Woman charged with stealing Blooming Prairie man's truck

A homeless woman with ties to Faribault has been charged in Steele County District Court with stealing the truck of a friend who she had been staying with for a few days.

Alexandria Monique Jones-Orr, 36, was charged with felony theft and misdemeanor tampering/entering into a motor vehicle without permission on Oct. 7, about three weeks after a Blooming Prairie man reported that his truck had been stolen.

The man stated that he had been letting Jones-Orr stay at his place for a few days to “help her out,” due to her lack of residence. However, he insisted that he never would have given permission to her, or anyone else for that matter, to drive his truck.

Police stopped the truck along Highway 218 between Owatonna and Blooming Prairie. Jones-Orr was driving it but did not appear to be concerned. According to the indictment, she was smiling and casually telling officers that she’d just been driving her boyfriend’s car.

Jones-Orr claimed the man knew that she was going to the library in Owatonna and had even opened up the gate to allow her to use the truck. However, a witness on the scene had no recollection of Jones-Orr asking to use the man’s truck.

Furthermore, messages reviewed by law enforcement between the man and Jones-Orr showed no indication that he had agreed to allow her to take the truck. Instead, they showed him becoming increasingly agitated and threatening to report the truck as stolen.