SHULLSBURG – A Shullsburg man is in the Lafayette County jail after he stole a Lafayette County Highway Department Truck on May 28 and used it to commit a crime in Dubuque.
Kevin M. Niemeyer, 21, Shullsburg faces felony charges of theft of a vehicle over $10,000 and attempted arson, along with misdemeanor charges of trespassing, theft of property and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Niemeyer is currently on probation and parole after pleading no contest on Dec. 21 to felony charges of causing bodily harm or tissue injury to a law enforcement officer, taking and driving a vehicle without consent and possession of narcotic drug and methamphetamine-related drug paraphernalia. He also pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges of battery, theft and criminal damage to property. He was sentenced to six months in jail followed by three years on probation.
On Monday, May 28 around 2:20 a.m. the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Department was notified by the Dubuque, Iowa Police Department that a 1991 Ford F600, 2-ton flatbed dump truck, owned by the Lafayette County Highway Department, was used in the connection of a crime that occurred in the City of Dubuque.
The truck was stolen around 12:30 a.m. Monday morning from the residence of one of the department’s patrolmen in Gratiot Township.
At 7:56 a.m. on Monday, after posting pictures of the stolen truck on social media, the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office was contacted by a citizen who believed they had located the truck in a ditch on County O, south of Shullsburg.
There was an attempt to set the vehicle on fire but it was unsuccessful.