On 12/25/2025 at about 0106 hours, St. Paul Police responded to Idaho Ave and Weide St in St. Paul, Ramsey County on a report of two suspicious males. The caller believed they were trying to break into a Toyota Camry that was parked there. Upon arrival, police spotted the two males walking south on Weide. When officers engaged with them, an officer recognized one of them as Gay GAY [DOB REDACTED]. The officer was professionally well acquainted with GAY because he had previously arrested GAY for crimes involving copper wire theft.
The other male was identified as, Lay Moo KU ([DOB REDACTED]). KU and GAY said they were walking back to their car which was parked two blocks away but never answered questions regarding where they were coming from. Both KU and GAY were also wearing multiple thick layers of clothing, which is commonly seen with suspects who commit property crimes in the cold due to the amount of time spent outside. Concerned that the two might be carrying tools that could be used as weapons, officers conducted pat-searches.
Police found multiple tools on KU’s person. Police also found several tools where KU and GAY were standing, including a shears/cutter, a screwdriver, and a vise grip pliers. Police inspected the Toyota Camry which was not damaged. The streetlight next to it, however, was not illuminated while other streetlights were operational. Upon closer examination, police saw fresh footprints around the dead streetlight, wires sticking out of it, and saw that the hatch door that covers the wires inside had been forced off.
KU and GAY were taken into custody. During a search incident to arrest, police recovered a roll of copper wire from KU’s pocket that matched the wire in the damaged streetlight and small socket tools. In a bag KU was carrying police found was a large flathead screwdriver and in his backpack police found a prybar and wire/side cutters. During a post-Miranda interview, KU admitted to stealing the copper wire from the streetlight. KU said he was the look-out and GUY was stealing the wire. Upon information and belief, the cost to repair the damaged streetlight exceeds $1,000. For purposes of Rule 6.02, GAY is on probation and has the open felony cases described above as Spreigel evidence.
