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NU man faces felony burglary, theft charges

MILFORD TOWNSHIP — A 33-year-old New Ulm man faces felony third-degree burglary and two felony theft charges stemming from a March 2021 incident involving a variety of items reported stolen from a vacant residence in Milford Township.

Charges were filed against Travis M. Stanton, 322 State St. N. Monday in Brown County District Court. A first appearance was set for 8:30 a.m., Oct. 19. Stanton is in Brown County Jail custody with $200,000 bail for another case.

According to court documents, Brown County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the residence on CR 29 on March 8, 2021 and met a victim and witness. The victim said he got a phone call from a witness about someone wandering on the farm site the night before.

The victim sent his son to the farm to check it out and said the farm site appeared ransacked and damaged. Out buildings were open, a shop was damaged, and property was missing.

At the farm site, law enforcement noticed tire tracks in the snow and mud. A metal door to the shop appeared cut by a Sawzall, through a door knob, allowing building access. Every farm site building appeared to have been broken into.

Items reported missing included spark plugs from the 1950s and 1960s, more than 30 boxes of Champion spark plugs valued at $900, antique light bulbs, a car jack, S&K wrench set from the 1950s, a torque wrench and various other wrenches.

Outside the shop, an electrical box was damaged. On a trailer moved outside one of the outbuildings, was a Targus laptop bag with butane lights and flashlight that did not belong to the victim.

On west side of the property, several vehicles were damaged. One was jacked up and catalytic converters were removed. A damaged catalytic converter was found in the snow, near the vehicles.

Suspects tried to take gas and diesel from farm tanks. A cow fence was damaged with a dark paint color transferred on it.

A white, red, and blue 1997 Honda XR100 dirt bike valued at $900 was reported stolen along with a yellow and black Partner P100 chainsaw and a Stihl brush trimmer were reported taken.

A witness told law enforcement he saw two flashlights near the farm place at 9:30 p.m. the previous night; and an orange Mitsubishi convertible parked about a mile down the road.

Other missing and damaged items at the farm site included logging chains, fuses in a display case, catalytic converters cut from vehicles, damaged vehicles, a large gear puller, paint sprayer, welding helmet, ratchet set, torque wrench, large antique train car, Remington and Homelite chainsaws and air impact guns.

Law enforcement went to 322 State St. N., New Ulm to talk with another witness, the girlfriend of Stanton. Cellphone evidence was obtained including directions sent to his phone, from 322 State St. N. to Milford Township. Plugging in the web address, directions led to the property where the burglary happened March 7-8, 2021.

Fritz Busch can be emailed at fbusch@nujournal.com.

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