Local officials are taking issue with a Twin Cities television news story that claimed deputies raided the wrong house in Rochester last week while tracking a burglary suspect.
"That is an erroneous story," said Olmsted County Sheriff's Capt. Scott Behrns. "We're not giving a statement today about that report, because we need to deal with Fox 9 first."
KMSP-TV reported Sunday night that Cody Schunk's family was "pulled out of bed" about 7 a.m. Tuesday. Schunk said authorities realized they had the wrong house after about 15 minutes: "He came in and said, we're sorry, thanks for cooperating and told my kids we weren't criminals and that was it."
That morning, authorities arrested Todd Black, 37, in conjunction with several rural burglaries. He was charged Thursday in Olmsted County District Court with second-degree burglary and possession of stolen property, both felonies.
During the investigation, deputies learned one of the victims had used the "find my iPhone" app to locate a stolen desktop computer. According to the criminal complaint against Black, the app indicated the computer was at 622 13th Ave. SE — Schunk's residence.
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Black was living at 605 13th Ave. SE; it's where the stolen items were recovered.
Schunk admitted to KMSP that officials told him they were led to his house by a tracking device on a stolen phone.
"I'm literally stunned that a reputable news organization would run a story like that," Behrns said this morning, but declined to comment further.
