St. Paul Park man who needed help after crashing stolen ATV sentenced

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A St. Paul Park man who needed medical help after crashing a stolen all-terrain vehicle was fined and ordered to complete community service.

Thomas N. Kilcher, 53, was sentenced this month to 200 hours of community service after pleading guilty in December to receiving stolen property. The crime stems from an October 2010 incident when police found Kilcher injured and lying next to an overturned ATV late at night at Mississippi Dunes Golf Links.

According to the criminal complaint:

A man told a golf course employee around 11:30 p.m. Oct. 2, 1010, that his friend was injured and needed medical assistance, but then fled when he realized police would be involved.

Officers found the man walking near the golf course and he was nervous while talking to them. Police were alerted to another man, later identified as Kilcher, who was lying next to a damaged ATV on a golf course fairway. Kilcher complained of neck and back pain and said he had been there since early evening. He said he had driven the machine from a friend’s house, but was vague about details. Police reported that the ATV engine was warm, and Kilcher had a flashlight with him.

Officers called the ATV’s registered owner, who said he stored two machines at a Grey Cloud Trail property near the golf course. The owner said Kilcher had approached him weeks earlier about renting a home at the property. Police went to the property and found fresh pry marks near the lock on a door to the garage where the ATV had been stored.

The ATV was valued at $4,200, making the stolen property crime a felony. Two other charges were dismissed.

As part of his sentence, Kilcher must pay $666 in restitution and a $200 fine and was ordered on probation for five years.

–Scott Wente

Tags: crime and courts, st paul park, updates, crime