Former Lakeville principal dies in Crow Wing County Jail

A former principal of a Lakeville middle school who pleaded guilty in 2019 to charges of burglary, stalking and identity theft died over the weekend in the Crow Wing County Jail, authorities said.

Christopher Endicott, 53, died Saturday, according to the Crow Wing County Sheriff’s Office. He was being held on a Department of Corrections warrant.

The sheriff’s office said Endicott was found unresponsive and efforts to save his life were unsuccessful. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is investigating the cause of death.

Endicott was principal of Century Middle School in 2018 when the Lakeville School District placed him on administrative leave over allegations that he had remotely accessed Apple devices belonging to an Apple Valley teacher. It was later uncovered that he had followed victims and broken into their residences and vehicles, digging for personal information such as names, birthdays, Social Security numbers and passwords.

A criminal complaint for the burglary charge also details a 2015 incident in which he had broken into his next-door neighbors’ home and stolen valuables, including a diamond ring and keys to the house. Those possessions were later uncovered in his office drawer, among other items.

Endicott pleaded guilty in 2019 to two counts of stalking, two counts of burglary and one count of identity theft in incidents dating back to 2013. A Dakota County judge sentenced him to 102 months in Minnesota Correctional Facility-St. Cloud and 10 years of probation.