If ever a criminal were to look for a potentially easy payoff, they might want to stay away from trying to take advantage of Nix Bar & Restaurant in Becker.

 

For the second time in the last four months, criminal activity at the enterprise was thwarted during an alleged break-in and all three perpetrators for the two crimes have been apprehended and put in jail.

 

Sunday, Nix proprietor Shelly Mattson got a message from her alarm company that the system at the restaurant had been activated. The time on the clock at her home read 2:53 a.m. and so Shelly and her boyfriend Rick jumped in a vehicle to drive the two minutes or so to the establishment to find out what was wrong.

 

“I drove by the front of the building first, to see if anything was up, but didn’t really see anything,” Shelly said.

 

After the couple parked in the back, Shelly said she assumed either the alarm was accidently activated or the motion detector sensed something, so she wasn’t too concerned.

 

At first.

 

But after parking in the back of the building, Rick got out and went to investigate while Shelly looked through her stuff for her keys. Rick ran back immediately to the car and told Shelly he saw the door busted open and a light on in the kitchen.

 

Shelly immediately called 911. The time she placed the call was 3:03 a.m.

 

“Within about two minutes we had a Becker police officer at the scene and a deputy soon thereafter,” Shelly said. “They verified who we were and then drove around and parked over by the Pedal Inn Antiques building.

 

A Becker officer (name undisclosed) and a deputy from Sherburne County (name undisclosed), along with a couple other newly-arrived officers, then approached the building with guns drawn and flashlights in their hands. A light was shined the light through the windows and a person was identified being inside the establishment.

 

Rafiq Abdul Mortland (aka David Gene Mortland), 52, of Minneapolis was apprehended and arrested at the scene. Mortland was eventually transported to Sherburne County jail pending charges of burglary.

 

Mortland has an extensive history of crime dating  back to 1983. He has been convicted of burglary, receiving stolen goods, attempted criminal sexual conduct, obstruction, attempted check forgery, parking  violations as well as driving offenses and trespassing.

 

Mattson says she typically receives between five-to-six false alarms a year through her security system and plans to augment her security. She already has an alarm system and cameras installed all around the building.

 

The Becker Police and Sherburne County Sheriff’s Dept. were assisted by Big Lake Police and the St. Cloud PD K-9 Unit.

 

Anyone with any more information related to this incident are asked to contact the Becker PD at 763-200-4267. 

 

The investigation is ongoing.