Wisconsin man involved in southeastern Minnesota burglary sentenced

Oct. 16—CALEDONIA, Minn. — One of three Wisconsin people involved in a botched burglary in Houston has been ordered to pay more than $8,000 in damages and is banned from entering the supermarket’s premises.

According to the verdict, Harley Arlington Kulp, 27, also received 90 days in the Houston County Jail, with 90 days credit for time served. He was placed on probation for five years.

Kulp, who was charged with second-degree burglary, possession of theft tools, receiving stolen property, theft and damage to property, entered a guilty plea in July to receiving stolen property. He was sentenced on October 10.

According to the criminal complaint, Houston County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a report of a burglary at the River Station store in the city of Houston at approximately 2 a.m. on May 26, 2024. The store owner was alerted when two people smashed the front door. . The owner saw people wearing black hoods in the store on surveillance footage. Officers arrived and found an individual, Hanna Jean Goyette, 21, sitting in a running vehicle next to the store and took her into custody. Goyette said her boyfriend was in the store and did not think he was armed.

Officers and other law enforcement officers set up a perimeter around the store and urged people inside to come out. About 45 minutes later, one of the people tried to enter an attic vent on the north side of the building, the complaint said. An hour after the response, the person who tried to escape through the attic vent, identified as Joel Wilson Cruz, 36, told police he was unable to leave the building as he was instructed.

Cruz also told officers he did not know if the other man, whom he called “Squid,” was still in the building.

Shortly after police began talking to Cruz, “Squid,” identified as Kulp, came out of the store. Cruz, who found a way out of the store’s attic, then also surrendered to police.

The police found in the store: an ATM that had been destroyed and broken into; multiple merchandise items, including fishing bait, scattered across the floor; the cash drawer is missing and there is a crowbar on the floor behind the counter. Kulp had nearly $4,000 in cash in the front pockets of his pants, according to the complaint.

According to statements from Cruz and Kulp, the group had driven from Wisconsin to find and steal an ATM. They found a spot along the Root River where they would take an ATM and break it open, take the money and dump the ATM. Instead, when the group entered the River Station, they found the ATM bolted to the floor. They tried to open the ATM with an ice chipper, but the tool kept bending, the complaint said.

Goyette will have a hearing on December 11 and a jury trial will begin in January. Cruz’s hearing is scheduled for Feb. 14 and the trial is scheduled for March.