Two St. Paul men were arrested after a witness woke up to sawing noises and witnessed his neighbor’s catalytic converter being stolen last week.

Ma Mo, 27, was ordered to pay $1,000 cash bond Nov. 12 in St. Croix County Circuit Court on felony remove vehicle’s major parts without consent (as party to a crime), criminal damage to property (as party to a crime), theft – movable property (as party to a crime) and resisting or obstructing an officer (as party to a crime) charges. His co-conspirator, Aric Klet, posted a $5,000 signature bond Nov. 12 on the same charges. If convicted, the maximum penalty they face is 3.5 years in prison and/or fines up to $10,000.

According to the complaint:

At 3 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 11, River Falls police were dispatched to 1473 Riverside Drive where a witness believed he had witnessed a catalytic converter theft. He told police had been woken up by the sound of a saw outside and looked outside his sliding glass door to see his neighbor’s Toyota Prius jacked up. He saw someone underneath it, along with a sedan parked directly behind it, another man standing at the rear of the car and another near the suspect vehicle. When they saw him, they ran back to their vehicle and sped away toward Main Street.

Officers reviewed the witness’s security footage and saw a Ford Fiesta pull into view behind the Prius. In the video, officers could see a suspect’s legs sticking out from beneath the Prius and hear a power saw starting and grinding. When inspecting the Prius, police noted the catalytic converter was missing.

While searching the area, police found the Fiesta parked in the driveway of 1470 Riverside Drive. The license plate had a black strip of electrical tape over one letter to make it look like a different letter. Officers saw two men sitting in the backseat that matched the witness’s description. One officer saw a third male run from the car toward the residence. Inside the car, police saw Sawzalls, floor jacks, nine fire extinguisher tags, converters, extensions, screwdrivers, a toy handgun, wrenches, hackzalls, batteries and a card belonging to a St. Paul woman.

Officers ordered the two suspects out of the car, who pretended not to speak English. Police soon learned that Mo spoke English, while Klet refused to answer any questions. Mo insisted that he’d had nothing to do with the thefts, that he had met the people in the Fiesta at a St. Paul gas station and decided to hang out with them. He claimed he had fallen asleep and had no idea what was going on.

Officers knocked on the door of the home and two residents inside had no idea who the people sitting in their driveway were. No one else was in the house, so police believe the third suspect had fled into the woods. A Pierce County drone operator arrived to help but didn’t locate the third suspect. However, multiple phones in the car kept ringing with the same name calling each one.

Police arrested Mo and Klet and transported them to St. Croix County Jail. Inside the squad, the pair spoke Karen (a language common in Thailand and Myanmar), so police couldn’t understand what they were saying. The vehicle was impounded and taken to the city impound lot for processing. Both men claimed they had no idea who owned the vehicle they were in. Officers also notified St. Paul police of the items located in the vehicle, some of which had been reported stolen in that city.

At the jail, Klet refused to speak to police while Mo agreed to answer questions. He told police he’d gone to a Speedway in St. Paul around 11 p.m. where he saw three mutual friends of his friend Eh Kaw Moo in a vehicle, including Klet. He said he didn’t know the other two men’s names. He decided to drive around with them; they allegedly drove around the Twin Cities for 10-20 minutes before heading east on I-94 to River Falls around midnight. The group drove around River Falls, Mo said, looking for catalytic converters to steal. He said he asked them to take him home when he realized what they were doing. According to Mo, the group only stole one converter (from the Prius) before police caught up with them. He claimed the two men he didn’t know got out of the car and fled on foot.

Klet and Mo are both scheduled to appear at a status conference at 1 p.m. Nov. 18 in St. Croix County Circuit Court.