A Mapleview woman who participated in an attempted burglary with her husband in January was sentenced Friday in Mower County Court.

April Amanda Mallan, 31, was convicted of possessing burglary tools, a felony, and sentenced to three years’ probation.

According to the court complaint, April and her husband, Joseph Mallan, scouted a rural property in Red Rock Township on Jan. 5, and attempted to steal scrap metal. An officer responded after the homeowner said a Ford Explorer was on his property, according to the court complaint.

The complaint states the owner watched two people run and get into a vehicle when he approached them and tried to corner them in his own vehicle with lights on. The Mallan’s allegedly put their Explorer in reverse to get away. The complaint then states that Joseph walked toward the homeowner’s vehicle with tire irons but pitched them into the ditch before a deputy arrived.

April told the officer she and her husband were on “the back roads to look around,” according to the complaint; however, Joseph then told the officer the two were traveling back roads from Brownsdale to Lansing because they did not have driver’s licenses and that their Explorer “broke down.”

The homeowner noticed several things had been moved on his property and that someone had been inside a mobile home on his land and removed a wall and other items to possibly access the copper wiring, according to the complaint. The officer also noted that the scrap metal and other items that had been moved all would have fit into the vehicle. The officer then arrested the couple.

April was also convicted of felonies in 2010 for attempting to use bad checks to purchase jewelry, so she could pawn it for cash.

Joseph was convicted April 12 for possession of burglary tools and sentenced to five years’ probation.