BURNSVILLE, Minn. (WCCO) – A 46-year-old Hastings woman is accused of stealing another woman’s mail and cashing a paycheck valued at $1,000, according to charges filed Wednesday in Dakota County Court.
Elizabeth Joan Orner was charged with one felony count of mail theft in connection with the incident, which happened last Thursday.
According to a criminal complaint, Burnsville Police responded to a residence last Thursday on a report of mail theft. When authorities arrived, a woman told police that at about 2:25 p.m. that day she saw a pick-up truck pull up to her mail box and saw a passenger in the front seat take her outgoing mail.
While police were speaking with the victim, she got a call from Wells Fargo bank asking if she had written a check to Orner for $1,000, and she said she did not. A woman later identified as Orner attempted to deposit one of the victim’s checks into her account.
Police found Orner and spoke to her. She denied taking the mail but admitted she was there when it was taken. She told police she was with a friend at the time who asked her to do this with him in the past. They would take the mail and then pass the checks.
If convicted, Orner faces up to three years in prison and $5,000 in fines.
