Charges: Suspects Rammed Rochester Storage Unit to Steal Work Van & $4K of Fishing Gear

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News)- A Rochester woman is accused of aiding and abetting a man charged in a series of burglaries and thefts reported across Rochester. 

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Last week, Rochester police announced the arrest of 29-year-old Zachary James Bunnell in connection with multiple burglaries and thefts that occurred last month. 

One of the thefts Bunnell is accused of committing involved a vehicle being stolen from a storage unit on Dec. 1. 

A criminal complaint filed in Olmsted County Court on Monday morning alleges he had help with the storage unit theft. 

Rochester Woman Charged in Storage Unit Burglary Ramming

34-year-old Veronica Kay Engel is charged with two counts of aiding and abetting felony theft, aiding and abetting third-degree burglary and aiding and abetting first-degree property damage. 

Rochester police responded to an unnamed storage facility shortly before noon on Dec. 1 to the report of a burglary and vehicle theft. The victim told officers someone had broken into their unit and stole their work van and an estimated $4,310 worth of fishing gear, the complaint says. 

A review of surveillance footage showed a transit van ramming the door of the victim’s storage unit on the night of November 29, the charges say. No one was seen exiting the van. 

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The same vehicle was seen returning to the unit on the morning of Dec. 1. It rammed the same door multiple times before leaving the facility, the charges say. 

Moments after the van’s departure, a vehicle registered to Engel was seen arriving at the victim’s unit. The footage shows someone exiting Engel’s vehicle, entering the unit and driving the victim’s van out of the unit, the complaint says. 

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On Dec. 2, Rochester police learned Engel’s vehicle had been stopped by police in Oakdale. Engel was in the vehicle along with fishing gear and power tools that the victim identified as property belonging to him and his employer. 

Other items in Engel’s vehicle were identified as property belonging to victims in other cases, the court document alleges. 

Authorities also found receipts in Engel’s vehicle indicating some of the items alleged to have been stolen by Bunnell had been pawned by Engel. 

The manager of the storage facility estimated the damage done to the door of the victim’s unit to exceed $1,000, the charges say.