Man Charged With Theft After Allegedly Admitting to Stealing a Fish House

(KNSI) — A 47-year-old man is under arrest after allegedly stealing a fish house Sunday morning.

According to a criminal complaint filed in Stearns County District Court, deputies were called to Outlet Recreation in Lynden Township by an employee who said that he received a notification that a fish house had been taken from their property. The man said the fish house had a GPS tracker on it and was removed from a geofence and was now showing a location on County Road 74 in St. Cloud. He said the fish house had not been purchased, and no one had permission to take it.

Investigators found the GPS pinging from a home in the 2900 block of County Road 74 and saw a single house with fresh tire tracks in the snow and told other officers there was a large outbuilding in the back. After obtaining a search warrant, police say they saw a man standing outside a fish house parked near the outbuilding. They made contact with the man, saying they needed to speak with the homeowner. That’s when the man, identified as Lucas John Sizer, said the homeowner had nothing to do with the stolen fish house.

Investigators spoke with the homeowner, who said Sizer was his father and had been living with him for about a month. He said Sizer told him Saturday he was going to buy a fish house and then woke up Sunday morning and saw one in his backyard. He said he was sleeping and had no knowledge the fish house was stolen until police arrived. He also told investigators the pickup truck by the fish house was being driven by Sizer for about the last month and claimed he bought it from a “buddy,” but the man told investigators the truck was not registered to Sizer because he didn’t have a valid driver’s license.

In a sworn statement, Sizer admitted to stealing the fish house because he needed somewhere to live and that he was the only person involved in the theft. He said he planned to buy one, but didn’t have enough money, so he went to Outlet Recreation and took one.

Surveillance footage from a nearby business showed a pickup truck, matching the description of the one found with the fish house pull up to Outlet Recreation parking lot and hauled the fish house away.

A search warrant on the truck turned up a small amount of marijuana, manuals and documents for the fish house, a folder labeled Outlet Recreation, and a key that matched one found inside the house, along with remotes attached to velcro that matched velcro inside the house.

The fish house is valued at around $26,000.

Sizer was charged with one count of felony theft.

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