Suspicious man arrested after vehicle stolen in Colby
A 31-year-old Wisconsin Rapids man was arrested around 11:45 p.m. by Wood County Sheriff’s officers on Monday, Dec. 4 after stealing a vehicle from a Colby gas station.
Wisconsin Rapids resident Julien Jaminski is being charged with his second offense of operating a vehicle without owner’s consent after he stole a vehicle from the Cenex gas station around 6 p.m. on Monday evening. Officers responded to the gas station and met with the owner of the vehicle who said he had pulled into the parking area on the southwest side of the store for a few minutes as he entered the store. The owner said he left the vehicle running and unlocked as he entered the store. When he exited the store, he observed his truck to be gone.
The officer reviewed the camera footage with staff of the store and could not see the vehicle. However, the officer noted he saw a familiar individual in the interior of the store and questioned the store employees about the man. The employees said the man had been wandering in and around the store for a lengthy period of time throughout the day, asked staff for food and water but had never caused an issue.
The officer had a previous complaint about a man matching Jaminski’s descrip-
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tion earlier in the day from a resident on Second Street in Colby who said the man placed what was believed to be a handgun next to a utility pole in the alleyway of the 200 block of South Third Street and South Second Street. The officer had located the handgun and observed it to be a BB gun. During the call, the officer was shown a photograph of the individual who was the same individual the officer was watching on video footage at the Cenex gas station.
The officer watched the footage and saw that Jaminski could be seen walking to the north most gas pump, stood near the sidewalk parallel to Hwy. 13, before heading towards a red vehicle and looking at the vehicle. Jaminski then went back towards the store and a few minutes later, Jaminski is seen driving the stolen vehicle east on County Road N.
The vehicle description was sent to Clark, Marathon, Taylor, Wood, Chippewa and Eau Claire counties in an attempt to locate the vehicle.
Later that night, dispatch notified the same reporting officer that the truck and a single occupant had been located at the Vesper Recreation Center in Vesper. Wood County officers made contact with Jaminski and were sent a photo of him from earlier that day. It was confirmed that Jaminski was the same man who had been in Colby and stolen the vehicle earlier that day. Jaminski was taken into custody and transported to the Spencer Police Department where a CAPD officer met the Wood County deputy.
The deputy handed the officer Jaminski’s backpack and the officer confirmed that was similar to a backpack that was seen in photographs of Jaminski earlier in Colby.
Once at the CAPD, Jaminski said the truck was borrowed to him by a man named “Curtis” whom he had met on Facebook. After hearing more details about Jaminski’s story, the officer told Jaminski that he had viewed camera footage of him and Jaminski said, “Dang, well I guess I’m screwed then,” in an interview with the officer. Jaminski told the officer he carried the BB gun for protection from those who might try to hurt him. He said he put the gun in the grass and was going to come back for it later but forgot to. Jaminski was transported to Marathon County Jail. Jaminski had an initial appearance in Marathon County Court on December 5.
According to court records, Jaminski had a warrant through Wood County for failing to appear to a court date on November 27. Jaminski has had a history of incidents with law enforcement from Wood, Marathon, Juneau, Eau Claire and Portage counties over the past four years.
