An 18-year-old Onalaska resident was arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail on Tuesday for allegedly breaking into his parents’ residence and stealing food.
He has since been charged with one count of domestic violence residential burglary, a class B felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
The homeowner contacted the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office regarding the burglary after he arrived home from camping and found the residence in the 140 block of Dluhosh Road had been broken into, according to court documents.
The homeowner “advised he looked through the residence and didn’t notice anything missing.”
Footprints in the snow reportedly led to a window on the south side of the residence. According to a report from the responding deputy that was referenced in the affidavit of probable cause, “it appeared someone forced the window to gain access to the residence.”
The homeowner told law enforcement he suspected his son, defendant Jadon L. Balsemer, 18, of Onalaska, who lived in a camping trailer on the property, had broken into the residence. The homeowner reportedly said “his son is not allowed inside the residence without the permission of his parents” and had been barred from the home for the last two years, according to court documents.
When contacted by a deputy at his trailer and asked if he knew why the deputy was there, Balsemer allegedly “said ‘yes’ and that everything he took from the house was in a garbage bag just outside the trailer,” according to court documents.
Inside the garbage bag, the deputy located “a loaf of bread, a box of fruit, a box of Beyond Meat sausage and a box of Beyond Meat hamburgers.”
Balsemer allegedly “said he was hungry and his parents do not feed him so he took food items,” according to court documents.
Balsemer was booked into the Lewis County Jail at 3:20 p.m. on Feb. 14.
A judge ruled Wednesday to allow Balsemer to be released on $25,000 unsecured bail, meaning he can remain out of custody without posting bail so long as he shows up to mandatory hearings and follows his conditions of release, which include provisions that he not commit any crimes or have any “unwanted contact” with his parents.
His arraignment hearing is currently scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 23.
