GREANEY- Tipped off by GPS locators attached to stolen equipment, St. Louis County deputies found more than they bargained for when they descended on the home of Martin Earl Voss northwest of Greaney last week.
On Wednesday, Aug. 16, county dispatchers received a call from Zielies Tree Service employee Bob McKenney reporting the theft of an Argo utility vehicle and a trailer from a site in Cook the previous evening. Valued at a total of $50,000, both pieces of equipment were equipped with GPS locators that revealed them to be at Voss’s residence on Town Road 382 along the St. Louis-Koochiching county line.
According to the statement of probable cause, a sheriff’s office deputy and investigator arrived at the property at 7:45 a.m. When they knocked on the door, a woman later identified as Stormie Kottom yelled and refused to come to the door. She indicated that Voss was also inside but too sick to come to the door.
The officers called for backup and ran the license plate of a black Dodge Ram pickup in the driveway and discovered it had been reported stolen from the Wooden Table in Britt on June 23.
The VIN information on a newer trailer had been removed from the trailer’s tongue, which was freshly painted. The trailer’s Wisconsin license plate had been removed and was lying on a pallet. Fresh vehicle tracks led up to the trailer, which was identified as the one reported stolen by McKenney.
After additional deputies arrived, numerous attempts were made to get Voss and Kottom to come out, deputies forced open the door and entered the house. Voss and Kottom were on a bed holding a dog which appeared aggressive. Both refused to come out of the bedroom. A leash was retrieved from the Dodge truck and the couple was instructed to secure the dog, but they did not immediately comply. Kottom continued to yell at the officers and attempted to implicate someone else in the theft of the Dodge truck, claiming it had been in the driveway for over a month and belonged to someone named Nicky, who she had never met.
Voss finally relented and left the residence at 9:35 a.m., but Kottom remained on the bed with the unsecured dog and continued to yell. Officers told her she was under arrest and would be tased. When an officer reached for her arm, she pulled back onto the bed, went down on her back and kicked at an officer’s legs, whereupon she was tased and handcuffed.
Officers located the stolen Argo behind the residence and found evidence of yet another crime. A trailer and a six-wheeler that had been reported stolen by McKenney in Aug. 2019 were also discovered. The six-wheeler was torn apart, and the trailer was badly damaged and had a burn pile on it.
This isn’t the first time Voss has been snared by technology. In 2016, Voss pleaded guilty to misdemeanor third-degree burglary for stealing items from the county public works department cannister site shed at Sturgeon. Voss was identified by pictures from trail cams inside the shed. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail and probation for that offense. Voss was also convicted of misdemeanor theft in 2006.
For the current offense, Voss faces charges of felony theft, with maximum penalties of ten years and a $20,000 fine, and receiving stolen property, which carries a maximum sentence of five years and a $10,000 fine.
Kottom has two prior convictions for misdemeanor theft, from the Hibbing Walmart and Virginia Super One North in 2019. She was detained on a warrant for violating probation in a fifth-degree felony conviction for possession of a controlled substance. She faces a charge of obstructing the legal process, which carries maximum penalties of up to one year in jail and a $3,000 fine.