Minnesota
Smash-and-grabs in Minnesota being investigated for ties to Felony Lane Gang
MINNEAPOLIS — There are at least eight victims across the Twin Cities metro of smash-and-grab thefts from cars and the forgery that follows. Some agencies, including the FBI, are investigating the cases as part of an organized crime ring.
Andrea walked out of a workout class in Savage to a busted window and broken glass in mid-July.
“I felt completely violated. I was kind of in shock. Did this really happen? And then I went down and saw my purse was gone, and like, okay, they just took everything,” Andrea said.
A few days earlier, that was the scene in the parking lot of a Nature Center in Dayton: broken glass strewn across a car seat and a mom with her purse stolen.
In May, it also happened to Karissa. The rear driver’s side window of her car was smashed outside her gym in Plymouth.
“You can see right out the windows. So it was, I mean, kind of like the audacity to be able to do that,” Karissa said.
The thieves left items in the car behind, even a cell phone. It appears the purse was the target. The victims shut down accounts and closed credit cards.
“Nothing really came about it right away, like no one tried to use credit cards, no one tried to use anything that I had that I could find, not until three months later in July,” Karissa said.
That’s when the women discovered their cases were connected.
“Well, the next morning, I got a Facebook message from this gal, Karissa, and she asked if my checks had recently been stolen,” Andrea said.
Someone wrote checks from Andrea’s account to the other victims, plus to a woman in Pennsylvania, and cashed them.
“They had written two checks for like, over two grand. One was almost three grand,” Andrea said.
They’re not the only victims in the metro or even the country.
Elk River police say they have 10 cases of theft and fraud spanning from January to June. They believe they’re connected to what’s called the “Felony Lane Gang.”
Investigators in Minnesota with active cases won’t talk about it, but a New York case explains the fraud scheme.
Last December, a judge sentenced three men and six co-conspirators to federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.
According to documents, the men admitted to being part of a fraud scheme called the “Felony Lane Gang.”
They target cars parked by women, taking purses with checkbooks and IDs. Then they recruit women to impersonate the victims using drive-thru bank lines to cash stolen checks.
“They drive through the farthest lane in the drive-thru — they’re called the Felony Lane Gang for that reason — and they get checks cashed. They’ll wear wigs, they’ll do whatever they have to do to look like you or look enough like you to get the checks cashed,” Karissa said.
These women want to warn others and say they’ve changed what they leave in the car.
“I think that the awareness of that is, is great because I wasn’t thinking of it like that prior. Was probably pretty naive to it. Obviously, I had things in my car, and you probably shouldn’t have, so, you know, that was a big lesson learned for me,” Karissa.
None of the locations had cameras outside.
Police say it only takes seconds to smash a window and grab an item. They say it’s a good idea to take valuables with you or hide them in your car. Lock them in a glove compartment or in your trunk before getting to your destination and they say to remember to lock your door.
With family by his side, Dennis “Bud” Peterson went to be with the Lord on the morning of June 1, 2026.
He was born at Drake, North Dakota on April 2, 1932 in the home of his parents Nick and Helen Peterson. The family moved to Duluth at the beginning of World War II.
After graduation from Duluth Central High School Bud served in the US Army in Korea during the Korean War, and received an Honorable Discharge with the rank of Sergeant. He used his GI Bill benefits to attend UMD receiving an Associate Degree, and also earned his Commercial Instrument Pilot rating.
Bud was a longtime employee of St. Louis County retiring as Supervisor of Roads and Bridges. In retirement he served as Boiler Engineer and a do it all repairman for Duluth Gospel Tabernacle. He generously devoted his time and talents as a consummate do it yourself repairman to all of his family.
Dennis is preceded in death by his parents, Nick & Helen Peterson; brother, Robert Peterson; sister, June (Don) Kruger; and infant brother and sister, James and Delores Peterson.
He is survived by his sister, Carol (Eli) Miletich; and numerous nieces and nephews all of whom he loved dearly.
At Bud’s request, his family will be holding a private funeral service. Arrangements by Dougherty Funeral Home 218-727-3555.
The Minnesota Department of Human Services is reexamining over 5,000 Medicaid service providers across the state in an effort to combat fraud.
The federal government said it would pull $2 billion in annual Medicaid funding from Minnesota in January if the state didn’t make changes.
The Minnesota Department of Human Services set out to revalidate thousands of providers in programs deemed high risk for fraud by asking providers to submit verification paperwork and making unannounced site visits. The deadline passed on Sunday.
The latest data, published on May 27, shows 1,009 providers approved, 1,151 disenrolled and over 3,000 providers with pending applications.
Paige Berland and Camille Heyman run Minnesota Behavioral Specialists, providing autism care to children through two locations in the metro area. The women say that after submitting their paperwork, they received letters from DHS with determinations for both locations: the Bloomington center was terminated and the Eagan office was approved.
“It doesn’t make sense, everything is the same minus the location,” Berland said. “So why was one approved and one wasn’t approved?”
The termination letter said the Bloomington center was denied because they failed to disclose a managing employee during a site visit. Berland disputes that and said she already submitted an appeal.
“We were told to keep running, keep continuing as we are while we go through this process,” she said. “It just means that we don’t have the money coming in.”
Josh Berg with Accessible Space says they’re also in limbo. Berg said they offer integrated community supports, which means caretakers provide in-unit assistance for people with spinal cord injuries and disabilities.
“Most of the folks that we support are wheelchair-bound,” Berg said. “Helping with meals, helping with medications, helping them just live their lives.”
Berg said that of the seven locations where people are housed, the Department of Human Services terminated five and approved two. He believes the timeline to conduct this revalidation process was too aggressive. He said Accessible Space has also submitted an appeal.
“We’re not able to bill for services, we’re not able to start new services for anybody or change any of the supports that they receive,” he said.
Both Berg and Berland say they agree fraud needs to be dealt with, but they hope Minnesotans who truly need services aren’t left without the services they need.
“Not just the clients rely on services, but the families do too, so we can’t stop services; that’s not an option on our plate,” Berland said. “We want to continue to provide these services; they are medically necessary.”
The Minnesota Department of Human Services said a disenrollment letter could be sent for a few reasons, including failure to submit revalidation application after two notification attempts, failure to provide all requested documents within the required timeframe and failure to meet the criteria required during an on-site visit.
A spokesperson for the Department of Human Services said it’s currently in the process of compiling data from the thousands of applications, but didn’t say when the department would share those final numbers.
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