Menomonie man pleads not guilty in 2016 Boyceville burglary

By Cara L. Dempski

MENOMONIE — A 24-year-old Menomonie man has pleaded not guilty to one count of receiving stolen property valued between $2,500 and $5,000, and one count of obstructing an officer in relation to a 2016 burglary.

Andrew D. Meyer was charged in January after being arrested in connection with the burglary of several thousand dollars of sound equipment belonging to the Boyceville Community Fire Department last summer.

Meyer is one of six people charged in the incident. He entered his pleas in Dunn County Circuit Court July 14.

A criminal complaint filed by the Dunn County District Attorney’s Office indicates Meyer was named by several others involved as the person who transported three speakers to Menomonie from the home of fellow suspect Robert Fawcett to the person who purchased them from another suspect, Micah Minor.

The complaint says Meyer was the person who asked the buyer if he was interested in purchasing some speakers. Minor reportedly told Boyceville Police Chief Greg Lamkin that Meyer was the one who knew the buyer and arranged the sale of the speakers. According to the complaint, Minor also told law enforcement he paid Meyer $50 for helping transport the items and arranging the sale.

According to the complaint, Meyer said he was not paid for transporting the speakers, but instead someone “may have bought me a pack of cigarettes and a pop for doing it.”

The document also indicates Meyer told Lamkin several times during an interview at the Boyceville Police Department that he was not aware the speakers were stolen until well after he had arranged the sale and delivered them to the buyer.

Court documents revealed Meyer suspected the speakers he took to Menomonie were stolen, but did not want to question things. Lamkin asked Meyer why he questioned whether the goods were stolen several months after the fact.

Meyer’s statement in the complaint alludes to an argument between him and Minor, which resolved shortly before Minor confessed to Meyer the speakers had been stolen.

The complaint says Meyer told Lamkin he did not know who, or where, to call to report the stolen items. Lamkin reportedly told Meyer he could have called the Dunn County Sheriff’s Office about the speakers.

Meyer is also charged with three counts of retail theft of items valued at less than or equal to $500 in a separate case. He will appear for a pre-trial hearing for the theft, receiving stolen property and obstruction charges at 3:00 p.m. August 29 in Dunn County Circuit Court.

Receiving stolen property valued between $2,500 and $5,000 is a class I felony in Wisconsin, and carries a punishment of up to $10,000 in fines, three years and six months in prison, or both.

The theft and obstruction charges are class A misdemeanors and have penalties of no more than $10,000 in fines, nine months’ imprisonment, or both.