Brian Gauthier appears before Manitowoc County court via Zoom, January 26, 2026. (Manitowoc Co. court/Zoom)
MANITOWOC, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — A former home improvement store stock worker pleaded not guilty Thursday to allegedly stealing more than $5,000 in merchandise.
Brian Gauthier waived a preliminary hearing on one count of retail theft before pleading not guilty, court records show. No trail date was set. He returns to court May 27 for a scheduling conference.
According to the probable cause statement, the Menards store located at 5120 Calumet Avenue reported thefts from its store by an employee. 15 incidents of thefts, with values ranging from $2.38 to $2,877.81, were documented between Oct. 16 and Jan. 10.
In one example, the store security video shows, “Gauthier selecting items from the shelves and placing them into a Menards shopping cart. Gauthier even bagged up a few items in the cart. Gauthier ultimately pushed the cart containing the merchandise out of the building without any attempts to pay for said merchandise, and walked to his vehicle in the parking lot,” the statement says.
The stolen merchandise value totaled $5,307.53, according to a police report. The probable cause statement does not contain any comments from Gauthier.
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