On October 29, 2024, TJ was in custody and agreed to speak to White Bear Lake officers. TJ told officers that her friend, CHARLES PRESCOTT VADNAIS [DOB REDACTED] was in possession of a stolen white and gold Harley Davidson cruiser-style motorcycle. When asked how she knew the motorcycle was stolen, TJ said Vadnais told her it was stolen. TJ said she and Vadnais’s girlfriend had placed a Yip tag on the motorcycle’s front fender. TJ showed officers the live location of the Yip tag which indicated the motorcycle was at Vadnais’s address at [ADDRESS REDACTED], White Bear Lake, Ramsey County.
Officers verified that neither Vadnais nor his father – who reside at [ADDRESS REDACTED], White Bear Lake, Ramsey County – have motorcycles registered to them. Officers obtained a search warrant for [ADDRESS REDACTED] and executed it on October 29, 2024. Officers found a white Harley Davidson bearing Minnesota license plate [PLATE REDACTED] in a utility shed on the property. The license plate came back to a 2021 motorcycle. Officers located a vehicle identification number on the motorcycle’s frame that was ground off.
A sticker on the frame also had its VIN ground off. Officers located the Yip tag inside the front fender where TJ said it was located. Officers towed the motorcycle. Officers were later able to figure out the motorcycle’s complete VIN. The motorcycle had been reported stolen out of Maple Grove. Photos of the bike from the Maple Grove case showed that the bike officers recovered matched the stolen Harley Davidson motorcycle, however, the bike was not missing many items that were on it when it was stolen.
Officers drafted and executed a second search warrant for [ADDRESS REDACTED], White Bear Lake, Ramsey County. Officers recovered some of the items that had been removed from the stolen motorcycle in the garage: saddle bags, passenger foot platforms, a passenger backrest and mounding bracket, exhaust pipes, and a license plate mount. A review of Maple Grove surveillance video showed a silver sedan followed the stolen motorcycle out of the Maple Grove parking garage from where it was taken. The same silver sedan was parked in Vadnais’s driveway when officers executed the second warrant.
During the execution of the second warrant, officers made contact with Vadnais who wore a black hoodie and black hat matching what the motorcycle thief wore when the bike was taken from Maple Grove. Vadnais’s Nike Air Max Plus Drift shoes also matched shoes worn by the motorcycle thief. Vadnais declined a custodial interview. Vadnais’s father told officers that Vadnais brought the bike from a friend’s father who could no longer ride the bike. Vadnais removed the accessories recovered from the garage from the bike.
Vadnais has 19 prior felony convictions. On June 18, 2024, Vadnais received an agreed upon downward dispositional departure on a felony check forgery in Washington County District Court file 82-CR-23-1980.
