Plea deal reached in stolen jewelry case
Published 5:37 pm Saturday, March 4, 2017
One of the three people charged after a Dec. 3, 2016, traffic stop uncovered $3,195 in stolen jewelry and other property reached a plea agreement in her case.
Angelina Marie Barnes, 44, pleaded guilty Friday in Mower County District Court as part of the deal to felony fifth-degree drug possession and gross misdemeanor receiving stolen property.
The case started when Shain Doreen Lane, 47, of Spencer, Wisconsin, was pulled over on Dec. 3 for erratic driving, and police found stolen jewelry and receipts leading to a LeRoy couple.
According to court records, officers contacted the LeRoy family listed on the receipts and bracelet and learned their storage unit in LeRoy had been broken into sometime before Nov. 29, but they hadn’t reported it and had secured the unit.
The residents identified the jewelry as their property. They inspected the storage unit with officers and found a file cabinet containing financial documents and jewelry missing.
The investigation led them to Barnes. Officers obtained a search warrant for Barnes’ room at the Rodeway Inn and executed it at about 12:30 a.m. on Dec. 4, 2016. They found several pieces of jewelry, other stolen property, 0.15 grams of methamphetamine, a Clonazepam pill, two marijuana pipes and three methamphetamine pipes.
Barnes eventually admitted knowing the items were stolen; however, she said they were brought to her apartment by Bryan Douglas Battin, 51. She said he had been stealing “quite a bit” from storage units and bringing items to her apartment.
She pointed police to a grandfather clock, two totes containing homemade and collector stuffed bears and more, a stereo, jewelry and a coffee pot.
The owners estimated the value of the stolen property at $3,195.
Barnes admitted selling two bags of jewelry to Lane for $50 the night she was arrested, saying she needed the money for food and gas.
Police located and impounded Battin’s black Ford Ranger on Dec. 6, 2016, but were unable to find him. Battin was arrested Jan. 3 when police went to Barnes’ apartment at the Rodeway Inn and asked if Battin was present, which Barnes denied multiple times. But Battin, allegedly Barnes’ boyfriend, eventually came out of the bathroom into the living room and was arrested, at which time Barnes said he must have just arrived.
Another female present told police Battin had been at the residence for two hours, had been smoking methamphetamine in the bathroom and went to the bathroom to hide stuff.
Police found a methamphetamine pipe, a bag of 2.5 grams of marijuana and personal items, including hygiene products, belonging to Battin in the bathroom.
Battin, a predatory offender, had previously listed his residence as homeless and was required to state his whereabouts on a weekly basis.
Barnes was arrested for aiding an offender.
Battin admitted knowing the property was stolen, and he said he and another man were attempting to sell it to get drugs.
Lane pleaded not guilty in December to gross misdemeanor DWI, a gross misdemeanor for receiving stolen property and a misdemeanor for driving with a revoked license after she was stopped for erratic driving.
Battin, 51, previously pleaded not guilty to a felony count of receiving stolen property. He also pleaded not guilty to a felony for being a predatory offender who failed to register, along with petty misdemeanors for possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.
Lane is scheduled for a March 10, 2017, pretrial and March 20, 2017, trial.
Battin is slated for an April 13 pretrial and April 24 trial.