By Tim Ruzek

Post-Bulletin, Austin MN 

With various stolen items allegedly in their car, two men fled last week into a nearby Austin restaurant after seeing two law-enforcement officers pulling into the parking lot.

The state trooper and Mower County sheriff's deputy, however, only were looking to get a bite to eat Oct. 28 at the shopping strip near Wal-Mart.

Instead, witnesses alerted them of the two men's strange behavior, leading authorities to find stolen items in their car that included two computers, a DVD player and movies.

Several ID documents left in the car helped Austin police identify the suspects, who ran into the El Patron Restaurant's restrooms before fleeing the area.

Steven Dean Pfannenstiel, 23, of Owatonna, appeared Monday in Mower District Court on single felony counts of theft and receiving stolen property.

A judge set bail for Pfannenstiel at $20,000 without conditions or $2,500 with conditions, records show.

His accomplice, Dana Drake Hereth-Warren, 21, of Nags Head, N.C., appeared Oct. 30 in court on single felony counts of theft and receiving stolen property. A judge set bail for him at $10,000 without conditions or $3,000 with conditions.

According to the criminal complaint, the trooper and deputy learned about the men's behavior about 6:45 p.m. in the strip mall's parking lot along Eighth Street Northwest. A couple directed the officers to a parked car with no license plate and a passenger door left open with a duffel bag on the ground by it.

Authorities found clothes and electronics items that were still in their store boxes or had store tags on them.

The next day Hereth-Warren allegedly called police, wanting to turn himself in and speak with officers.

Hereth-Warren told police he panicked upon seeing the trooper and deputy because Pfannenstiel just had returned from Wal-Mart with stolen items, the complaint says. Pfannenstiel allegedly had mentioned "pawning" some items.

Both men are to return Nov. 12 to court.

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