Officers were alerted to the report of a theft from self-storage unit located at a facility in Apple Valley. During that investigation, officers discovered a theft from a separate storage unit belonging to Victim 1. Officers requested Victim 1 respond to his unit and determined that forty-five firearms that were stored in the unit, along with several other pieces of personal property had been taken. Officers obtained surveillance footage from outside of Victim 1’s storage unit on the evening on April 8, 2026, showing a vehicle registered to Samantha Jo Brooks pull up to Victim 1’s unit at approximately 7:56 P.M. Surveillance video shows a male suspect exit the vehicle, enter Victim 1’s storage unit, and begin loading items into the vehicle.
The vehicle then leaves at approximately 10:20 P.M. Officers ran the vehicle through law enforcement databases and learned that a male, identified as MARK ANTHONY SMITH, JR. ([DOB redacted]), had several previous contacts with the vehicle. Through their investigation, officers learned that Brooks rented a storage unit in the City of Inver Grove Heights, County of Dakota, State of Minnesota and that the vehicle used to commit the theft in Apple Valley was frequently at Brooks’ storage unit. During surveillance of the unit, officers saw both SMITH and Brooks going into Brooks’ unit as well as the suspect vehicle parked outside.
On April 22, 2026, officers executed a search warrant at Brooks’ storage unit and found both SMITH and Brooks outside of the open storage unit. During a search of the property inside the unit, officers located thirteen firearms belonging to Victim 1. A search of SMITH’S criminal history shows prior convictions for Felony Controlled Substance Crime in the Third Degree on November 24, 2020, in Chisago County, Felony Domestic Assault on April 23, 2014, in Dakota County, and Felony Assault in the Third Degree on March 5, 2007, in Dakota County.
