Attig also admitted to breaking into the Palmer Bus building in St. Clair on Feb. 2, the Peak Performance building south of Mankato off Highway 169 on Feb. 16, and Keepers RV Center south of Mankato off Highway 22 on Feb. 24 and Feb. 26.

A total of $23,519 in damage was done at Palmer Bus, where tools, a computer and a .22-caliber rifle were stolen. Three all-terrain vehicles, with a total value of $10,500, were taken from Peak Performance after a chained fence was cut open.

About 10 campers were broken into at Keepers RV Center on Feb. 24 and five more campers were broken into Feb. 26. Small digital televisions had been stolen from the campers, which were also damaged when the locked doors were yanked open, according to the criminal complaints.

Attig told investigators that Curtis Kramer, 20, of Mankato, also was involved in the Keepers break-in.

“The deputies are really doing an excellent job,” said Lisa May, owner of Keepers. “They really had to do some investigating to catch these guys in the first place. I’m sure the justice system is overworked and underpaid, but it’s frustrating that they’re out of jail.”

May said she does understand Rovney’s philosophy about restitution. Her business and its insurer lost several thousand dollars that she wouldn’t mind recovering, and no one wants to see a young person go to prison, she said.

“It’s a Catch 22,” May said. “I’d like to see them locked up, but I’d like to see them become productive citizens, too. Maybe we need to do more with the rehabilitation process. I was surprised, number one, that they were even out and, number two, I was surprised they were back in trouble again.”

Endless job
Arrests and charges for the crime spree involving Attig came together after he, Kramer and another man, 23-year-old Paul Jasper Frantum of St. Clair, were arrested around 6 a.m. April 14. Deputies responding to a report of a go-cart crash south of Mankato found a stolen pickup, two car stereos with wires that had been recently cut and other items. A car reported stolen for Nobles County also was recovered.

It was one of several times each of the three men had been arrested by law enforcement officers in southern Minnesota, said Mike Maurer, Blue Earth County chief deputy. He said there’s not much deputies can do with suspected criminals once they’re arrested and the evidence has been collected.

“We simply arrest them and put them through the judicial system,” Maurer said. “That’s what we do.”

He said he hears complaints from both sides. Some people think the judicial system is too harsh, locking people up for longer than they need to be. Others say convicted criminals should do more jail or prison time.

“We can’t change the system, we just charge the crime,” Maurer said. “Any system you work with, sometimes you have frustrations.

“There’s a big push to get people to become productive members of society.”

Law enforcement officers also want to see those who are repeatedly arrested out of the cycle of crime, whether that means they straighten themselves out or go to prison, Maurer added. “We’re just happy not to see them anymore.”

No trial
Rovney said he will fight any attempt by Attig to withdraw his plea now that prison time is going to be requested by prosecutors.