Rochester Man Faces New Charges on Same Day He Cuts Plea Deal

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - A Rochester man who is well-known to local law enforcement officers entered into a plea agreement to settle three criminal cases on the same day Olmsted County Attorney's Office filed two new felony charges against him.

22-year-old Parker Evan Atherton went before an Olmsted County judge on Thursday and admitted to a second-degree burglary charge stemming from the theft of a bicycle from a parking garage at a southwest Rochester apartment building on February 9. The criminal complaint says surveillance video shows Atherton entering the garage and taking a package from the mail delivery area. It then shows him placing the contents of the package into his backpack before checking to see if any of the vehicles in the garage were locked.

After his attempts to gain access to the vehicles were unsuccessful, the video shows Atherton cutting a lock off of a bicycle and taking it as he exited the building. When he was arrested a few weeks later, he was in possession of three Social Security cards and a resident alien card that had been previously reported stolen.

READ MORE: Bike Theft Leads to New Charges Against Chronic Rochester Thief

Under the terms of his plea deal, misdemeanor charges stemming from two incidents in January were dismissed. One of those cases involved allegations that he shot a woman with a BB gun. The prosecution also agreed to recommend a stayed prison sentence with five years on probation.

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Last year, Atherton was sentenced to more than 200 days in jail for a probation violation. He had been accused in a "porch pirate" case involving the theft of two packages from the porch of a Rochester home in 2022 and the theft of a $2800 bracelet from the Rochester Macy's Store last March.

READ MORE: Probation Violation Puts Rochester Porch Pirate Behind Bars

The new criminal complaints against Atherton charge him with receiving stolen property and financial credit card fraud. The stolen property charge alleges he was driving a stolen vehicle when he was pulled over by Rochester police on January 14 and fled on foot. The court record shows that, after his arrest for the bicycle theft last month, Atherton admitted that he was driving the stolen vehicle and that he fled from officers.

The credit card fraud case alleges Atherton used a stolen credit card to make a couple of purchases at local businesses and to attempt a cash withdrawal from an ATM machine on December 14, 2023. The criminal complaint says the credit card had been stolen from a woman's vehicle while it was parked outside her home on either December 13 or the 14th. The victim discovered the theft on the morning of December 14.

He is scheduled to be arraigned on the new charges next month. His sentencing hearing in the burglary case is scheduled to take place in late May.

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