Thursday, April 29, 2004
Trial starts soon for alleged ‘serial
burglar’
By Bob Zientara, Managing Editor
New Richmond News
bzientara@rivertowns.net
More than a dozen wintertime burglaries in St. Croix County were allegedly committed by a man who will soon stand trial on 14 felony counts, according to information released last week by the District Attorney’s Office.
Thomas W. Peschong, address unknown, is awaiting trial at the St. Croix County Jail.
A motion hearing in the case is scheduled May 5.
County authorities say that Peschong and a female accomplice broke into a number of locations -- many of them rural residences that were vacant while their owners were at work -- during the months of January and February this year.
The trail of evidence led to Twin Cities area pawn shops where stolen items were sold. Authorities are using security videos of those sales transactions -- and the serial numbers and/or descriptions of the stolen property -- in their case against Peschong.
A key pawnshop discovery was a set of antique toy tractors, stolen from a town of Pleasant Valley home Feb. 4. The collection was unique and aided investigators in their search for the culprits.
The defendant’s alleged misdeeds include the following:
• On Jan. 7, there was a burglary at 935 Quarry Road in the town of Kinnickinnic. The owner said 10 DVDs were missing, along with a leaf blower.
Also in early January:
• Francis Conrad, 1775 County Highway E in Hammond, reported an air compressor, stereo receiver, tools and other items missing;
• The Tom Johnson residence, 1954 200th St., town of Stanton, was burglarized while family members were away. Stolen items included an air conditioner, personal products, stereo speakers and other items;
• On Jan. 13, a home was burglarized at 1513 County Highway V in the town of Somerset. Owner Marvin Radke said that among the items that were stolen were a weed whip, trolling motor and battery charger;
• On Jan. 14, a burglary was reported at 2358 County Highway DD in the town of Emerald; specifics on missing items were not in the formal complaint;
• On Jan. 17, there was a break-in at a home owned by Michael Humphrey at 2590 Pierce/St. Croix Road, town of Eau Galle. Missing were a tool box, tools and chain saw;
• The same day, another burglary was reported at 2631 County Highway D in the town of Baldwin.
Property owner Paxton Rasmussen said that two sets of golf clubs were missing, with a total estimated value of between $5,000 and $6,000, as well as a power scooter and tools;
• On Feb. 4, there was a break-in at the Betty and Alvin Johnson residence, 1598 30th Ave. in the town of Pleasant Valley.
Johnson found that the chest freezer in his garage had been emptied while he was away from home. The toy tractor collection was also missing from inside the house.
• Gregory Smith, 1129 Coulee Trail, Roberts, reported tools missing from his home during the first week of February;
• On Feb. 9, Peschong is alleged to have broken into the Terry and Mary Roen home in the town of Troy.
One of the owners returned home to find the garage door had been pried open with a crowbar. Several drawers full of tools were missing, as well as clothing, a television, bedding, videotapes, cash, jewelry and stereo equipment.
• During the same week, Conrad Kluck, 508 County Road UU, town of Hudson, reported a pressure washer, portable heater and miscellaneous tools missing from a pole shed;
•Gary Senn, 370 County Highway U, town of Troy, reported a bicycle, table saw and other miscellaneous tools stolen from his residence at about the same time.
New charges pending
Sheriff Dennis Hillstead said Friday that investigators are gathering evidence which may result in additional charges in the burglary case.
Descriptions and serial numbers for other stolen items have been gathered, and law enforcement officials were evaluating them last week.
Pawn shop records have been used in other burglary investigations besides this one, Hillstead added.
“We have cleared a number of burglaries that way -- we check pawn shops routinely,” he said. “There’s an online registry for law enforcement to use to check for serial numbers.”
Some Minnesota municipalities have ordinances that require pawn shops to post the serial numbers and descriptions of their inventory online, Hillstead added.
“And it’s one thing we need to start thinking about in St. Croix County,” he said.
The charges against Peschong culminate four different burglary investigations pursued by the Sheriff’s Department since fall 2003.
The first such theft involved $25,000 worth of stereo equipment taken last fall from the Living Word Chapel in the town of Forest. All of the missing property was later recovered.
Police investigated a man and woman charged with committing burglaries in Hudson, North Hudson, Hammond and Baldwin.
“The fourth (series of burglaries) involved two men who were living in the River Falls area and hitting local places and machine sheds, primarily around River Falls,” he added.
“I think we had pretty close to 40 burglary reports between Dec. 15, 2003 and March 1 of this year,” said Hillstead. “We’ve cleared them all. We normally get between 120 and 150 per year.”
None of the four sets of incidents was related to any of the others, he added.
“It looked like four sets of people started thinking of the same thing at the same time,” said Hillstead. “They were all stealing things, either to live on or to buy drugs.”
