Couple who allegedly stole SUV charged

A couple are accused of stealing an SUV by taking it on a test drive in Washburn County and never returning it. They were apprehended with the vehicle in Rice Lake.

Arianna R. Lein, 24, of Cameron was charged on July 2 in Barron County Circuit Court with theft of movable property valued between $5,000 and $10,000 as a repeater and as a party to a crime. A second felony of possession of methamphetamine as a repeater also was filed, as was a misdemeanor for resisting or obstructing an officer.

Also charged was Nekola S. Lowe, 34, of Webster with felony theft of movable property valued between $5,000 and $10,000 as a party to a crime and misdemeanor resisting or obstructing an officer.

A conviction on felony theft of movable property valued between $5,000 and $10,000 carries a maximum penalty of a $10,000 fine and six years in prison.

Both Lein and Lowe are being held in Barron County Jail on $500 cash bonds. Lowe’s initial appearance is slated for Wednesday, and Lein’s is scheduled for July 17.

According to the criminal complaint, a man reported that two people took his white 2014 Chevy Equinox that he had listed for sale on Facebook from his residence in Washburn County on June 26.

At approximately 5:30 p.m., the alleged buyer and an unknown man arrived at the Spooner residence of the vehicle’s owner, who said the buyer’s Facebook name was Arianna Renee Lowe. He gave them the keys to take the vehicle for a drive and they never returned.

A St. Croix Tribal police officer saw the SUV while on patrol on June 26 at approximately 9:15 p.m. in Webster and followed it because it matched the description of a vehicle reported stolen out of Washburn County. As the vehicle turned around, the officer saw the driver was an individual he knew as Nekola Lowe and the passenger was a female he knew as Arianna Lein. He attempted to keep the vehicle from leaving but after two failed attempts, Lowe got past him and fled.

On July 1 at approximately 3:30 a.m., Rice Lake’s FLOCK system alerted that the vehicle was on South Access Road, and two officers located the SUV at a Rice Lake gas station. They made contact with a man and woman who were standing next to the vehicle attempting to put air into the tires and detained both of them.

As she was being secured, the woman told an officer that she was simply helping the man with the tires and gave a false name and birth date. After the officers questioned her about whether she was telling the truth about her name, she informed them that her real name was Arianna Renee Lein. She claimed that she still did not know who the man was. When she was asked if there is anything in the vehicle that belonged to her, she stated the only thing in the vehicle that belonged to her was a gold wallet.

Lowe provided two false names before telling officers his real name, and said that Lein was his wife and that they’d been together for four years.

During a search of the vehicle, a gold-colored wallet was found in the glove compartment box. Inside the wallet was the Wisconsin ID for Arianna Lein, along with a syringe with red residue in the top that look like blood and a crystalline residue. On top of the wallet wrapped in a bandanna was a glass smoking device with burnt white residue. Both items were field-tested and came back with a positive result for the presence of meth. Lein denied that they belonged to her, even though they were in her wallet next to her ID.

Lowe said they had had the vehicle for six days and that they had obtained it from a guy on Facebook Marketplace. They went to look at it together in Spooner and the seller gave Lein the keys and told him to give it a test ride. Since the man never told him when to return the vehicle, they never brought it back, Lowe said.

Lowe explained that they were going to drive the vehicle and get it registered and then leave the state. He further claimed that the vehicle was listed for $8,000 and he was planning to get loans to pay for the vehicle. When he was asked if he contacted the seller and told the seller they were going to buy the vehicle, he claimed he was unsure because Lein was the only one who used the phone.

Lowe further indicated that both of them had been driving the vehicle and that he did not know the vehicle was listed as stolen as he did not think the seller would report it as stolen.

Lein told the officer when he brought up the topic of Facebook Marketplace that she had no idea what he was talking about.

Both Lein and Lowe were on probation through the state Department of Corrections and had active warrants out for their arrests.