On 5/8/24 at about 23:51 hours, Minneapolis Police responded to a motor vehicle theft report at [address omitted] (Sarpino’s Pizzeria). The vehicle’s owner, DS said someone stole his 2007 Kia Optima (MN/LTR326) that he had left running when he went inside to pick up food. On 5/11/24, at about 0437 hours, Roseville Police spotted a 2007 Kia Optima in the Cub Foods parking at [address omitted] N in Roseville, Ramsey County. The vehicle was unoccupied and not displaying any license plates. Auto thieves commonly remove license plates in order to thwart law enforcement effort to identify it.
When the officer approached the vehicle, he saw a Minnesota license plate (#LTR326) on top of the rear seat. A check of the plate revealed that it registered to the vehicle, which was stolen. An assisting Roseville officer advised that vehicle had not been parked there ten minutes earlier. Officers entered Cub Foods. Employees there advised that they had seen three customers arrive together about 10 minutes earlier and they were the only customers in the store. Police made contact with the suspects.
All three immediately became hostile and disorderly. One male, later identified as MOHAMED Garad Ahmed Hassan (03/23/1988) balled his fists and raised them as he took a fighting stance. MOHAMED was handcuffed. MOHAMED said that he had arrived at Cub in an Uber. Police found two glass bubble pipes with methamphetamine residue on his person. The second male was identified as Bilaal Ahmed HASSAN (03/29/1994). HASSAN refused to identify himself and was arrested for obstructing legal process. Once HASSAN was identified, police discovered he had an active warrant.
HASSAN declined a formal interview. The female was identified as Warda Abdikarim OSMAN (07/19/1997). OSMAN was escorted out of Cub. Once outside, she said she was nauseous and leaned over a trash can as if she were going to vomit. After sitting on a bench, OSMAN refused to identify herself. She was also arrested for obstruction of legal process. During a post-Miranda statement, OSMAN adamantly denied ever being in the vehicle and said she arrived in an Uber. Police found the keys for the stolen vehicle sitting on top of trash in the trash can that OSMAN had leaned over.
As Cub CCTV footage was not available for review, MOHAMED and OSMAN were released pending further investigation. Police, however, later obtained that footage. It showed all three suspects arriving in the stolen vehicle at about 0428 hours. OSMAN was driving. It also captured OSMAN leaning over the trash can where the vehicle’s keys were recovered.