Police Seek 2 Men Accused of Stealing Electronics from Dakota County Stores

Nationwide arrest warrants have been issued for two St. Paul men charged with shoplifting computer equipment, watches and cell phone accessories from stores in Eagan, Burnsville and Apple Valley.

Terrance Wayne Morgan and Rocky Jon Fort, both 23, face felony charges of theft, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine, and possession of shoplifting tools, which has a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

According to the criminal complaints, police were called to an Eagan store last Jan. 10 after a customer reported that he had seen two men distracting a clerk and attempting to steal merchandise from the store’s electronics department.

The customer told police when they arrived that the two men were pulling away from the store, and described the car. Police stopped the car a block away and found Morgan and Fort inside, the complaint says.

Police patted down both men, and found a wire cutter on Fort. They also found several boxes of electronic equipment in the back seat; they asked Morgan who it belonged to, and he told them it was his girlfriend’s property, the complaint says.

The two men were arrested, and police subsequently searched the car and found Bluetooth headsets, a web camera, wireless adapters, hard drives, a router and four Fossil watches. The items were compared with inventory records at stores in Eagan, Burnsville and Apple Valley, and police determined that the items were all stolen.

The customer who reported the shoplifting told police that he saw Morgan and Fort in the area where hands-free headsets were displayed in the Eagan store. One of the men was talking on a phone and obstructing the view between the store clerk and the other man, he told police.

The customer said the shorter man was crouched over, holding wire cutters, attempting to cut something off the locking pegs that secured the hands-free headsets.

The customer left the area and called 911. When he saw the two men leaving the store, he got into his car and watched to see where they were going.