Minn. underwear burglar gets four months in jail

The Fergus Falls man accused of stealing a dresser drawer full of thongs and other articles of women’s underwear over a year long period has been convicted for one count of second degree burglary and one count of felony stalking.

Joseph Bruce Johnson, 23, was sentenced Monday to 120 days in jail for stalking and 90 days for burglary, to be served concurrently. He was fined $500 for the burglary conviction and will have to pay over $1,900 in restitution to his victims.

Johnson was also sentenced to concurrent 18- and 15-month prison terms for his crimes, but those terms were stayed pending successful completion of his 10-year supervised probation.

Johnson’s string of crimes started on Nov. 23, 2009, when he broke into an apartment on the 1000 block of West Springen Avenue, according to the criminal complaint. The woman who was renting the apartment was someone who he had previously met.

On Dec. 29, 2009, the woman returned from a time away to find that her apartment had been broken into again, and this time, about $1,000 in underwear, lingerie, high heel shoes and DVDs were taken.

At this time, Johnson was a suspect in the burglary.

On March 1, 2010, a home on the 600 block of West Birch Avenue was broken into, and the underwear of an adult female and her daughter was taken. The woman was also familiar with Johnson, and the police began investigating him in connection with the crime.

On Sept. 22, 2010, the complaint stated, police executed a search warrant on Johnson’s home and found women’s underwear in a dresser. Johnson originally denied being involved in the burglaries but later admitted to committing them and later dumping the underwear in the city landfill and on Sophus Anderson Road.

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