Shakopee man arrested in murder of girlfriend

Shakopee Valley News

Shakopee police have arrested a 31-year-old Shakopee man on suspicion of second-degree murder in the killing of his 34-year-old girlfriend.

Shakopee Police Chief Jeff Tate confirmed Sergey Nikolaevich Balandin was arrested and was being booked into the Scott County Jail Monday night. Police are not releasing the name of the victim, pending notification of family members.

Tate said police were notified by St. Paul police Monday morning that a homicide may have taken place. Shakopee police then talked to the reporting party, who had been in contact with the suspect, who was trying to get a ride from somewhere in the area of Lowe's and the Hampton Inn. 

“We had a lot of staff on this right away, kind of vetting, is this true or not?” Tate said.

Eventually, police got information that led them to the 1400 block of Savanna Drive, where the victim’s mother answered the door and said her daughter was upstairs sleeping. Police found the bedroom door locked, and inside it was immediately obvious the woman was dead. She was not shot and Tate wouldn’t speculate on the cause of death. 

“The mom was obviously distraught,” Tate said. “She didn’t know what had gone on.”

Pretty quickly police got information that the suspect did not have a car, might have a broken leg and might be on foot between the Hampton Inn and Lowe’s. 

Police went into the Hampton Inn at 4175 Dean Lakes Boulevard and made sure everybody inside was OK, then set up a perimeter and found Balandin in bushes outside the hotel. Savage and Prior Lake police, the county sheriff, State Patrol and Department of Natural Resources all helped Shakopee police.   

“Thanks to some really good police work, we located him laying down in some pretty thick bushes,” Tate said. “We surrounded him with a lot of assisting agencies. There was a brief standoff.”

Police didn’t know whether he had a weapon; they found a pellet gun in his bag and bottles outside the bag.

“We had no idea what he had,” Tate said. “He was not complying at all.”

Police shot at him with beanbags and then he complied with police. He had some bruises from the beanbags and didn’t have a broken leg but was taken by ambulance to a hospital for an evaluation before being taken to jail. 

“I think the work our officers did in determining fact from fiction… securing the area… to how they handled the scene itself – they did a very professional job,” he said.

The state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension was still processing the crime scene Monday evening.

“They’re going to be there for a long time,” Tate said. “There’s a lot to process in that bedroom.” 

Tate said the only previous incident between the couple was a verbal altercation at Mystic Lake Casino, which was handled by Prior Lake police.

“It’s not like (there was) this extensive history with the two of them,” Tate said. “They both have incidents involving other people. It certainly escalated into a dangerous domestic situation.”

Balandin has a lengthy rap sheet that mostly consists of traffic offenses but also includes a 2014 felony charge in Scott County of domestic assault by strangulation and interfering with a 911 call, a case involving a different woman. But those charges were dropped and he was convicted of misdemeanor disorderly conduct, according to state court records.

Shakopee resident Chris Batta said she does not know the couple but lives near Savanna Drive.

"I believe we are all affected by all the violence that seems to be the norm," Batta said. "It's hard to explain to the kids why there is so much hate and violence."

Travis Brown said the neighborhood isn't used to that kind of violence.

"It's certainly unsettling, there's no doubt about that. This neighborhood has been great though. Even Halloween we had lots of kids here."

Celeste Glassel said she's lived in the neighborhood just over a week. 

"The fact that has happened so close to where I have three children and a fourth coming is scary," she said. "It's not something you can avoid but it is surprising to have so close to home." 

The last murder in Shakopee was in April 2016 when a couple was murdered by the man's son.

“These types of acts, they can happen in any community,” Tate said. “Domestic violence — it’s a reason we take it very seriously.”

But he said Shakopee is still a safe place to live.

“We’re on track to have a very low crime rate year. This is still a very, very safe community.”

Anyone with information concerning this event is urged to contact the Shakopee Police Department at 952-233-9400. Those wishing to remain anonymous may submit tips online at http://tiny.cc/SPD_TIP411 or text the word "spdtips" and the tip information to 847411.

Deena Winter contributed to this report.