On November 25, 2025, officers with the West Saint Paul Police Department were dispatched on a report of property damage to the front door of Chin Chin, a restaurant located on Smith Avenue in West Saint Paul, which is located in Dakota County. At the scene officers observed that the restaurant’s front door had been pried open at the bottom and that the back door was not secure. Inside the restaurant officers observed that the cooler and freezer were open and that there were shelves of new shoes in the basement that appeared to have been gone through and/or disturbed.
An empty paper coin sleeve wrapper and USB car lighter adapter were recovered inside the restaurant. Officers were able to review the footage from the restaurant’s security cameras. The camera from the front door showed two men repeatedly attempting to pry open the front door of the restaurant between 2:43 am and 4:31 am. At 4:31 am the men were successful in prying open the door and entering the building. Cameras in the interior of the restaurant showed the men opening multiple drawers by the restaurants front desk.
One of the men located a deposit bag and removed an unknown amount of cash from it, placing it in his pocket. Between 4:42 am and 4:46 am the two men previously observed, as well as a third man could be seen on a security camera on the outside rear of the restaurant, exiting with bags and boxes understood to be filled with shoes from the restaurant’s basement and walking away from the restaurant. Officers were able to make contact with the restaurant’s owners who provided the officers with a summary of the damage they suffered as a result of the burglary.
One of the owners also explained that during COVID he had begun to collect and resell sneakers, and that he stored his collection in the restaurant’s basement, which explained the presence of the shoes in the restaurant’s basement. The owners reported that they had suffered the following losses: 1). Damage to cash register - $100; 2). Stolen cash - $550; 3). Cost to repair damaged front door - $550; 4). 110 stolen pairs of shoes valued at $200 per pair - $22,000. Therefore, the owners of the restaurant are understood to have suffered a loss of at least $23,200 as a result of the burglary.
Officers subsequently received information from Minnesota Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement indicating that three individuals, Justin Kariakis Valencia [DOB REDACTED], hereinafter “Defendant,” D. L. P., and R. D. L. S., two adult men fully identified in police reports, were suspects in several other 2 19HA-CR-26-569 Filed in District Court State of Minnesota 4/21/2026 burglaries and were believed to have been the men who burglarized Chin Chin. Officers subsequently applied for and received search warrants for two apartments associated with Defendant.
