Brown County

District Court

Sheldon P. Wessling, 59, Minneapolis, was charged with 2 counts felony 2nd degree burglary, 2 counts 3rd degree burglary, possession of burglary or theft tools, misdemeanor 4th degree intentional damage to property, theft and theft-no consent.

According to court documents, New Ulm Police were dispatched to Westridge Road near a strip mall at 8 a.m., Nov. 9, 2016. Information given by dispatch was that a man was chasing another on foot and yelling “he hit my shop, call the cops.” At the scene, police saw two men running in a field south of Highway 14, near the water tower. It appeared they were running towards the airport, then towards the highway.

An officer ran to the suspect, later identified as Wessling, and handcuffed him. The other man told police he owned the Nail Spa in the strip mall.

Police searched Wessling and found $136 in loose bills, a pair of leather gloves, and a long, flathead screwdriver. Wessling was transported to the Law Enforcement Center. Police interviewed the store owner who said he opened the store and found the suspect inside, before he ran out the back door.

Police saw pry marks on the Nail Spa door and similar marks on the door to Smokes Plus and Great Clips For Hair, which were nearby stores.

Police found two bank deposit slips in Wessling’s shirt pocket, and a receipt from the Brown County Auditor Treasurer’s (AT) Office for $1,503. Police talked with another witness who confirmed the bank deposit slips and AT receipt belonged to Nail Spa.

Tony D. Steece, 31, 102 N. Payne, New Ulm, was charged with felony domestic assault, gross misdemeanor domestic assault subsequent violation and interrupt emergency phone calls/communications.

According to court documents, New Ulm Police were called to 102 N. Payne St. at 12:20 p.m. on Nov. 9.

At the scene, they found Steece and two women, on he had been dating, and Steece’s sister. The sister said Steece and the woman were arguing a lot lately, and he had called her to come over and assist him.

According to Steece’s girlfriend, she had been dating Steece about nine month but wanted to break up, and was getting her things when Steece started “acting crazy.” She tsaid she tried to call 911 twice but Steece took the phone away.

Steece, his sister and the woman told differing stories of the altercation, each claiming the others had been the aggressor. The woman said Steece and his sister had attacked her, while Steece said the woman attacked his sister, choked her and knocked his television to the floor.

The woman said she recorded the whole argument on her iPhone and could prove that she was the victim and called for help. Police listened to the audio recording and heard Victim 1 said “get off me, get off me” after a scuffle. The woman said she was kicking in self defense because Steece’s sister was on top of her.

Steece had earlier been convicted of two counts of violating a harrassment temporary restraining order on July 12, 2013 in Brown County Court. Both are qualified, domestic violence-related offenses.