On or about March 10, 2026, at approximately 7:30 A.M., Minneapolis police responded to a reported burglary of a home on the 3100 block of 25th Street East in Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota. Upon arrival on scene, officers spoke with L. F. (“Witness 1” herein). Witness 1 told officers that he received a text message from E. M. (“Victim” herein), and this text message said that someone had broken into Victim’s home. Witness 1 stated Victim was out of the country, but she told Witness 1 that she accessed live security cameras inside her home, and she saw someone inside the home.
Victim told Witness 1 that she saw this person sleeping on her couch. Witness 1 went to Victim’s home, opened the rear door using a passcode given to him by Victim, [NAME REDACTED]. Witness 1’s wife called police to report the incident. Officers arrived on scene and spoke with Witness 1. Officers entered Victim’s home and saw an adult male, later identified as RAFAEL CARMELO RIVERA (“Defendant” herein), lying on a couch in the living room area of Victim’s home. Officers gave Defendant commands to stand up from the couch, but Defendant seemed confused and disoriented.
Defendant initially did not comply with officers’ commands, but eventually he stood up from the couch and spoke with officers. Officers asked Defendant if the residence was his home, and Defendant said it was not. Defendant told officers that he had been drinking the previous night, and someone dropped him off in the area of Victim’s home. Defendant stated he woke up inside the home, and he did not know how he entered the home. Officers saw that Defendant had a nose injury that appeared to have recently bled.
Defendant stated he did not know how that injury occurred. Officers walked through the home and saw two damaged windows. The damaged windows did not appear to have holes large enough for a human body to fit through. Officers spoke with Victim [NAME REDACTED]. Victim stated she accessed her home’s security cameras, and she observed a male matching Defendant’s appearance trying to enter her home through the rear door at approximately 4:00 A.M. Victim [NAME REDACTED] one should have been inside her home.
Victim [NAME REDACTED] from her security cameras, which showed Defendant damaging her property and urinating on her front door. Defendant broke a basement window and damaged Victim’s door. The total cost to repair this damage was approximately $1,100. While inside Victim’s home, Defendant also ate some of Victim’s food and slept on her couch.
