Stolen dirt bike leads to charges for Princeton man

A Princeton man was recently charged with receiving stolen property, a felony-level charge.

The man was charged after being discovered walking a motorized dirt bike along Highway 169.

On Aug. 12, a Mille Lacs County Sheriff’s Office deputy observed an individual, later identified as James Anthony Brunhuber Jr., age 35, walking the dirt bike along Highway 169 in Mille Lacs County, according to a criminal complaint filed in the Mille Lacs County District Court.

After confirming that Brunhuber was uninjured, the deputy was informed that the dirt bike was possibly a model stolen from a storage facility in Princeton on Oct. 17, 2023, the report states.

The Princeton Police Department was then called to respond to the scene where officers determined the dirt bike to be a Honda CRF450R, which matched the model that was reported as stolen.

In further examinations of the dirt bike, officers noticed multiple attempts to obscure the vehicle’s provenance including alterations to it’s VIN to change some of the numbers, scuff marks showing the removal of decals from the frame, and replacement of several items, the report states. The altered VIN showed that the previous VIN was likely the same as that identified in the 2023 theft.

Law enforcement was able to determine that the dirt bike was the item that was stolen in 2023 by speaking to two previous owners of the vehicle and using photos, the report states. The dirt bike was valued at $5,000.

Brunhuber was charged with one count of receiving stolen property, a felony-level charge, which could result in a maximum sentence of five years, a $10,000 fine, or both.

Reach Chloe Smith at chloe.smith@apgecm.com