EM police chief warns residents to lock cars and houses
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
ELK MOUND — Elk Mound Police Chief Chad Weinberger is warning Elk Mound residents to lock their cars and houses and to not leave valuable items in their vehicles.
The police chief told the Elk Mound Village Board at the September 16 meeting that he had put a post up on Facebook telling residents to lock their vehicles and houses.
Thieves are coming from Eau Claire and from the Twin Cities to see what they can find, he said.
The Elk Mound Police Department recently conducted a surveillance operation and observed a vehicle that had parked behind Shepherd of the Hill Lutheran Church in Elk Mound, the police chief said.
The occupants had gotten out of the vehicle and walked around town for 90 minutes, Police Chief Weinberger said.
With all of the recent vehicle thefts in the area, the police chief said he had been hoping the Elk Mound Police Department would be able to catch the culprits but were unsuccessful.
The thieves then traveled to another community where they were caught, and the story is on the WQOW website, he said.
According to an article published September 13 on WQOW, four people have been charged in Eau Claire County in connection with recent car break-ins.
The defendants are Kylia Nordlof, 19, of Colfax; Ethan Beebe, 17, of Eau Claire; Rubi Solis, 18, of Eau Claire; and Trapper Tate, 20, of Phillips.
According to the WQOW story, vehicle thefts have been reported in Altoona, Colfax, Chippewa Falls and Stanley.
According to the news story, license plate reader technology was used to identify the license plate on a suspicious vehicle, which was then traced to Tate. All four defendants were in the vehicle when it was stopped by law enforcement.
Nordlof is charged in Eau Claire County with five counts of misdemeanor theft, with each count carrying the modifier of as a party to a crime, according to on-line court records.
Beebe is charged with six counts of misdemeanor theft and one count of possessing THC.
Solis charged with six counts of misdemeanor theft with three counts as a party to a crime, one misdemeanor count of possessing drug paraphernalia and one felony count of possessing narcotic drugs.
Tate is charged with six counts of misdemeanor theft, one misdemeanor count of possessing THC (the active ingredient in marijuana) and one misdemeanor count of possessing drug paraphernalia.
All four defendants are scheduled to make an initial appearance in Eau Claire County Circuit Court on October 3.
Most unusual
The most unusual case in August, Police Chief Weinberger told the Elk Mound Village Board, was a bunch of flashlights at the village park after dark.
When the officer pulled into the park to investigate, some of those with flashlights took off running, and some stayed behind and were very emotionally distraught, he said.
As it turned out, it was a group of youngsters whose friend had gotten accidentally locked into the bathroom at the park.
Through a series of messages exchanged with Mark Levra, director of public works, who was out of town at the time, the bathroom door was unlocked, Police Chief Weinberger said.
What started out as a possible burglary, or some other mischief, turned out to be an innocent child locked in the bathroom, he said.
Radio upgrade
A state grant has just been announced to help police departments pay for radio upgrades, Police Chief Weinberger said.
The grant application will require a resolution approved by the village board, he said.
The grant is a 20-80 matching grant, with the state paying 80 percent and the municipality paying 20 percent. The deadline for grant applications closes in January of 2025, the police chief said.
The resolution for the grant application will be an agenda item at the Elk Mound Village Board’s October meeting.
Other items
Here are some of the other items in the police chief’s report:
• The Elk Mound Police Department could use two additional full-time officers.
• A Dunn County deputy was injured during a domestic dispute call to Settlers Ridge.
• The Elk Mound Police Department had 71 cases in August, and there were a total of 103 calls to dispatch.
• Of the traffic cases, there were seven citations, one arrest and 14 warnings for a total of 22 cases.
• National Night Out on August 6 in Elk Mound had a good turn-out.
• A safety tour was conducted at Elk Mound schools, which is required by the state safety grant the school district received. There were no major deficiencies, the police chief said.
