in the parking lot next to a Nissan Sentra that registered to Robert Gerald HORTON ([DOB REDACTED]). A maintenance worker at the location, AD, told police that about 3 weeks earlier he saw HORTON bring the motorcycle to the property on a trailer and also saw HORTON riding the motorcycle about a week earlier. While police were still on scene, HORTON exited the apartment building and approached the stolen motorcycle.
Officers placed him under arrest. In a post-Miranda interview, HORTON said he bought the motorcycle for $200 from an unknown male named "ANTON" a couple years earlier. HORTON said did not know ANTON’s last name or his phone number. HORTON said the motorcycle had been in storage in Hudson, WI until recently. When police told HORTON the motorcycle was stolen, HORTON said "take it away, I don't want it." Although HORTON said had been a mechanic for forty years, he said he never noticed that the motorcycle’s VIN had been scratched off.
Upon information and belief, HORTON is currently in custody on an unrelated matter. A warrant, therefore, is requested. For purposes of Rule 6.