COON RAPIDS, Minn. (FOX 9) - Prosecutors charged two men in connection with the thefts of a bald eagle statue from an Army veteran’s home in Coon Rapids, Minnesota and two lion statues from Anoka.
Around 4 a.m. on March 28, the statue was stolen from the victim’s house on the 100 block of 121 Avenue Northwest. A doorbell video captured the suspect in the act, but he was wearing a disguise.
The 7-foot tall sculpture was custom-made for the victim and valued at $1,300.
The Coon Rapids Police Department put out an alert on social media last Wednesday, asking people to be on the lookout for the statute. They received a tip that the eagle sculpture was in the basement of a home in Coon Rapids, along with two lion statues, valued at $1,200, stolen from the city of Anoka.
According to the charges, officers executed a search warrant on the on the 400 block of Sand Creek Drive Northwest and found both the eagle sculpture and the lion statues in the basement. The suspect, Alan Kalisch, 28, of Oak Grove, and another man, Gregory Gerads, 51, of Coon Rapids, were in the home at the time. They were taken into custody.
Kalisch admitted to stealing the eagle statue. He was still wearing some of the items seen in the doorbell video. Gerads admitted to stealing the lions from Anoka.
Kalisch is charged with one count of felony theft for allegedly stealing the eagle statue. Gerads is charged with receiving stolen property.
All the statues have been returned to their owners.