Thursday will mark the end of an era in the Faribault Police Department, since 1997 Officer Tony Kuchinka has been a mainstay with the department and he will turn in his badge and head off into retirement. While he was with the Faribault Department for 25 years, he has been in law enforcement for 33 years. While it's sad Officer Kuchinka is leaving the public is invited to say farewell to him at an open house 2-4pm on Thursday.

According to The Point After a weekly publication sent out by the Faribault Police Department Officer Kuchinka "will be retiring on Thursday, April 28th. Ofc. Kuchinka leaves us after 33 total years in law enforcement. He began his career in 1989, and was hired by Faribault PD in 1997. In addition to working as a patrol officer, Tony also served as a detective for several years. Please join us from 2pm - 4pm on Thursday to thank Tony for his service and to wish him well in retirement!"

If you see Officer Kuchinka between now and Thursday, be sure to offer up congratulations on his retirement. From all of us here in Faribault, thank you for your years of dedication.

18-Year-Old Busted For Residential Burglary

Also in this week's The Point After Faribault Police gave notice of a residential burglary that was interrupted by an observant neighbor/witness, which resulted in charges of "Receiving Stolen Property, 2nd-degree Burglary, Carrying a Pistol without a Permit, and Fleeing a Peace Officer on Foot" for 18-year old Carlos Lopez.

According to The Point After Faribault Police were called to a neighborhood on a report of suspicious persons. The witness called law enforcement after seeing "three males" parking a vehicle and walking away through the alley, with the witness telling police that he was unfamiliar with the men. It was a short time later that officers "saw three males walking towards them and the witness identified them as the suspects." According to police "two of the males were carrying TVs." The three individuals ran when they saw law enforcement, who subsequently pursued them on foot. One of the males, Lopez, stopped and police could see that he was holding a handgun. After being given multiple verbal commands, Lopez eventually complied and was taken into custody without incident.

According to The Point After "detectives continue to work on the case to determine positively identify the two juvenile males also involved in the burglary."