Two charged with storage unit break-ins

A second woman has been charged in a series of storage unit break-ins that occurred around Oconto County in April and May.

Kari A. Cooper, 44, Oconto, faces 10 counts of burglary to a building or dwelling in connection with break-ins to storage units in the city of Gillett and the towns of Pensaukee, Underhill, Stiles, Oconto and Brazeau.

Among the stolen items were seven light machines for performances and hundreds of dollars worth of other DJ equipment, a welder and welding helmet, an air compressor and accompanying tool set, a two-room tent and miscellaneous other goods.

According to the criminal complaint filed Aug. 6 in Oconto County Circuit Court, the owner of Piontek Storage Units in the Town of Oconto called investigators’ attention to a Chevrolet Suburban that appeared on surveillance video around the time of an April 29 break-in, because he didn’t recognize the vehicle as belonging to any of his renters.

With help from the Marinette County Sheriff’s Department, deputies were able to identify the Suburban as belonging to a Pound man. In an interview, the man said Cooper had him drive to the Brookside storage unit complex, where she allegedly used bolt cutters to break the locks and steal from a couple of units.

The man, who has not been charged, claimed he didn’t know what Cooper was planning until she broke into the storage units.

A followup interview with Cooper, who was being held in the Oconto County Jail for an alleged probation violation, led to the arrest in May of Breanna List-Kimball, 28, Oconto, who pleaded not guilty July 16 to eight counts of burglary, two counts of felony bail jumping and two counts of misdemeanor bail jumping, in connection with events that allegedly occured in late April and early May.

Many of the stolen items were recovered when authorities executed a search warrant executed at List-Kimball’s home, the complaint said.