Bean bandit apprehended in Minnesota
Published 8:00 am Thursday, April 16, 2015
A man accused of stealing beans from storage bins in Minnesota has landed in jail, charged with felony theft and criminal damage to property.
The Mankato (Minn.) Free Press reports Daniel James Fleming, 31, was arrested Friday after an investigation stemming from a late December theft near Waterville, about 70 miles south of Minneapolis. About 500 bushels of soybeans, valued at about $5,000, were stolen from a grain bin on a storage site. According to a police report, a makeshift drainage spout was mounted onto the bin, then an acetylene torch was used to cut a hole in the spout, allowing grain to flow out and into a truck parked nearby.
A similar theft at a site about 40 miles away was reported two weeks later.
Police followed up on several leads before issuing a search warrant for Fleming.
The Mankato (Minn.) Free Press contributed to this story.