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PRESTON, Minn. (AP) - A Minnesota mother and her 18-year-old son are accused of stealing nearly $5,000 in frozen gopher feet and selling them for a bounty.

   Thirty-seven-year-old Tina Marie Garrison and Junior Lee Dillon, both of Preston, were charged last month with receiving stolen property and theft. They allegedly gave the feet to local townships that offer rewards as they try to limit the gopher population.

   Garrison has pleaded not guilty. Her son has a hearing next month.

   The complaint says a gopher trapper reported to authorities that bags of feet were stolen from his freezer. According to the complaint, the owner found Dillon had turned in $1,014 in feet in November. In December, Garrison turned in $3,780 in feet.

   The Post-Bulletin reports Dillon denied turning in any feet for the bounty.

The former fire chief of two districts is headed to prison after admitting to fraud, tax evasion, and stealing nearly $600,000 from his departments.

Eric Hinson will spend 35 months in federal prison and repay over $600,000. Hinson used fire district credit cards to pay for family vacations to Hawaii and Florida and business checks to pay for personal expenses. The investigation into the spending revealed he altered the fire department's books to cover up his theft.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A St. Louis-area investment adviser faces up to 40 years in federal prison now that he's admitted pilfering more than $1.8 million from client accounts.

Thirty-four-year-old Greg John Campbell of Ladue pleaded guilty Friday in federal court in St. Louis to two counts of wire fraud.

Authorities say Campbell was working as a Merrill Lynch financial adviser from mid-2006 through October 2011 when he diverted more than $1.4 million from client accounts to his own. One client was 86 years old with dementia.

After going to work for another wealth-management business, authorities say, Campbell stole an additional $360,000 from clients.

Prosecutors say he used the money for a down payment on a home, mortgage payments, lease payments on luxury vehicles, and living expenses.

Sentencing is set for September 10th.

A fake UPS driver is in custody after allegedly tying up and robbing an Ellisville woman a month ago.

Tyson McGuire faces several felony charges including theft and kidnapping. Police say on April 27 McGuire posed as the delivery driver and after the victim opened the door, he barged into her house and taped her to the stove. That is when McGuire allegedly stole several items from her home.

St. Louis City Police learned where McGuire was staying and shared that with Ellisville Police who arrested him.

CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) — A north St. Louis County man admits that he stole money from his 4-year-old nephew's piggy bank to use for drugs and prostitutes.

KSDK reports 31-year-old Baron Calmese pleaded guilty Friday to a felony stealing charge. He will be sentenced next month.

Calmese was arrested last July after he took more than $500 for his nephew's piggy bank.

Investigators say Calmese took the money after first asking the boy's mother — his sister — if he could borrow some change. The woman told Calmese he could take $2 but he took all the money he could shake out of the bank.

ST. LOUIS (AP) - Two St. Louis officials are facing federal charges that they stole nearly a half million dollars in city funds over the past eight years.

A federal grand jury indicted 43-year-old Thomas "Dan" Stritzel, the city's chief park ranger, and 55-year-old deputy parks commissioner Joseph Vacca.

The indictment released Thursday accuses each man of three mail-fraud counts, alleging they men used various schemes to spend the stolen money on vehicle leases, credit card bills and other expenses.

A message was left Thursday with Stritzel's attorney, Scott Rosenblum. Online court records don't show whether Vacca has legal counsel, and he doesn't have a listed telephone number.

Maggie Crane, a spokeswoman for Mayor Francis Slay, says the two defendants are being placed on forced, unpaid leave, pending disciplinary proceedings.

Federal authorities are offering a reward for anyone who can help find the person who stole explosives in Troy, Missouri.

The Lincoln Count Sheriff's Office says the suspect stole two crates that contained 100 pounds of explosives.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the successful prosecution of the suspects in the case.

ST. LOUIS (AP) - Police are searching for the car thief who got more than he expected when he took an idling car - a toddler in the backseat.

The 2-year-old is OK after the scare late Tuesday in St. Louis.

Police say a car was left running at an ATM. The child's father got out to use the machine and while he was gone, someone stole the car with the child inside.

Police found the car minutes later in an alley. The child slept through the whole ordeal.

Officers are looking at ATM video in an effort to find the suspect.

After a break-in at one of their building sites, Habitat For Humanity reached out to the public to help recoup their losses. And one company stepped up big time.

Workers here at Home Depot on south Hanley loaded up trucks with over $13,000 dollars worth of tools and construction materials, replacing every item that Habitat for Humanity listed as stolen. The break-ins happened in the Carondelet Neighborhood earlier this week.

Kimberly McKinney, the CEO for Habitat for Humanity St. Louis, was overjoyed by the community willing to help, "This is pretty incredible. As they rolled the tools out, I got a little teary, and I don't even know how to use most of this stuff. Really, really an incredible day. The generosity fo Home Depot and the St. Louis community has been incredible."

Now thanks to those donations, a scheduled Habitat for Humanity Mother's Day build is back on track. About 60 women volunteers are coming together on Saturday to build houses for the less fortunate.

A charity is asking for help after they were victimized by a burglar. 

In one week, Habitat for Humanity was burglarized in the Carondelet neighborhood two separate times, with the suspects taking around $15,000 worth of tools.

The organization is now asking for help to replace their stolen tools. Instead of giving tools, Kyle Hunsberger, director of construction, says money is the most helpful donation. He also says there is something else the community can do, "It goes without saying, don't buy tools from somebody that rolls up in a pickup truck and says they have a really good deal."

Anyone interested in helping, can donate at habitatstl.org. 

Anyone with information on the burglaries is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 866.371.TIPS