Active burglary report in Waukon leads to arrest and multiple charges

Wednesday, January 23 at approximately 1:39 p.m. the Waukon Police Department received a report of an active burglary at 303 Fourth Avenue SW in Waukon. According to court documents, the female reporting the incident indicated that someone was in her garage, and upon arrival, officers did find 47-year-old Ricky Lynn Arentz of De Soto, WI inside the garage at the residence.

Arentz explained to the officers that he had knocked on the house door, with footprints in the snow indicating that someone had indeed approached the house door. After no one answered the door, Arentz said he entered the garage to look at an air compressor he was considering in lieu of money he claimed the male resident of the home owed him.

The reporting female indicated that Arentz did not have permission to be in the garage and that she wanted to press charges. She also said she had met him once but didn’t know him beyond that initial meeting. Arentz was initially arrested and charged with Third Degree Burglary (class D felony) and Driving Without a License.

A search warrant was also executed on Arentz’s vehicle. As a result of the search, Arentz was additionally charged with Possession of Methamphetamine - third or subsequent offense (class D felony), Possession of Methamphetamine with Intent to Deliver (class B felony), and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

The Waukon Police Department was assisted by the Allamakee County Sheriff’s Office and the Clayton County K-9. A criminal charge is merely an accusation and defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.