A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
Burger's Shoes, at 1609 Carlton Ave., Cloquet, was vandalized Sunday. It is believed a Duluth man, who was later arrested, broke storefront windows shortly before 9 p.m. The store has been a Cloquet staple for more than 57 years.
A 26-year-old Duluth man was arrested Sunday after a report of someone breaking windows of Burger's Shoes, located at 1609 Carlton Ave., Cloquet.
Matthew William Johnson was arrested shortly after the incident was reported at 8:55 p.m. Sunday.
Johnson was charged Tuesday with first-degree felony damage to property and remained in Carlton County Jail into the week on $15,000 bail.
According to the criminal complaint filed in Sixth District Court in Carlton, a witness called Cloquet police to say someone was breaking windows at the shoe store using a bat. The witness told police she saw the male put the bat into the vehicle upon leaving the scene.
The owner of the store, Carmen LaPlant, later reported to authorities that she did not know the suspect, according to the Cloquet police's call for service record. LaPlant also reported having replaced all four windows two years ago, at a cost of $10,000. That figure is what brought the felony-level charge.
When reached by the newspaper, LaPlant declined to comment on the incident.
Officers located Johnson after another report of a suspicious gray crew cab truck at Pinehurst Park. The description matched the suspect vehicle, and an officer making contact with Johnson noticed "a fresh bleeding cut on his hand," said the complaint. Johnson told the officer he "got hit by a mosquito."
The officer found the cut "inconsistent with a mosquito bite," and observed a baseball bat inside the vehicle. The officer also reported seeing glass shards, the complaint said. Upon taking Johnson into custody, the officer noticed "glass shards attached to the bottom of his shoe."
Johnson has no felony criminal history in the state of Minnesota, and a series of petty misdemeanor traffic violations.
Bail was set Tuesday during a hearing in front of Judge Rebekka Stumme, and Johnson is scheduled for an omnibus hearing at 9 a.m. Nov. 4 in District Court in Carlton.
