Bogus Craigslist ad posted for Minneapolis antique shop targeted by thieves

Police investigate Craigslist ad's connection to Minneapolis antique shop theft

Police are looking into a bogus Craigslist ad, advertising a "curb alert" at a Minneapolis antique shop that was hit by thieves Sunday night -- who got away with thousands of dollars worth of merchandise.

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Police are looking into a bogus advertisement on Craigslist and its connection to a theft at a Minneapolis antique shop that was targeted by thieves on Sunday.

The shop, called, Cockadoodledoo Gifts of Bryn Mawr, sells unique gifts, antiques, and other knickknacks. The owner keeps a bunch of inventory out on the curb behind this locked gate. Sunday night, thieves pulled a pickup truck right up onto the sidewalk and helped themselves to thousands of dollars in merchandise.

Just last week, FOX 9 visited the quirky, colorful Cockadoodledoo gift shop and shop owner Gerry Seiler, who was grieving the loss of a dear friend in a recent double homicide in Minneapolis. In the face of loss, Gerry was trying to remain bullish on Minneapolis despite the crime and gun violence.

"For me, all I can do is want to be able to help, provide, and bring people together. Keep people together in the community that has shown a lot of fear," said Gerry.

But Sunday night, Gerry was victimized. Between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m., the thieves apparently backed a single cab pickup truck up to his shop's exterior gate, broke the lock, and loaded up on merchandise worth thousands of dollars.

A pair of suspects getting away with concrete urns, statues, and cast iron sculptures including a massive, near 600-pound white rooster, an iconic piece of artwork that fronted his shop near the Penn Avenue and Cedar Lake South corner of Bryn Mawr for years.

Soon after the burglary, friends spotted the ad on craigslist for a so-called "curb alert" announcing everything must go, free to those who want it, at Cockadoodledoo.

We are told police are now trying to determine if the ad brought the thieves to Gerry’s shop or whether they were trying to victimize Gerry again with a sort of post-crime boast.

Whatever the motivation, Gerry was devastated to find himself a target.

Cockadoodledoo is not the only Minneapolis business hit over the weekend. There were reports of break-ins and even some looting at the Burlington store over on East Lake Street and at a Sally Beauty on nearby Minnehaha Avenue. That is all in that area where the MPD’s 3rd Precinct headquarters was torched a couple of years ago.