EC man fined for stealing packages from apartment building
Jul. 10—EAU CLAIRE — An Eau Claire man was fined $906 for stealing packages from several residents of an apartment building on two occasions last fall.
Scott J. Stauffer, 41, 366 Vine St., pleaded guilty recently in Eau Claire County Court to two misdemeanor counts of theft.
Four additional counts of theft, a felony count of second-offense possession of marijuana and a misdemeanor count of possession of drug paraphernalia were dismissed but considered by Judge Jon Theisen at sentencing.
According to the criminal complaint:
The assistant property manager at Westwinds Apartments, 2215 Folsom St., contacted police Oct. 29 to report that several packages were stolen from the building's mailroom.
Several residents ordered various items from different companies and never received those items. The apartment building's surveillance video showed a man entering the unlocked entry foyer at 4:50 a.m. on Oct. 20. The entry foyer contained all of the mailboxes for each apartment unit in the building.
There were several packages sitting on the floor, outside of the mailboxes, because they were too large to fit inside the mailboxes. Additionally, there were multiple pieces of mail that were resting on top of the outgoing mailbox.
The man collected several unsecured packages and pieces of mail and left with them. His face was caught on the video. A police detective who had prior contacts with Stauffer identified the man in the video as Stauffer.
The assistant property manager confirmed that Stauffer was not a resident at Westwinds Apartments.
Additional packages were stolen from the apartment building's mailroom at 5:34 a.m. on Nov. 16. Surveillance videos showed two people entering the mailroom and taking the packages. One of them was identified as Stauffer.
A patrol officer on Dec. 10 noticed Stauffer leaving in a vehicle from the Kwik Trip on MacArthur Avenue. The officer pulled Stauffer's vehicle over after he failed to come to a stop at a red light. The officer arrested Stauffer for theft.
Stauffer initially denied the thefts at the apartment building but then admitted to them after being told there was video footage of him stealing.
When asked why he stole the packages, Stauffer said he was just trying to get by.
The officer found a pipe with marijuana in Stauffer's vehicle.
