On Sunday December 7, 2025, at 9:55 P.M., several Officers were dispatched to 6590 12th Avenue in the City of Lino Lakes, County of Anoka, State of Minnesota for suspicious activity at a construction site. The 911 caller was a nearby resident who reported hearing clanking, cutting sounds, and electric conduits being dropped. The 911 caller observed a man dressed all in black, later fully identified as Eugene David Benshoof [DOB REDACTED], hereinafter the Defendant, entering the east door to the building.
Upon arrival, officers saw numerous fresh shoe prints in the snow around the property. It had snowed the day prior. There were no construction workers on site at the property on Saturday December 6th or Sunday the 7th. There was one set of shoeprints in the fresh snow around the property and leading inside the building where police discovered numerous cut copper pipes and a band saw that appeared to have been propping open the east door. A large piece of copper pipe had been drug through the snow and was lying next to the saw and there were visible copper shavings near the saw.
Following the shoe prints outside, officers located several recently cut cooper pieces that appeared to have been placed inconspicuously outside of the building. There were pieces of copper which appeared to have been freshly cut near the roadway. These pieces had numerous tooling marks near the edge rather than a single clean cut and did not have any snow on them. It was apparent to officers that the saw was utilized in cutting the cooper pipes in an attempt to steal and or burglarize the property.
The shoe prints were tracked and approximately 100 feet from the building police found the Defendant laying on the ground. He was wearing all black. His shoe prints matched those both around the building and inside. The Defendant claimed he got into an argument with his girlfriend and went for a walk and then sat down. He was not able to recall his whereabouts on the property but denied entering the building or accessing any tools.
