Texas woman given suspended sentence for vehicle theft

A Texas woman has been given a suspended sentence on a felony theft charge. Merinda Fisher allegedly stole a vehicle from a business in Sundance and drove to South Dakota, where she was seen driving the vehicle away from a truck stop.

On November 7, 2021, a Crook County Sheriff’s Office deputy was dispatched to a local business on a report of two stolen vehicles, both with the company’s logos and decals on them.

Prior to the report, the deputy reports that he had been with an abandoned vehicle with Texas plates parked across the road from the business. The vehicle was registered to Fisher.

The deputy called the person listed on Fisher’s registration as a contact to get Fisher’s information. However, the person did not have her contact information and said Fisher changes phones constantly.

The contact also allegedly said that Fisher was with a male companion and her dog. Area law enforcement were advised to watch for the stolen vehicles. The next day, the deputy reports he was able to obtain photos from the business’s security cameras showing a male and female walking around the parking lot and getting into two of the vehicles and driving away.

The deputy was able to identify the female as the same person in the photo he had of Fisher. A member of staff informed the deputy that an agency in Kadoka, SD, had contacted a female driving one of the stolen vehicles.

The deputy contacted the Kadoka Police Department and a deputy from Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, who said they had been dispatched to a truck stop in reference to a suspicious woman.

The witness who called in the incident to law enforcement allegedly stated that a woman was willing to flash her breasts in return for gas money so she could get back to Texas. Fisher had left by the time law enforcement arrived, according to court reports, and the witness stated she was traveling in a vehicle with the business’s decals and had a dog with her.

The witness was able to identify Fisher from a photograph as the same person driving the vehicle.

Fisher pled guilty to one felony count of theft. Judge Matthew F.G. Castano gave her a suspended sentence of between 30 and 60 months in a state penal institution.