Rose gets prison in burglary case

Published 10:26 am Friday, June 3, 2016

One of three men involved in a Brownsdale burglary case was sentenced Thursday in Mower County court.

Shane Thomas Rose, now 39, of Austin has been sentenced to four years in prison, with credit served for 91 days.

He was convicted of felony receiving stolen property. Four other felony charges of felon convicted crime of violence possess firearm were dismissed as part of a plea agreement.

Email newsletter signup

Rose, Troy Leeper, and John Dehoff all faced various felony charges in connection to the raid, which took place a little before 7:30 a.m. at a shed at the 200 block of Fremont Street Southwest.

According to a court complaint, deputies were tipped off by the Mitchell County Sheriff’s Department in Iowa, which had trail camera footage from a burglary victim which showed a 1997 Pontiac Grand Prix owned by Rose entering and leaving the property.

The victim reported multiple tools and guns stolen earlier that week, including a .22-caliber rifle with two magazines, a single-shot .22-caliber rifle, an outboard motor, a power washer, a 5-gallon LP tank with an attached heater, a circular saw, a small refrigerator, air compressor gauges and various tractor batteries, among other things.

Law enforcement raided the shed after they saw five people, including Rose, Dehoff and another man, leave the building.

The three men were arrested, as was Leeper, who was sleeping in the Grand Prix parked near the property. Police saw Dehoff drop a baggie with 3.8 grams of methamphetamine as he was arrested, according to the complaint.

Police found the stolen property from Iowa inside the shed, including one of the rifles hidden in the wall of Rose’s fortified office next to an “elaborate surveillance system,” according to the complaint. Deputies also searched several cars, an RV and Rose’s home, where they uncovered more guns, drug paraphernalia and electronic equipment.

Police found three disassembled 1911 semi-automatic handguns along with two handgun instructional videos at Rose’s home at the 100 block of Cedar Street Northwest. Deputies found several plastic bottles and a lightbulb modified to smoke drugs at the RV as well.

Inside Rose’s 2004 Ford F-150 were several SD memory cards, cell phones, data cards and video cameras, along with an altered tire iron deputies believe was used as a burglary tool, along with a key ring with multiple lock keys and a set of metal knuckles.

Leeper told police he had bought the Pontiac from Rose a month earlier and had driven to Iowa earlier in the week to take showers at public parks in Otranto and St. Ansgar. He also admitted to having .25 grams of meth and a meth pipe inside the car and told deputies he stole items to support his drug habit.

According to the complaint, Leeper said he owned a large tent set up at the 200 block of Fremont Street Southwest, which deputies determined was stolen earlier in the week.

Rose told police he lets Leeper stay on the property because he was homeless and denied he stole the tools. According to the complaint, Rose said Leeper allegedly brought the stolen property, including the rifles, outboard motor and other items, to the shed and Rose told him to get rid of it.

Rose has several felony drug convictions, including a third-degree conviction in 2010.

Leeper was sentenced in November 2014 to felony fifth-degree drug possession. He served 17 months in prison.

Dehoff initially received 20 years of supervised probation, but is now serving nearly two years in prison after a conviction for third-degree drug possession.