CRYSTAL, Minn. — A Crystal couple is now charged in a campaign of crime police say targeted residents of the apartment complex they lived in.
Criminal complaints filed against 20-year-old Da’Seanna Destiny Williams and her 38-year-old boyfriend Clarence Kentrell Carter Jr. detail a list of charges ranging from theft to possessing and receiving stolen property. Williams faces five separate charges, while Carter Jr. faces three counts.
A search warrant application details how Crystal Police were contacted Dec. 10, 2019, about a break-in involving 17 targeted storage lockers at the Granite Cliff Apartments, located at 2701 Brunswick Avenue North. Someone had pried the locking clasps off the unit and stolen items from them.
On Dec. 27 officers were again dispatched to the complex on reports of multiple vehicles that had been broken into. Windows on many of the vehicles had been smashed, and some owners reported that items inside those cars and trucks had been stolen. On that same day police received reports that packages delivered to the front entry way of the Granite Cliff Apartments had been stolen before the purchasers could pick them up.
Police also learned that someone had broken into rental deposit boxes where tenants could place their rent checks.
A Crystal Police officer went to the apartment manager who said she suspected that Williams and Carter were behind the recent crime wave. She stated that crime in the complex had sharply increased when Williams moved in in early December.
The big break in the case happened on Jan. 10, 2020 when a maintenance worker was sent to Williams' apartment to fix the heat. While there, the worker noticed and took pictures of items that had been reported as stolen by other residents.
Crystal Police obtained and executed a search warrant on Williams' apartment, seizing a number of items. They also arrested Carter on an outstanding warrant. When questioned, the criminal complaint says that he confirmed to investigators that a number of items they confiscated were stolen, and also told them cell phones in the apartment would contain evidence of check forgery and theft.
Carter admitted to stealing mail and packages from apartment residents, according to the complaint, but said Williams stole a rent check and tried to get him to cash it. He claimed he stood lookout while Williams broke into resident's cars.
In a post Miranda Statement, police say Williams denied stealing a number of the items. Investigators say she admitted to selling a number of items, but denied that she knew they were stolen.
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