On July 6, 2024, at approximately 3:59pm, Officer Manson of the Rochester Police Department responded to a call at St. Francis Parish, 113 3rd St. SE, Rochester, Olmsted County, Minnesota. Witness 1 (adult male identified in police reports) reported there had been a burglary that included forced entry. Officers conducted a sweep of the building. No suspects were located during the search. Three different offices were broken into – evidenced by gouging damage near the doorknob at each entry point.
File cabinets had been rummaged through in each office, evidencing an intent to steal something. Witness 1 and staff confirmed that nothing appeared to be missing; however, the doors/locksets needed to be replaced. Officer Manson spoke with Witness 1. Witness 1 revealed that the building had been secured earlier in the day and that the intrusion likely occurred between 11am and 3pm. On July 16, 2024, Detective Rademacher of the Rochester Police Department was assigned to follow up on the case. Detective Rademacher reviewed the video surveillance of the burglary and saw the following: Two suspects are seen.
Suspect 1 has a medium dark complexion with short dark hair and is skinny roughly 30 years old wearing dark shirt and ripped blue jeans. Suspect 1 also appears to have a small black bag slinged around his neck/shoulder. Suspect 2 has a lighter complexion than suspect 1 and has a beard and is medium build wearing a white shirt. Suspect 2 also appears to have a white/silver bag slinged across his neck/shoulder. The RPD Intel Department sent out still photographs of the suspects. Detective Rademacher was advised by RPD Intel that the two suspects were apart of an organized Romanian theft group that has been responsible for numerous burglaries in Minnesota.
The group targets groups that don’t utilize banks for large quantities of money. Detective Rademacher was provided with a bulletin from the MN Fusion Center regarding the Romanian theft group. Detective Rademacher reviewed the document and observed two males who were identified as STEFAN BUZOIANU [DOB REDACTED] and ARTUR CRUDU [DOB REDACTED]. Based on the document, Detective Rademacher confirmed Buzoianu as suspect 1 and Crudu as suspect 2. PLEASE TAKE NOTICE: YOU MUST APPEAR FOR EVERY COURT HEARING REGARDING THIS CASE. FAILURE TO APPEAR FOR COURT IS A CRIMINAL OFFENSE AND MAY RESULT IN ADDITIONAL CRIMINAL CHARGES BEING IMPOSED AND PUNISHED AS PROVIDED IN MINNESOTA STATUTES SECTION 609.49.
