A group of six friends broke into the Oak Ridge Conference Center in Chaska late at night, entering through a freshly smashed window and fleeing into the woods when officers arrived, according to the complaint.
Michael Roy Pearson, 18, of Superior, Wisconsin, faces four charges: third-degree burglary, first-degree damage to property, trespassing and fleeing a peace officer on foot.
According to court documents, law enforcement responded to a reported burglary in progress at the Oak Ridge Conference Center at about 11:49 p.m. on Sept. 27. The reporting party told officers that six white males were seen on security cameras inside the upper-level conference area of the building, which is under renovation.
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When officers arrived, a group walking toward one of them immediately ran, and the officer yelled for them to stop, the complaint says. Officers chased the group on foot. Officers detained one person at the scene, who told police the group had learned about the building from TikTok and urban exploring videos and decided to check it out that night.
An officer found Pearson in a heavily wooded area on the east side of the building. Pearson apologized for running and said he got scared. While being escorted to a squad car, he told officers he had hurt his hand climbing through a hole in the building, which is why he had a T-shirt wrapped around it.
After being read his Miranda rights, Pearson said he was from Wisconsin and had come with a group of friends to visit a friend who lives in Shakopee. He said there was a hole in a window at the back of the building that was not boarded up and that the group went in through it, and he denied damaging or taking anything from inside, the complaint says.
Officers discovered the window had been freshly broken, with a large boulder on the floor and glass scattered around. The reporting party confirmed the damage was new. When confronted, Pearson admitted throwing a rock through the window to break it, the complaint says, and the group got in through the freshly broken window.
Three more members of the group were found walking along nearby train tracks and were identified by officers. One of them told police the group had gathered at a friend’s house in Shakopee before heading to the conference center in a Nissan. He said it was another friend’s idea to visit the building and that they entered through the broken window. He also admitted to taking a pen from inside.
Pearson faces charges for entering the building without consent and intending to steal or commit a felony or gross misdemeanor, causing damage to property, trespassing and fleeing officers on foot.
The charges were filed Sept. 30 in Carver County District Court.
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Jurisdictional Context
Carver County, in the southwest Twin Cities metro, is served by the Carver County Attorney’s Office through the First Judicial District. Felony cases are heard at the Carver County Justice Center in Chaska.
