Two Bloomfield women have been charged with burglary, a Level 5 felony. They were arrested after being caught taking items from a rural Bloomfield residence. They said they had permission to take things. The homeowner said they did not.

Kristen Nicole May, 39, and Maria Dawn Von Tagen, 44, both of Bloomfield, were arrested in mid-March by Deputy Jordan Allor of the Greene County Sheriff’s Department with assistance from GCSD Deputy Michael Coy.

The two deputies were dispatched to a rural Bloomfield location when a caller to the sheriff’s department reported a burglary in progress. The caller said they arrived at a residence and found a woman inside the house allegedly stealing items from the house.

When the deputies arrived, the caller, who was a relative of the homeowner, was waiting on them, May was sitting inside a truck parked beside a garage, and Von Tagen was walking away on the road.

Deputy Allor reported that when interviewed, the women said they had permission to take things from the house. They allegedly said permission came from a friend who knew a man who cleared out houses that were abandoned or under foreclosure and he approved.

When Deputy Allor contacted the homeowner, he said he had not given permission to the women to be on his property or to take any items from the property.

Deputy Allor said the two deputies found numerous items from the property had been loaded into the truck and the women admitted they took the items but continued to claim they had permission.

The two were booked into the Greene County Jail late Wednesday, March 11. Bond for each was set at $10,000 surety with ten percent cash allowed. They have since posted $1,000 each and were released. Criminal cases were filed in Greene Circuit Court against both women on March 13.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic emergency, arrangements were made to hold the initial hearings by telephone.

May’s initial hearing was conducted on April 1.

Von Tagen’s initial hearing was conducted on April 6.

Public defenders were appointed to represent them.