Dog guard accused of stealing valuables from Rochester couple

ROCHESTER, MN (KROC-AM News) – An incarcerated woman has been charged in a theft case in Rochester.

The criminal complaint, filed in Olmsted District Court earlier this week, says the theft occurred last July.

Minnesota Department of Corrections records show she was booked into a state prison on an unrelated case six days after the theft report.

Charge: Dog guard stole cash, gold coins, Playstation and cell phones from couple's Rochester home

38 year old Elizabeth Jean Smith is accused of committing the theft while watching a Rochester couple's dog in their home.

One of the victims told Rochester police she came home on July 20 to find a PlayStation, three cell phones, a pair of gold coins and $5,000 cash missing from the house.

Smith admitted to stealing the gaming advice when one of the victims asked her about it, the complaint says.

Seven days after the theft report, investigators learned that Smith was found with the two coins and three phones that belonged to the victims when they were taken into custody in Winona County for violating sentence conditions in a 2023 Winona County DWI case became.

The indictment says some of the stolen property had a total value of $7,400. Other items reported stolen were not valued, according to the court document.

Smith is currently incarcerated at the state correctional facility in Shakopee, where she is serving a five-year sentence for the drunken driving conviction.

She is charged with grand larceny and is scheduled to make her first court appearance in the Rochester theft case next month.