Car rental employee charged in thefts of several vehicles from Minneapolis-St. Paul airport: 18-year-old confesses after Enterprise rentals turn up near his home

Nov. 29--At first it was just one car, then two more, then four after that, police said.

Officials at Enterprise Rent-A-Car at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport noticed last week that a red Chrysler 300 was not parked in its assigned spot after employee Shawn Michael Hafemann got it gassed up and washed, authorities said. When they checked further, they found other cars missing.

Hafemann, 18, of St. Paul, was charged Wednesday in Ramsey County District Court with five counts of receiving stolen property, a felony.

The case of the absent Chrysler and other cars was detailed in a criminal complaint this way:

Hafemann started working for the car rental agency last month. On Nov. 22, supervisor Tom Eggerud noticed the Chrysler missing at 3:46 p.m., after a customer returned it. It reappeared the next day shortly before 2 p.m., three minutes before Hafemann clocked in for work.

Enterprise kept looking and discovered two more vehicles -- a black Chevrolet Tahoe and a white Buick Enclave -- were missing.

Airport police drove to Hafemann's house Friday to talk to him. He wasn't home.

On the way, an officer spotted the Tahoe parked near Hall Avenue and Wyoming Street, about half a block from Hafemann's home.

Still more checking by Enterprise revealed more missing vehicles: a gray Dodge Charger, a maroon Ford Fusion and a silver Chrysler 300.

Police found the Fusion in an apartment building parking lot near Hafemann's house.

They found the Buick

nearby.

They found the silver Chrysler on Monday -- with Hafemann in the driver's seat.

According to a search warrant affidavit in the case, Hafemann was sent home on a rules infraction Nov. 18, clocking out at 4:11 p.m. At 4:17 p.m., a security video caught him driving the Charger out of the rental area. The Charger has not been recovered.

Hafemann admitted to police that he stole all but the Charger -- plus another vehicle Enterprise didn't even know was missing: a black Chevrolet Suburban. He showed police where the Suburban was parked. It had been out of the agency's inventory since Nov. 19.

He admitted parking the vehicles in spaces near the car wash at the rental agency and keeping the keys. He would punch out from work and take off in a rental car, he told police.

Hafemann was booked into Ramsey County Jail on Monday and released Wednesday. A phone number for him could not be located, and a number belonging to his mother, with whom he reportedly lives, was unpublished.

An Enterprise spokeswoman could not confirm late Wednesday whether Hafemann was still employed by the company.

Emily Gurnon can be reached at [email protected] or 651-228-5522.

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