A man is accused of breaking into a Hermantown home, smashing the back door, shutting off the power and stealing a white Ram truck along with cash and other property, according to a criminal complaint.
Robert Howard Blackwood, 47, faces three felony charges in Saint Louis County District Court: aiding and abetting second-degree burglary of a dwelling, theft of a motor vehicle and receiving stolen property. The charges were filed October 28.
According to the complaint, Hermantown police were dispatched to a home in Hermantown on October 25 after the reporting party returned from a weekend away and found the back door smashed in. The victim told officers the house had been broken into, the main breaker had been turned off and a white Ram truck valued at $35,000 was missing from the garage.
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The victim reported that about $1,200 to $1,500 in cash was missing from a lock box in the office, including eight to ten $2 bills. A second person told police that three camouflage hunting bags and clothing items were also missing from a closet.
Detectives observed two sets of shoe prints at the scene, including one that appeared to be from a Nike shoe. The next day, the stolen truck was found in a Duluth strip mall parking lot with its license plates removed. Inside the truck, officers found a grey pillow case, a grey bathroom hand towel, men’s socks and men’s underwear, which the victim confirmed were stolen from the residence.
Surveillance video from the strip mall showed the stolen truck arriving and parking and a man later identified as Robert Howard Blackwood exiting the vehicle and walking away. That afternoon, detectives found Blackwood walking on Getchell Road and arrested him.
A search of Blackwood turned up a knife, a box cutter and $846.37 in cash and coin, including five $2 bills. Detectives noted that the tread pattern on Blackwood’s Nike shoes matched one of the sets of shoe prints found at the burglary scene.
If convicted, Blackwood faces felony penalties on all three charges.
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Jurisdictional Context
Saint Louis County is Minnesota’s largest county by area, stretching from Duluth to the Canadian border. The Saint Louis County Attorney’s Office prosecutes felonies through the Sixth Judicial District; cases are heard at courthouses in Duluth, Hibbing and Virginia.
