Former EM man sentenced to 1 year in jail, 3 years probation on theft charges
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — A 40-year-old former Elk Mound man has been sentenced in Dunn County Circuit Court to one year in jail and three years of probation for using another person’s financial transaction card and for theft of movable property.
Shea D. Mattice appeared by telephone from the Eau Claire County Jail May 19 before Judge Rod Smeltzer for a sentencing hearing.
Mattice pleaded no contest and was found guilty January 7 on one felony count of misappropriating identity information to obtain money and one misdemeanor count of theft of movable property worth less than $2,500.
Six other counts were dismissed but read into the record for sentencing: two misdemeanor counts of theft of movable property worth less than $2,500; one misdemeanor count of possessing drug paraphernalia; one misdemeanor count of resisting or obstructing and officer; and two felony counts of bail jumping.
Judge Smeltzer withheld sentencing, and on the felony count of misappropriating identity information, placed Mattice on three years of probation, and as a condition of probation, sentenced him to one year in the county jail, which can run concurrent to an Eau Claire County case.
Judge Smeltzer also ordered Mattice to have no contact with three victims and to pay $738.04 in restitution.
On the misdemeanor count of theft, Judge Smeltzer withheld sentence and placed Mattice on one year of probation concurrent to the felony count and ordered him to pay $243 in court costs, a $200 DNA surcharge, to have an alcohol and other drug abuse (AODA) assessment and follow through on any recommended treatment and to complete anger management training if appropriate.
EM thefts
According to the criminal complaint, a resident on Princeton Drive in Elk Mound reported to Elk Mound Police Chief Chad Weinberger on July 29, 2019, that an unknown individual had taken a Dewalt radio, Dewalt impact driver, Dewalt drill, two 18-volt batteries, one 20-volt battery with a 15-volt adapter and a change jar with approximately $10 in change from his locked vehicle. The resident said the value of the items taken was $510.
On August 27, 2019, a resident on West Menomonie Street in Elk Mound reported that an unknown individual had entered two vehicles and had taken a black subwoofer speaker, gym bag, Highland Fitness identification badge, a cutoff t-shirt, sweatpants, Sketcher shoes and a notebook.
On September 6, 2019, Police Chief Weinberger received a checkbook with a note from the Village of Elk Mound Public Works Director indicating the checkbook had been found on Division Street in Elk Mound.
The police chief spoke with the owner of the checkbook, who reported her wallet had been taken from her vehicle on Division Street. The woman said she had received a fraud alert from her bank indicating her financial transaction card had been used at four locations in Chippewa County and Eau Claire County.
Security video
Police Chief Weinberger contacted the four locations — Kwik Trip and Holiday gas stations in Eau Claire and Tobacco Outlet and Walmart in Lake Hallie — and received security footage from all locations.
Security footage from Walmart showed the suspect getting into a vehicle, which was registered to Shea Mattice. Tattoos and facial features from the video surveillance also matched the defendant’s physical description, the complaint states.
Police Chief Weinberger subsequently executed a search warrant at Mattice’s residence on Princeton Drive in Elk Mound, and in addition to finding drug paraphernalia at the residence, a black subwoofer speaker was recovered.
After Mattice was placed under arrest, he admitted to using credit cards that did not belong to him and said he had found the credit cards and other property by his fire pit, garbage cans and scattered around his yard, according to the complaint.
In October of 2019, Police Chief Weinberger was contacted by the Chippewa County Sheriff’s Department regarding armed burglary and theft investigations. Chippewa County investigators asked Police Chief Weinberger to detain Mattice at his residence. When the police chief asked Mattice to place his hands on the vehicle, he complied but then attempted to escape. Mattice turned around and pushed Police Chief Weinberger and took an aggressive posture, closed his fists and assumed a position to fight the approaching police chief. After Police Chief Weinberger drew his taser, Mattice complied.
Other counties
According to the criminal complaint, Mattice had signed a $1,000 signature bond on September 18, 2019, in an Eau Claire County case in which he was charged with criminal damage to property. A review of Mattice’s criminal history revealed that Mattice had previously been convicted in Eau Claire County of misdemeanor counts of criminal trespass, theft of movable property and criminal damage to property.
According to online court records, at a sentencing hearing on May 1 in Eau Claire County, Mattice was sentenced to 18 months in state prison with six months of extended supervision on a charge of disorderly conduct and also was sentenced to three years of probation on charges of felony criminal damage to property, felony bail jumping and identity theft and two years of probation for theft. The probation in the separate cases is to be served concurrently, but consecutive to the six months of extended supervision after Mattice is released from prison.
Mattice also was ordered to pay a little more than $6,600 in restitution for the Eau Claire County cases.
In Chippewa County, Mattice is charged in five separate cases amounting to 35 counts all together, such as criminal damage to property, theft, bail jumping, operating a motor vehicle with a revoked driver’s license, disorderly conduct, and a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.
The Chippewa County cases have not yet been resolved.
