A River Falls man with a history of burglary and theft has been arrested for multiple felony charges related to stealing someone’s identify after breaking into their vehicle.

Dylan James Nestor, 31, posted $1,000 cash bail in Pierce County Circuit Court Dec. 6 on felony misappropriate ID info – obtain money, felony forgery – writings or objects, felony receiving stolen property, felony possession of narcotic drugs, theft of mail and criminal damage to property charges. If convicted, Nestor faces a maximum penalty of six years in prison and/or fines up to $10,000.

According to the complaint:

At 10:46 a.m. Oct. 18, police responded to Bowen’s Garage (405 S. Main St., River Falls) to investigate vehicles with damaged windows. The vehicles had been undamaged the night before at 5 p.m. The garage owner found a hatchet lying on the ground next to one of the damaged cars.

The back passenger side window was busted out of a 2012 blue Hyundai Sonata, while front driver’s side, small back driver’s side, and a windshield were broken in a blue 2002 blue Ford Taurus. In that vehicle, police saw a checkbook lying on the front seat and the glove box was open. Nearby, police noticed a white 2000 Toyota Tundra with a damaged windshield and open glove box.

The damage on the Toyota was about $300-$500. The Sonata’s owner said she had a $20 bill sitting out in the open which wasn’t taken. She also found nothing missing from the center console. At that time, she didn’t notice any fraudulent activity on her accounts.

At 5 a.m. Nov. 3, the Sonata’s owner (Victim 1) reported fraudulent activity in her name. She received documentation that someone had opened credit cards in her name. She also received new checkbooks with a new account number in the mail from First Natioal Bank, a new driver’s license, and learned by email a new account had been set up in her name with the United States Postal Service. She spoke to the companies and had them shut down everything. She had no idea who could have stolen her identity. She wasn’t missing any money, but her credit score had gone down 200 points. The victim learned her address had been changed with the post office to an address on South Wasson Lane in River Falls.

At 3:16 p.m. Nov. 7, police received an email from Compliance, Audit & Fraud Unit of the Wisconsin DMV Administrator’s Office with information about the fraudulent driver’s license ordered for Victim 1. On Oct. 19, a duplicate driver’s license was sent to the victim’s home in River Falls. The suspect’s email address that requested the new license was deenestor92@gmail.com and listed 538 S. Wasson Lane as his address. To request the new license, the suspect had to provide the victim’s full driver’s license number, the last four digits of her Social Security number, her date of birth and her zip code.

Officers spoke to one resident at 538 S. Wasson Lane, who said a letter came in the mail to their house regarding a Chime credit card in the victim’s name. She told police her daughter was dating a man named Dylan James Nestor, who had a criminal background in identity theft, burglary and theft, though she thought he had changed.

Nestor told police since he moved to the Wasson Lane home he’d been having fraudulent activity occur. He talked about receiving a letter from Minnesota Unemployment Insurance stating his account had been temporarily locked due to a phishing scam. He said he has never applied for unemployment insurance and has been working the past three years. He also claimed to have gotten messages from WESTconsin Credit Union when he doesn’t have an account with them. He also told police he’d received no mail for the victim and that he’d been getting weird phone calls that he believed to be creditors. He showed his cell phone to police and the numbers that had been calling him.

Police, with the homeowner’s permission, examined the home’s internet equipment. The home’s IP address did not match the IP address of the suspicious activity form from the DMV. Nestor also claimed to have no idea where Bowen’s Garage was located.

Nestor gave officers details about an incident on Nov. 1 when police officers found him hiding beneath a vehicle at a car shop in the 600 block of North Main Street. That night, he told police two men had followed him from Anthony’s Tobacco, so he went through someone’s back yard and doubled back to get away from them. He said he hid from them because they had flashlights.

Officers collected a DNA sample from Nestor and he voluntarily gave them his cell phone.

During their investigation, police learned the email addresses used in the fraudulent DMV incident indeed belonged to Nestor. They also found evidence that Nestor had used the victim’s identifying information, including a photo of a written note containing the victim’s full name, address, Social Security and driver’s license numbers and bank account information; a photo of a Chime Visa card in the victim’s name, and a screenshot of a TJX Rewards credit card (the victim reported receiving a decline notice from TJ Maxx). They also found photos of his girlfriend’s debit card, woman’s passport, and a woman’s Social Security card.

At 8:26 a.m. Dec. 1, police executed a search warrant at 538 S. Wasson Lane pertaining to Nestor. The homeowner showed police a piece of mail sent to the address containing a credit card in another woman’s name. She had planned on confronting Nestor about it that evening. During the search, police found eight pills containing fentanyl, marijuana, drug paraphernalia, baggies of a brown substance that tested positive for fentanyl and items from an airport theft. They also located a Rhopoint Gloss Meter valued at $2,200, taken from Crystal Finishing Systems where Nestor had worked.

In his girlfriend’s car, officers found two pneumatic 3M sanders worth $300 each, a Graco Airpro paint sprayer ($380) and an Ancel vehicle diagnostic tools ($439).

Nestor was arrested and admitted that he didn’t care anymore. He was transported to Pierce County Jail without incident. He told officers his girlfriend had nothing to do with anything.

He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing at 2 p.m. Jan. 3 in Pierce County Circuit Court.