Austin man pleads not guilty to fraud, burglary
Published 5:25 pm Saturday, April 14, 2012
An Austin man who allegedly stole money on separate occasions and broke into a woman’s house earlier this year pleaded not guilty to six criminal charges Thursday in Mower County Court.
Duane Allen Johnson, 39, pleaded not guilty to two counts of credit card fraud and one count of second-degree burglary, all felonies. He also pleaded not guilty to gross misdemeanor check forgery, misdemeanor theft and misdemeanor fourth-degree intentional damage to property.
According to the court complaint, Johnson allegedly wrote a check to himself for $175 from another man’s checkbook on Jan. 18 and forged the owner’s signature. The report states that Johnson admitted to the victim that he also took his credit card on two separate occasions and made fraudulent purchases totaling $908.36.
The victim and another positively identified Johnson’s vehicle from surveillance tapes at Accentra Credit Union, the complaint states. Johnson allegedly admitted to investigators that he was going to use the money and trade the computers for drugs; however, he denied that he actually ever received any drugs, the complaint states. Johnson also allegedly admitted that his drug addiction was “out of control.”
Johnson allegedly then broke into a house at the 900 block of Seventh Avenue NE on Feb. 25. The complaint states that Johnson busted through a window, and the homeowner discovered that $100 was stolen from her dresser. The victim, who said she knows Johnson, suspected he was the thief.
Officers later spoke with Johnson and matched shoe prints and tire tracks in the snow to Johnson’s, according to the complaint. Johnson replied that there are “lots of shoes like that and lots of tire tracks like that.”