Three arraigned in Cloquet burglaries

Three Carlton County residents suspected of burglarizing two Cloquet homes earlier this week were arraigned in Carlton County District Court Friday.

Mallory Patricia Swanstrom, 19, Chad Patrick Staton, 18, and Devin Brady Haglund, 18, face five felonies charges each including two counts of burglary in the first degree and three counts of theft.

The trio allegedly entered and took electronic equipment, a purse, bicycles and a vehicle from two homes in the Erickson Acres neighborhood of Cloquet early Monday morning, while residents were sleeping.

Police said they learned later on Monday that the suspects had used a stolen check card to purchase gas for the stolen van in Forest Lake, Minn., and two of them were caught on videotape.

Swanstrom, of Scanlon, was arrested Wednesday after Cloquet Police identified her in the videotape. Staton and Haglund were subsequently arrested and Swanstrom led police to the vehicle, which had been left in a parking lot in Willow River.

According to the complaint:

Swanstrom, Haglund and Staton were drinking alcohol at Staton's Cloquet residence on Sunday night when talk turned to stealing some property. Soon after, they got a ride from a friend to the Erickson Acres neighborhood and found a house with the garage doors open. Once in the garage, Haglund indicated he wanted to steal a car and although he tried three vehicles, he only succeeded in damaging them. Meanwhile Swanstrom and Staton were searching the garage for items of value and eventually all three entered the home where they stole a laptop, a Nintendo Wii, an Xbox gaming system and several games.

After leaving that home, they walked to another one and found the unlocked van outside. Inside the van was a house key, which was used to gain entrance to the house. There they took a purse before leaving in the van.

In addition to the charges in this case, Swanstrom was also charged Friday in connection with a burglary that took place on June 25 in Cloquet. She is charged with two counts of burglary in the second degree and one count of theft, all felonies. According to the complaint, Swanstrom and a juvenile entered a home on White Pine Trail knowing the owners were away, and took a television. They broke it while removing it and later threw the television in the woods near Esko.

Assistant Carlton County Attorney Nichole Carter argued for $100,000 bond in the first case and an additional $25,000 for Swanstrom in the second case. Carlton County District Judge Robert Macaulay granted $125,000 bond for Swanstrom and $100,000 each for Staton and Haglund.

Staton, of Cloquet, has a criminal history that includes convictions for property crimes. Carter said she also recommended the high bail because Staton and another co-defendant had reportedly sent each other text messages that discussed leaving town due to the media attention given to their case.

Swanstrom was convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol in February. She also has underage alcohol consumption convictions as well as one for property damage.

Haglund, of Esko, has no prior criminal history and Macaulay said he and Swanstrom could participate in a pre-trial release evaluation which could eventually result in lower bail.

All three argued for lower bail in court Wednesday, but were denied, according to Carlton County Attorney Thom Pertler.