A Thief River Falls couple have been charged in Pennington County District Court after they allegedly burglarized a rural Oklee property last fall.
Jake Newman Borreson, 28, Thief River Falls, has been charged with felony third-degree burglary and gross misdemeanor theft. He was booked into jail Monday night after law enforcement had initially been unable to locate him. Angela Marie Violette, 33, Thief River Falls, has been charged with felony aiding and abetting a third-degree burglary, and aiding and abetting a gross misdemeanor theft.
The complaints were filed on March 8. They were allegedly linked to the crime through trail cameras and sales of the stolen items.
The charges stemmed from a Sept. 2 report of a burglary at 10500 310th Ave. N.E. According to the complaints, a man returned home after being away for 12 days to find someone had broken a lock on his shop. Six tools, an ag pump, a game camera, a tool bag, mechanic stands, mechanic lights, two boxes of 12-gauge shells, a padlock, and a folding camping chair had been stolen. The items were valued at $715.
It was clear someone had also attempted to gain entry to a home. Trail cameras had been set up on the property. About 18 hours before the man arrived home, his cameras depicted a man and woman on his property. Both had flashlights. They were on the property for over an hour and had arrived in what appeared to be a 1998 to 2005 Suzuki Vitaria. A sheriff’s deputy determined five such vehicles were located in Pennington County, and one was owned by Violette, whose appearance was similar to the woman depicted on the trail camera.
The deputy later went to Violette’s home, 902 Reserve Ave., and observed the vehicle. It appeared to match the vehicle on the camera. A search warrant was executed for her home, but nothing of evidentiary value was found.
In September, the deputy noticed various items for sale on Facebook that matched some of the stolen items. The owner identified the items as his possessions. The seller allegedly said he had received the items from Borreson for fixing his bike. A Pine to Prairie Drug Task Force officer executed a search warrant for the seller’s phone, seeing messages between the two of them about the items. On his own, the owner had gone to Northern Gun and Pawn, seeing his flashlight, which had a missing clip.
Chief Deputy Scott Mekash executed a search warrant for Borreson’s Facebook account. Borreson allegedly referred to scoring some tools in a message to a woman. He sent photos of the tools to her, saying he was willing to part with some of them. Borreson also texted that he and his “lady friend” were planning to go back to the location from where he had gotten the items. The owner identified the items as his possessions. Borreson also corresponded via Facebook with someone else, sharing 18 photos of tools, a propane heater, a Polaris helmet and goggles, and an LG television. All minus the television belonged to the man.
Also on Facebook was an audio recording in which Borreson could be heard telling an unknown person that he had allegedly acquired “something that is highly illegal” for him to possess. He referred to a Daisy BB gun and power tools. Borreson had photographed the items, which matched some of the stolen items. The stolen air impact tools had the owner’s initials on them. Law enforcement recovered some of the stolen items.
In November, the Northern Gun and Pawn owner identified an electric transfer pump and a Polaris helmet as items that Borreson had allegedly pawned there. He provided a receipt.
Mekash noted they had been stolen from the property and were pictured in the Facebook messages.
The items were seized from the business.
After reviewing a six-person lineup, the owner identified Borreson as the person selling the items to him.
