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Boyceville woman arrested for counterfeit money

By Cara L. Dempski

MENOMONIE — Lori N. Klund of Boyceville was arrested and jailed on August 4, 2016 on suspicion of nine felony counts of forgery. She appeared at a bond hearing in Dunn County Circuit Court on August 5, 2016.

Judge James Peterson set a $500 cash bond for Klund. Special Prosecutor Jim Babbitt initially asked for a $1000 cash bond, citing the severity of the crime. Public Defender Christopher Bubb recommended a signature bond for Klund, stating that she was not a flight risk and had not been charged previously with violent crimes.

On August 1 and 2, 2016, the Boyceville Police Department received calls from several Boyceville businesses regarding several counterfeit $20 bills being circulated. Surveillance video from the Cenex store that included a shot of Klund’s license plate and showed the interactions between Klund and the cashier at the store led police to her home.

The Boyceville Police Department, Menomonie Police Department, and the Dunn County Sheriff’s Office assisted in executing the search warrant. During the search, police seized 20 counterfeit bills from the home, and Boyceville Police Chief Greg Lamkin said that there had been at least four counterfeit bills passed. Denominations taken as part of the investigation were $5, $20, $50, and $100 bills.

During the hearing, Babbitt stated that Lamkin believed this counterfeiting operation to be fairly sophisticated. “In addition to the counterfeit bills, an assault rifle was found between a mattress and box spring in a bedroom, and there was a box under the bed with several cell phones, laptops, and more bills,” Babbitt said of the findings from the home.

“Two bills were passed at Cenex, one at Subway, and another at Buckshot,” Lamkin said. He said Klund seemed to be doing what she could to distract the cashier in the surveillance video from Cenex. “She was folding the bill repeatedly to make it look like a bill that had been used many times before and seemed to keep asking the cashier questions as she did,” Lamkin stated. “Even the manager at the store could see she was trying to get something past her (the cashier).”

Chief Lamkin also said that the department is looking for a male who passed one of the bills to determine his awareness of the money’s origin. Lamkin shared that this person may not have been aware that the money he was using was counterfeit, but that “his demeanor was very nervous” on surveillance video.

Evidence recovered at the scene linked Klund to a forgery case being investigated by the Glenwood City Police Department and she will be charged in St. Croix County as well. Glenwood City Police Chief Robert Darwin declined to comment on the case at this time.

Klund is scheduled for an initial hearing at 1:15 p.m. on August 9, 2016 in Dunn County Circuit Court.