ALEXANDRIA -- A Sioux Falls man accused of stealing two vehicles was charged Wednesday in three counties, ringing up a total of 14 criminal offenses.
At 2:26 a.m. on Wednesday, the Hanson County Sheriff's Office was called to a house in rural Alexandria, where someone was reported to have tried to break in. According to Sheriff Brandon Wingert, by the time law enforcement arrived at the scene, 23-year-old Ashton White-Olesen had allegedly stolen a pickup from the house.
Later, a vehicle found to have been stolen from Ethan the previous evening was identified in the Hanson County house's driveway, and White-Oleson is accused of driving around the Alexandria homeowner's yard, trying to break down the door of the house and breaking into a shed on the property.
The missing pickup was located in rural Aurora County using an OnStar security system. The Aurora County Sheriff's Office was notified, and White-Olesen was apprehended after a short pursuit. He was taken to the Davison County Jail, where he was still detained as of Thursday afternoon.
On Wednesday afternoon, a damaged road sign was reported at the intersection of 419th Avenue and 244th Street — which is located in the northwest part of Hanson County — and authorities determined that White-Olesen had crashed one of the stolen vehicles there before traveling west into Davison and Aurora counties. White-Olesen allegedly went into a ditch while northbound on 419th Avenue, taking down two road signs before the vehicle became airborne and landed in a field.