Rosemount House Cleaner Charged with Burglary

A Rosemount woman has been charged with felony third-degree burglary in connection with a 2008 case; she is accused of stealing Christmas gifts from her employer.

Melinda Joy Webb, 34, faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine—even though she allegedly admitted guilt, apologized and made restitution to the victim.

According to the criminal complaint, filed this week in Dakota County District Court, Webb was working as a house cleaner for a Rosemount family in late 2008. In that position, she had access to the house when nobody was home, as well as the family's garage door opener code.

Just before Thanksgiving, the homeowner told Webb she didn’t need to clean a downstairs room that she usually cleaned because the room was full of Christmas gifts, with a sign on the door that said, “Santa’s Workshop—do not enter.”

Just after Thanksgiving, the victim noticed that some items were missing from the room, including two cashmere wraps valued at $65 each and a leather jacket valued at $237, all of which still had store tags on them.

The victim told police that she knew the items were in the room on the day before Thanksgiving because she had her future daughter-in-law try out the leather jacket on Thanksgiving Day. The items turned up missing a few days after the holiday.

The homeowner also said she didn’t believe that anyone had broken into the house because it is equipped with an alarm system and was always locked.

She told police that she called the store where the missing items were purchased and discovered that they had been returned in exchange for cash. She said she called Webb, left a voice mail about the missing gifts and told her that she had contacted police.

On Dec. 8, 2008, Webb called the victim and admitted that she had returned the items to the store, according to the complaint. A few days later, the victim received a letter containing $500 in cash and a note.

“We want to say a million times over how sorry for the pain and stress you went through this past weekend,” the note read. “I’m sorry for making unwise decisions that in return hurt you and your family.

“We know we can’t undo what happened, but we hope someday you can forgive us. Please let us know if we owe you more, and if there is anything we can do. Again, we are so sorry for everything.”

Prokopowicz said that Webb's effort to pay back the victim doesn't change the fact that she is accused of breaking state law.

"Simply because you make restitution doesn't relieve you of criminal responsibility," he said. "The case is the state of Minnesota vs. the individual, not the victim vs. the individual.

"While we do take the victim's wishes into account, the fact remains that she violated the laws of the state and she's still subject to prosecution."

It took prosecutors several years to get the charges filed because of a clerical error and the need for more investigation, Chief Deputy Dakota County Attorney Phil Prokopowicz said Thursday.

"The major part of the delay is because the case got lost in the shuffle for nine or 10 months," Prokopowicz said. "And then we had requests for additional investigation on the case, so it went to the [Rosemount] Police Department and back to us several times."

Webb is scheduled to make a first appearance in Dakota County District Court in Hastings on May 23.