Fitchburg man charged with 8 Douglas County burglaries

A Fitchburg, Wisconsin, man who allegedly took part in eight rural Douglas County burglaries in August and September waived his preliminary hearing in Douglas County Circuit Court Wednesday, Jan. 27.

Aaron Allen Futhey, 51, faces eight counts of party to burglary. A cash bond of $5,000 was set for Futhey with the condition that he have no contact with the victims and not use or possess a firearm.

The charges stem from incidents that occurred between Aug. 22, 2020, and Sept. 17, 2020, in the towns of Highland, Gordon, Wascott and Hawthorne, as well as the village of Solon Springs, the criminal complaint said.

Items were stolen from pole barns, garages, sheds, a cabin and a storage unit. Surveillance camera footage caught pictures of Futhey and a woman, later identified as Jennie Wilhelmina Olson, at the scene of one of the Gordon burglaries, the criminal complaint said. Four days later, an off-duty deputy saw the pair in Solon Springs, recognized them from the camera footage and took them into custody.

RELATED: Two men charged in Superior apartment complex theft Cash from laundry machines was taken in what police reports indicate was an inside job.

RELATED: Shot fired in Parkland leads to felony charges Deputies found a bullet lodged in the cab of a vehicle that was reportedly fired at.

When Detective Ed Gallagher of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office interviewed Futhey, the Fitchburg man said he was “guilty of a lot of stuff” and reported that many of the items he stole had yet to be recovered. He told Gallagher that he and Olson would drive around and go down back roads looking for places to burglarize. He estimated he committed about 20 crimes in St. Paul, Minnesota and in Douglas, Polk and St. Croix counties in Wisconsin. Fitchburg is located in Dane County.

Futhey pawned many of the items at a Duluth establishment, according to the criminal complaint. By searching his pawn records, authorities were able to link him to additional burglaries. A search of Futhey’s phone uncovered pictures of some of the items stolen during one of the burglaries, as well.

Each burglary count carries a maximum penalty of 12 years and six months imprisonment and a fine of up to $25,000. Futhey’s next court appearance was set for Friday, Feb. 12.

Olson, 40, of Oakdale, Minnesota, faces one count of party to burglary and one count of repeater resisting or obstructing an officer. A Cash bond of $3,000 was set for her, and she was ordered to have no contact with the victims or Futhey. Her next court appearance was set for March 1.