Chippewa Falls man pleads guilty on Boyceville storage unit burglaries and others

By LeAnn R. Ralph

HUDSON  —  A 35-year-old Chippewa Falls man who previously lived in Knapp has pleaded guilty in St. Croix County Circuit Court to three felony counts of burglary, including burglaries of storage units in Boyceville.

Patrick P. Haynes pleaded guilty in St. Croix County March 31 before Judge Scott Needham as a party to a crime to two felony counts of burglary in St. Croix County and one felony count of burglary in Dunn County.

All together, Haynes was charged with 11 counts associated with burglaries: six in St. Croix county; three in Chippewa County; one in Eau Claire County and one in Dunn County.

The Chippewa, Eau Claire and Dunn county cases were consolidated with the St. Croix County case.

Three felony counts in St. Croix County of burglary and one felony count of possessing burglarious tools were dismissed but read into the record for sentencing.

A Chippewa County charge of burglary also was dismissed but read into the record for sentencing, while two Chippewa County misdemeanors — theft of property worth less than $2,500 and criminal damage to property — were dismissed on a prosecutor’s motion.

The Eau Claire County felony count of burglary was dismissed but read into the record for sentencing as well.

Probation

Judge Needham withheld sentencing on all of the cases and placed Haynes on four years of probation.

Conditions of probation include paying $268 in court costs; paying a $250 DNA surcharge; and paying $441 of restitution in the St. Croix County case.

Judge Needham also ordered Haynes to maintain absolute sobriety with zero alcohol, zero controlled substances, zero prescribed medications (except as a physician has prescribed), and zero drug paraphernalia.

In addition, Haynes was ordered to participate in any and all treatment programs, maintain a mental health program, participate in a cognitive-behavioral treatment program for substance abuse, to maintain employment and to have no contact with any storage businesses where Haynes does not have a unit.

If Haynes violates the conditions of his probation, Judge Needham could sentence him to the maximum  sentence for the three felonies.

Billie Jo

Billie Jo Haynes also has been charged with six felony counts of burglary in St. Croix County and is scheduled in St. Croix County Circuit Court for a plea and sentencing hearing on April 20.

She is charged with one felony count of burglary in Chippewa County and with two misdemeanor counts of theft of property worth less than $2,500 and criminal damage to property.

According to the Dunn County criminal complaint, during an interview with a Glenwood City police officer, Billie Jo Haynes confessed to participating as a lookout while Patrick Haynes committed burglaries and specifically mentioned burglaries in Boyceville.

Complaint 

According to the Dunn County criminal complaint, which lists an address in Knapp for Haynes, a couple renting a storage unit at DO’s Storage in Boyceville reported in May of 2014 that their storage unit had been broken into and that several firearms had been taken, including  a 30-30 rifle, two 20-gauge Remington shotguns and a Red Rider BB gun.

Boyceville Police Chief Greg Lamkin received a report from a Dunn County Sheriff’s Department investigator in August of 2015 that he had located the three firearms and the BB gun. The items had been located at two pawn shops in Eau Claire where they had been pawned by an individual identified as Patrick Haynes.

The owners of the guns advised that they had a receipt for one of 20-gauge shotguns, which had been purchased at Mills Fleet Farm, and the gentleman said he could identify the Winchester lever action 30-30 because he had owned it for 55 years and had hunted frequently with it.

The pump action 20-gauge had a crack in the stock from when he had dropped it in a creek when he was hunting years ago, the man said.

The Red Rider BB gun also had been purchased many years ago, the man said.

The couple informed investigators that their insurance company had paid for the items, but the sentimental value of the weapons could not be compensated.

Dunn County investigators interviewed Patrick Haynes’ wife, Billie Jo, in May of 2015, and Billie Jo Haynes admitted that she and Patrick had committed multiple burglaries and mentioned Boyceville specifically.

In September of 2015, Police Chief Lamkin met with Patrick Haynes, who initially denied having anything to do with the burglaries in Boyceville.

Police Chief Lamkin said he obtained documentation to prove that Haynes had pawned three firearms at pawn shops in Eau Claire in August of 2015, according to the complaint.

“Patrick stated that he remembered pawning one shotgun and stated that he had done a lot of bad things and sold a lot of stolen things in the last year. Lamkin asked Patrick if he took the guns from the storage unites in Boyceville and then pawned them, and he stated that it was likely. Lamkin asked him if his wife, Billie Jo, was present and helped him, and he stated that she did,” according to the complaint.