Repeat Criminal Charged After Stealing American Flag, Dragging It Behind His Car, Then Going Back to Shred It in Minnesota Suburb (VIDEO)

A 24-year-old repeat criminal living in Minneapolis has been charged after stealing an American flag from a medical office building in Edina, attaching it to his vehicle and dragging it down the street on Wednesday.

If that wasn’t crazy enough, the man returned the same afternoon to shred the flag after bystanders chased him off and recovered it.

Mahamud Hassan Mahamed was booked on a misdemeanor charge of fourth-degree damage to property.

Crime Watch Minneapolis obtained videos of the incident and posted them on X.

WATCH:

Submitted from vibrant Richfield Minnesota this morning:
“This person just tried to steal our America flag that was hanging on the pole outside of our building located at York Ave and 66th Street in Edina. He pulled the flag down and then stuck it in the back of his trunk and was… pic.twitter.com/xr4YHUiJnF

— CrimeWatchMpls (@CrimeWatchMpls) August 26, 2026

Alpha News reports:

Late Wednesday afternoon, Crime Watch received new messages from two separate people stating that Mahamed had returned to the Edina property and “shredded” the flag.

One of the sources told Crime Watch that Mahamed had subsequently been trespassed from the property. A check of jail records showed Mahamed had been booked into custody on a misdemeanor tab charge of fourth-degree damage to property.

Court records show Mahamed has at least one active felony case on a charge of threats of violence stemming from an April incident with another party at his south Minneapolis apartment building. A court hearing on the charge was scheduled for Wednesday, the same day as the vandalism. Records indicate that probable cause was found, and a jury trial was scheduled for Nov. 16, 2026. Minnesota court records also show that Mahamed has at least five prior convictions on traffic-related cases.

Mahamed was also arrested earlier this month and booked into Hennepin County Jail on a probable cause charge of DWI but was released pending a formal complaint.

As of Thursday afternoon, he remained in custody on $2,000 cash bail or $200 conditional release.

It appears Mahamed has since been released and is due back in court in December.