Rochester Woman Gets Probation For Crimes Committed on Probation

Get our free mobile app

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - A Rochester woman has been sentenced to five years on probation for convictions stemming from a break-in at an apartment that led to the death of a pet cat.

37-year-old Angela Spears was also given a stayed prison sentence of 17 months that she could be required to serve if she fails to meet the requirements of her probation. Spears earlier entered into a plea agreement and admitted to felony counts of possession of burglary tools and drug possession in exchange for the dismissal of a second-degree burglary charge.

She was arrested last June after Rochester police officers responded to a report of a burglary at an apartment along North Broadway. The woman living in the residence called 911 immediately after she returned home and found her apartment had been ransacked.

The responding officers found Spears sleeping on the porch and a dead cat on the other side of the door. According to the criminal complaint, there were pieces of broken pottery next to the cat, which suggested the possibility that someone threw or dropped the pottery on the cat.

Spears was already on probation for an arson conviction. In that case, she was accused of entering a condominium and starting a fire in some clothing piled on a bed. She was also accused of using a baseball bat to smash a mirror during the incident, which occurred in 2020.