Man steals car outside Sartell Walmart, calls owner for help

SARTELL — Sartell police recovered a car reported stolen from Walmart on Monday night, according to a criminal complaint filed in Stearns County District Court.

According to a police report, the car owner told police she auto-started her car from inside the store that evening and, instead of finding it warmed up, came out to find it gone. The car eventually was found in Isle, about an hour away, along with a Sauk Centre man suspected of stealing it

Walmart video surveillance showed a man driving away with the vehicle at about 8:35 p.m. He was later identified as 37-year-old Edward Leroy Wilson of Sauk Centre, the police report said.

About 10:30 p.m., the owner received a call from a woman saying a man was asking her questions about the car. Wilson then spoke to the owner on the phone, and told her his name was Wayne Hennen and he worked for a glass repair shop.

After Wilson parked the car, it would not start again, so he had called to ask if she would contact someone who could start the car for him, the report said.

Wilson had driven the car more than an hour away to Isle.

During the phone call, Isle police responded to a suspicious person complaint and found it was Wilson and the stolen vehicle. After being arrested, Wilson admitted to stealing the vehicle and that "he knew that it was not a good idea to get in the vehicle," the complaint states.