Cafe thief sentenced to two years in prison

Published 10:18 am Monday, February 6, 2017

Nawrocki

Nawrocki

A 59-year-old Dodge Center man was sentenced to 27 months — just over two years — in prison for breaking in and taking money from Mill Street Cafe in Brownsdale.

Kevin Lee Nawrocki appeared in Mower County District Court Friday after pleading guilty to a second-degree burglary charge, while other charges were dismissed.

At 10:27 p.m. on Sept. 28, 2016, a bartender at the Frontier Lounge contacted a Brownsdale officer to report seeing a 2000 Chevrolet Express van with a handicap parking tag drive to the back of the Mill Street Cafe, 107 S. Mill St. in Brownsdale.

Email newsletter signup

Later, the bartender reported seeing a male subject enter the van before leaving in a hurry and then honking at the bartender several times, according to a court complaint.

After calling the officer, the bartender found a screen ripped off and a window missing from a door at the Mill Street Cafe. The officer entered through the unlocked door and found no one inside. Officers called Mill Street’s owners, who reported $435 missing in a First Farmers and Merchants bank bag along with a CD player valued at $200. They also estimated about $400 in damage to the door.

Surveillance video showed a white male wearing a baseball cap, jeans and a T-shirt with distinct tattoos on his arms, who police later identified as Nawrocki, according to the complaint. He allegedly rifled through cupboards and drawers before finding the money and then pried open the cash register to take quarters.

The officer later spotted the van on Highway 56 just south of 280th Street. He followed the van to CHS Inc. in Brownsdale, where police recognized him from the video and took him into custody.

Nawrocki denied having driven the van earlier or letting anyone else drive it. Officers seized a pair of rubber gloves from Nawrocki’s pockets and found more in the van, along with $359 from his wallet and broken glass in the van. They also found tools in the van, including a crowbar with paint matching Mill Street’s window.

According to court documents, Nawrocki has been previously arrested or convicted in Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan, Colorado, Montana and Oregon. The report also stated that police found he has at least nine aliases and multiple social security numbers. His most recent conviction was for a second-degree burglary committed in 1998, for which he was sentenced July 30, 2009, in Ottertail County.