St. Paul Man Sentenced for Disappearance of Racing Pigeons

One Twin Cities man is paying the price for pinching 20 racing pigeons from a backyard coop in Eagan.

On May 9, Paul Vang, a 25-year-old St. Paul man, pleaded guilty to one charge—property in the third degree, a gross misdemeanor. Judge Patrice Sutherland sentenced Vang to five days in the Dakota County jail, two years of probation, and a $50 fine. Vang will also have to pay restitution to the victims. 

On the morning of Jan. 11, 2012 the Eagan Police Department was called to a home on the 2800 block of Pilot Knob Road on report of a theft. The caller told police that he keeps pigeons at this location, in three sheds that he shared with the homeowner, who is also a homing pigeon enthusiast. The man said he had a total of 100 different pigeons there.

The previous day, he'd come to care for the birds, as he does every day, and noticed that the screw from a locking mechanism on one of the sheds had been removed. Twenty racing pigeons were missing. The man told police that half of the stolen birds belonged to him and half belonged to the homeowner.

Four hours after the call came in, the investigating officer received a fax from the homeowner, who had spoken with staff at the Children's Therapy Center, which is housed in a building just north of the house. The pigeon sheds are close to the property line. The homeowner reported that an employee at the Children's Therapy Center saw a suspicious vehicle—an old, black "Camry style" car—between 7:15 and 8 a.m. The witness said an Asian male in his thirties with was behind the wheel. The vehicle lingered in the parking lot, then circled around the building twice. The witness then saw Asian female in her twenties coming from the area of the yard where the pigeons are kept. She appeared to be holding a pigeon. The woman got in the car, which then left the scene. 

On Feb. 7, the homeowner told the EPD that he'd requested surveillance footage from a nearby Holiday gas station. The video shows the arrival of a vehicle matching the employee's description at about 7:45 a.m. The surveillance camera got a clear shot of the car's license plate.

The car was registered to a woman in St. Paul, who identified one of the three people in the footage as her brother. The trail eventually led to Vang, who lives just a few blocks away from the owner of the car. 

When questioned, Vang said he happened to see the pigeon coops by chance during a trip to Eagan. He denied stealing them. Rather, he said he opened the cage and they flew out. According to the investigating officer, the coops are in a very secluded spot in the yard, and cannot be seen from the road. 

Each bird was worth $50, adding up to an aggregate loss of $1,000.

Vang began his sentence on Monday.