Transient woman facing charges for felony theft, animal cruelty

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A 38-year-old homeless woman is facing seven counts of second-degree theft and a charge of second-degree animal cruelty after she allegedly stole her ex-boyfriend’s wallet and then went into his chicken coop and tried to kill his chickens.

Maree Rose Carstensen made her first appearance in Jefferson County Superior Court on Monday via a video link from the jail.

Carstensen was booked into jail last Thursday.

She was first contacted by sheriff’s deputies on Oct. 21, after someone reported a woman standing in the roadway on Irondale Road yelling at a vehicle going by.

As deputies responded and searched the area, another call was received from a resident who was watching his property remotely and said he could see a woman killing the chickens in his coop.

Deputies searched the property and found a woman, later identified as Carstensen, standing next to the chicken coop. She allegedly told deputies she was killing chickens, but officers couldn’t find any dead or injured birds nearby.

According to court documents, Carstensen gave deputies a false address and “she appeared stressed and paranoid.”

When a deputy stepped away to talk with the resident, Carstensen complained about her stomach and started running away.

“Since a crime could not be verified at that time there was no attempt to stop her,” a deputy said in a probable cause report.

A week later, authorities reviewed a video provided by the property owner that showed Carstensen in the coop armed with a piece of wood, trying to hit, strike, or kick his chickens. He also said his wallet had been stolen.

The man’s sister later found an injured rooster in the brush near the chicken coop.

The man who had reported the intruder in his chicken coop told deputies Carstensen was his ex-girlfriend, and he had wanted to help her, and invited her to his home Oct. 23.

After she left, he noticed his wallet missing. He told authorities he later found Carstensen in the woods in Port Hadlock, and confronted her about his missing wallet.

He told deputies she pulled the wallet from inside her jacket and gave it back.

At her court appearance Monday, Court Commissioner Micky Forbes detailed the seven felony theft charges, and noted that each comes with a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine upon conviction.

The charges stem from the seven credit or debit cards that were in the victim’s wallet, which included Mastercard and VISA cards as well as business, commercial, and store cards from Amazon Prime, Home Depot, and Capitol One.

Forbes noted the animal cruelty charge can result in a maximum sentence of 364 days in jail and a $5,000 fine upon conviction.

Deputy Prosecutor Melissa Pleimann told Forbes that Carstensen did not have an extensive criminal history, with a prior criminal conviction in 2019, and had been charged with resisting arrest in Kitsap County District Court, but that incident occurred when she was being detained on the Jefferson County charges.

Pleimann said prosecutors would agree to Carstensen’s release on her personal recognizance on conditions that included not contacting the victim, staying in Washington state, and returning to court when ordered.

Forbes agreed with the recommendation, and set Carstensen’s arraignment for Friday, Nov. 18.