May 16—EAU CLAIRE — A Medford man will spend two years on probation for altering prices on high-end fishing equipment at two Eau Claire stores.

Clinton D. Boyles, 40, pleaded no contest recently in Eau Claire County Court to two felony counts of retail theft.

As conditions of probation, Judge Jon Theisen ordered Boyles to maintain absolute sobriety, undergo any recommended programming or treatment, and pay $2,790 in restitution at a rate of $100 a month.

Boyles also cannot have contact with known drug dealers or users.

According to the criminal complaint in the first case:

An Eau Claire police officer was assigned a retail theft case that occurred at the Eau Claire Fleet Farm.

Fleet Farm employees realized they were missing a Helix Ice H9 fish finder unit, valued at $3,099.99.

After reviewing surveillance video, employees saw Boyles enter the store on Nov. 5 at 12:32 p.m.

Boyles put a new UPC over the UPC on the Helix Ice H9 fish finder. The new UPC belonged to a Helix Chirp, valued at $309.99.

A short time later, a woman exited the same vehicle as Boyles. The woman grabbed the altered fish finder and purchased it.

The vehicle belonged to another man, who told police he sold the vehicle to Boyles in March 2022 and that it has been used in the commission of other, similar, crimes.

According to the criminal complaint in the second case:

A man entered the Scheels store on July 21 and selected two fishing rods valued at $650 each.

The man browses through several departments and selected a shirt.

While in the archery department, the man appears to place a homemade barcode on the tags of the two fishing rods. The man uses the shirt to block the view of anyone walking by.

After browsing some more, the man returns to the fishing department and puts the rods back where he found them.

He then purchases a few items and leaves the store.

The man came back into the store an hour later and took the same two fishing rods up to a cash register. The cashier called an assistant store leader for assistance when one of the rods scanned for a price of $14.99.

The man told the cashier he was going to get another rod from the fishing department. He then left the store.

The man returned to the store three days later and selected one of the $650 fishing rods. It appears as if he places a homemade tag on the rod as he did three days earlier. He used a shirt to block the view of the rod while doing this.

After walking around the store for a few minutes, the man took the rod to a cash register. The rod is scanned and comes up as a rod valued at $100. The cashier doesn't notice the homemade tag and completes the purchase for $550 less than the actual value of the fishing rod.

The man then leaves the store.

The man was identified as Boyles after his probation agent viewed the surveillance video from Scheels.