A Perry man was arrested Friday morning outside the Dallas County Courthouse, where he came to observe a forgery trial in which he was the victim.
Charles Andrew Kaufman, 54, of 2450 337th St. in Perry pleaded guilty to a charge of possession of drug paraphernalia after the courthouse security detail searched Kaufman, who was fined $100 for the simple misdemeanor by Dallas County Magistrate Donna M. Schauer.
Kaufman’s encounter with law enforcement prevented his attendance at the guilty plea of Jennifer Rae Nicolaisen, 40, of 12879 Houston Ave. in Perry. Nicolaisen pleaded guilty Friday in Dallas County District Court to two counts of forgery. The charges followed her arrest in November 2018 in connection with the forgery of two checks on consecutive days in July 2018.
According to a criminal complaint filed in November by the Perry Police Department, each check was written by Kaufman and drawn on his account, and Nicolaisen “was supposed to deliver the check to the payee.” Instead, Nicolaisen increased the dollar amount, changed the payee to the Perry Fareway and in each instance “passed the check, knowing it had been altered without the victim’s permission,” the complaint said.
Sentencing is scheduled for June 14. In separate proceedings, Nicolaisen also pleaded guilty Friday to charges of first-offense OWI, first-offense possession of a controlled substance-methamphetamine and first-offense possession of a controlled substance-marijuana. She was arrested Sept. 2, 2018, and sentencing in this case is also scheduled for June 14.
Kaufman’s arrest, adjudication and sentencing occurred relatively quickly Friday. More protracted were the proceedings following his arrest Feb. 2 in Perry on charges of assault causing bodily injury or mental illness and fourth-degree criminal mischief.
According to a criminal complaint filed in February by the Perry Police Department, the female victim alleged that Kaufman — popularly known as “Outback” — “had become upset and punched through the car window in an attempt to punch her.”
The victim was apparently injured in the incident, but it appears a word was dropped from the complaint’s narrative: “The victim had a large on her forehead from what is believed to be from the shattered glass of the window.”
Kaufman’s defense attorney, Natasha Marie O’Hollearn of Des Moines, entered a not guilty plea Thursday on behalf of her client. A jury trial was ordered for June 10 by Dallas County District Court Associate Judge Virginia Cobb.
*A criminal charge is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
