NEW ULM — An 18-year-old Sleepy Eye man faces a felony third-degree burglary charge for allegedly aiding the theft of money from a Hardee’s restaurant safe in Sleepy Eye last January.

A bail hearing was set for 11:30 a.m. today (Nov. 5) on Zoom for Bennet E. Crawford, 500 Remmele St. S.E., Sleepy Eye. Crawford was booked into the Brown County Jail Wednesday.

According to court documents, Sleepy Eye Police were informed at 5:08 a.m. Jan. 4, 2021 that the Hardee’s restaurant was burglarized and that a glass door was shattered. Police investigator Shawn Bohnen met a witness at Hardee’s at 5:30 a.m. who told him a bank bag was missing from the restaurant safe and the bag should have contained $679. In addition, the witness said $160 was missing from two till boxes stored in the safe.

Later that day, the witness told police the Hardee’s security camera did not record from 10 p.m. Jan. 3, 2021 to 6 a.m. Jan. 4, 2021, which was usual, and the recording setting was edited.

According to the complaint, the Freedom gas station just west of Hardee’s has a surveillance camera and the station owner would make a copy of the video and make it available. In addition, cell phone records from Verizon were searched that included Crawford’s cell phone number.

Crawford’s locations on Jan. 3-4, 2021 according to cell phone records showed he was in Sleepy Eye, the Morton/Redwood Falls area, then back in Sleepy Eye near Hardee’s in the early morning hours.

On Oct. 29, 2021, Bohnen was informed an individual called Sleepy Eye Police with information about the burglary case. The individual told Bohnen that Crawford told him he was the getaway car for about $1,000 taken from the Hardee’s safe.

In addition, the individual said Crawford said he was under investigation for the burglary, that his girlfriend lied for him, and that they heard someone was being charged for the Hardee’s burglary. They called to provide information “because it isn’t right for someone else to be charged for a crime they didn’t commit.”