Woman denies jewelry, credit card burglaries

A Havre woman pleaded not guilty Monday in state District Court in Havre to charges she broke into an older relative’s home on at least two occasions and stole items including jewelry and credit cards.

According to a charging document, police investigation found that Erica Dion, born in 1982, pawned the woman’s jewelry at Great Falls and Havre businesses.

District Judge Dan Boucher ordered the attorneys Monday to file documents by Dec. 4 pursuant to scheduling deadlines, hearings and a trial in the case.

According to the document, a relative of Dion’s contacted Havre police July 7 to report a mutual relative of hers and Dion’s was missing items including her driver’s license, key fobs, a post office box key, multiple credit cards and a diamond bracelet.

Another relative told police Dion had been using his vehicle while he was out of town starting July 1, and she was arrested during that time. He said that when he was cleaning out the vehicle he found several pawn slips, including one from a Great Falls business for $300 on a diamond bracelet.

After police retrieved the bracelet, the woman who was missing items later said it was the one stolen from her residence, the document says.

An appraisal returned Aug. 25 valued the bracelet at $9,300.

The mutual relative contacted police again Aug. 1 to report that Dion had entered the alleged victim’s home and taken several pieces of jewelry, although the locks had been changed in the months previous due to problems with Dion entering the residence.

The officer noted that he had charged Dion with trespassing at the residence June 16, when she had used a garage door opener to gain access, and found a record of a trespass report against Dion entered June 18, and also noted that he had arrested Dion June 20 for trespassing at the home.

The woman told the officer she had found some of the jewelry pawned at a Havre business, and business employees later told the officer Dion had pawned the items June 25 for $75, the document says.

A jewelry store estimated the items were worth between $1,500 and $2,000.