Man Accused of Burglarizing SE Rochester Home

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News)- A Rochester man was arrested Tuesday morning for allegedly entering a home and taking items from it. 

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Rochester police officers responded to the reported burglary in the 600 block of 8th St. Southeast shortly before 8 a.m. The home’s resident told police he was not home when he got a message from a friend saying a man was rummaging through a dumpster on his property. A police spokesperson said the man came home and found a bike leaning on the dumpster but did not see a person in the immediate area. 

The man then noticed a fence door that leads to his back yard was open. The man reported entering his home and hearing someone in the back of the house. The man told the suspected intruder to leave and that he was calling the police. The suspect, identified as 51-year-old Darin Huntington, then fled the home out the back of the house and was confronted by the resident near the front of the house. 

Huntington reportedly then left the property on his bike with tools and a checkbook that was later reported stolen from the house. The resident was able to share a description of Huntington with officers, who found him on his bike in the 1,000 block of 8th Ave. Southeast. 

Police say Huntington denied entering the home and stealing items but admitted to rummaging through the dumpster and opening the door of the home. Huntington reportedly told officers he thought the house was empty and he wanted to look at it as a possible rental. Police say Huntington had the tools and checkbook on him when officers made contact. 

Huntington also was in possession of prescription pills and drug paraphernalia, police say. He was brought to the Olmsted County Detention Center on suspicion of first-degree burglary, fifth-degree possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.