Charges: Man stole 9 AR-15 rifles from JK Sports in Otter Tail County

OTTER TAIL COUNTY, Minn. (FOX 9) - A Minneapolis man is facing several charges after stealing nearly a dozen AR-15 rifles from a sporting goods store in Otter Tail County.

Cole George Leroy Michelson, 26, is facing a first-degree burglary charge (of a potentially dangerous weapon), as well as, nine counts of theft for his involvement in the incident.

According to charges, on May 15, at approximately 5:57 a.m., law enforcement in Otter Tail County responded to JK Sports located at 1801 W. Lincoln Avenue in Fergus Falls on the report of a burglary.

Upon arrival, two officers noticed both of the front door glass windows leading into the business were broken.

The owner of JK Sports walked through the store with law enforcement, and indicated that multiple AR-style long rifles had been removed from the store.

Police reported that the owner told them of a white male in the store on May 13 that paid extra attention to some of the guns and wandered around the business, but only bought a knife sharpener, when asked if he had noticed any unusual customers in the past. He was able to provide both surveillance footage and a photograph of the suspect.

Surveillance video of the burglary showed an individual in black clothing with a facemask that partially covered his face breaking the outside glass doors with a hammer-type tool at around 4:30 a.m.

The suspect shattered an interior vestibule glass door to access the nine rifles, and attempted to shatter a handgun display case, but was unsuccessful. 

He was then seen running southbound towards Western Avenue before losing surveillance footage.

Law enforcement later located the defendant in the Zip Trip parking lot, who was seen wearing shoes consistent with what is seen in the video and similar black pants as well.