Police: Daughter of Car Repair Shop Owner Cashes Money Order Her Mechanic Boyfriend Allegedly Stole From Customer

An man and a Belle Plaine woman have been charged with stealing a money order from the car of an auto repair customer and then cashing it.

Jesse Dale McPheeters, 38, is charged with possession of stolen checks and Burgandie Nicole Brooks, 20, is charged with offering a forged check. Both charges are felonies with maximum penalties of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

According to the criminal complaints, a customer at Brooks Automotive in Burnsville told police in March that a money order had been stolen from the glove compartment of his car while it was in the shop for repair.

The customer told police that the car was dropped off on March 7, and when the owner looked for the money order the next day, it was gone.

The customer subsequently told police that the $635 money order had been deposited on March 27 after being written to the order of “Burgandie Brooks.” When police went to the auto repair business, they learned that Brooks is the daughter of the owner, and that McPheeters is her boyfriend, according to the complaints.

Brooks initially told police that she sells car rims on Craigslist and that a buyer had paid her with the money order, but eventually she allegedly admitted that McPheeters—who was working as a mechanic at Brooks Automotive—had found the money order in a customer’s car and had given it to her, according to the complaints.

Brooks told police that she wrote her name on the money order and deposited it into her bank account at an ATM, the complaint charges.

McPheeters told police he found the money order, took it and gave it to Brooks, according to the complaint, but said it was the first time he had stolen anything from a customer’s vehicle.

McPheeters and Brooks are scheduled to make first appearances on the charges Sept. 10 in Dakota County District Court in Hastings.