Pair Found Guilty of Stealing Car, Deputies Also Find Drugs During Search

An Oakdale man and Maplewood woman accused of stealing a vehicle last year from a Target parking lot were found guilty in court last week.

Christopher John Klindt, 33, of Oakdale and Rachel Lee Watters, 30, of Maplewood were found guilty in Washington County District Court.

According to the criminal complaint:

The Washington County Sheriff's Office received a copmlaint in December 2011 regarding an abandoned vehicle in St. Croix Beach. The vehicle was a red Pontiac with no license plates and had a flat tire 

Deputies disovered that the Pontiac had been stolen from a Target store in Vadnais Heights.

Deputies spoke with a nearby resident who said they saw Watters and Klindt in the abandoned car earlier that day. The resident said that Watters and Klindt said that the two were at his residence earlier and while he was upstairs the pair had stolen his red truck.

Klindt and Watters were located with the stolen truck. Inside of the truck deputies found several syringes and drug paraphernalia in addition to several pills. 

Watters admit that the pills were hers and that she and Klindt had stolen the vehicle from Target.

Klindt was found guilty of receiving stolen property and Watters was found guilty of aiding and abetting theft. The court stayed their sentences and both have been placed on five years of probation. 

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