LeROY, Minn. — Andrew Carl Leff, an 18-year-old with a prior history of car theft, was charged this week with multiple felonies after allegedly stealing a vehicle and equipment from a wind turbine maintenance site.
Leff faces two felony counts of theft, a third-degree felony burglary charge, felony fleeing a peace officer, and misdemeanor damage to property, according to Mower County District Court documents. He is currently held in the Mower County Jail on a $100,000 bond without conditions or $20,000 with conditions.
The incident unfolded on September 22 when deputies responded to a report at the 100 block of Industrial Street North in LeRoy. A site manager from EDP Renewables had reported a broken window on a pickup truck and the theft of a garage door opener.
Leff allegedly used the stolen opener to enter a building and took a 2017 white Ford F250 fitted with a GPS tracking device. The GPS indicated the vehicle traveled into Iowa and was returning to Minnesota. A deputy spotted the truck but ended the pursuit due to safety concerns after the driver refused to stop and drove recklessly on wet gravel.
Witnesses later reported seeing the truck on a bicycle trail at Lake Louise State Park. Authorities later found the vehicle abandoned in a nearby field, but Leff was not present.
EDP Renewables also reported over $26,000 worth of wind turbine maintenance tools and a Hytorc pump missing from the truck.
Using GPS data, deputies tracked the truck to a Kwik Trip in Stewartville at 5:17 a.m. Surveillance footage from the store matched a recent booking photo of Leff. He was arrested when he appeared for a probation appointment but declined to comment.
Leff was recently released from Olmsted County after motor vehicle-related charges. He is scheduled for an initial court appearance on October 6.
