By Patricia Bogumil
Staff Editor
Police searching for a Union Grove woman suspected of stealing wine from a local liquor store followed their noses and detected the suspect hiding in a closet.
Charged with felony personal identity theft and several misdemeanors is Ashley M. Baumgartner, 28, of 11th Avenue, Union Grove.
According to the criminal complaint filed May 20 in Racine County Circuit Court:
Police reviewed surveillance video showing a female suspect, later identified as Baumgartner, stealing wine from Grove Liquor Mart on May 17. The store owner jotted down the vehicle’s license plate when she returned May 19 to purchase wine while accompanied by a white male.
Police went to the address of the vehicle’s owner in Union Grove and she identified the male in question as her son and Baumgartner as the female suspect, according to the complaint.
Baumgartner, when questioned, falsely identified herself with a relative’s name, the complaint contends.
An online investigation later determined Baumgartner, not the relative she named, as the suspect in the shoplifting incident and that Baumgartner had active warrants out of the City of Kenosha, according to the complaint.
When police returned to the 11th Avenue residence to search for Baumgartner, they found her hiding in a closet, smoking a cigarette, according to the complaint.
The homeowner’s son, age 19, who earlier falsely told police that Baumgartner’s name was that of her relative, was subsequently charged with a misdemeanor offense of obstructing an officer, according to the complaint.
Besides the felony personal identity theft charge, Baumgartner is charged in Racine County with misdemeanor retail theft totaling under $500 and three counts of misdemeanor bail jumping.
Baumgartner made an initial appearance in Racine County Circuit Court May 20, when probable cause was found that she committed the offenses charged.
A cash bond of $1,500 was set. A preliminary hearing was set for May 27 and a public defender appointed.
As of press time, Baumgartner remained an inmate of the Racine County Jail. A hold was placed on her release from jail by the City of Kenosha due to multiple warrants including theft, bail jumping and operating a vehicle after revocation of license totaling $9,000, plus a mandatory court date in Kenosha County for each warrant.
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