By Joe Bachman

A 26-year-old woman and a 21-year-old man are being charged with burglary after police say they robbed a business while one of the defendants was still employed there.

Alexis Parker, of Babcock, and Nicholas Wodlarski, of Wisconsin Rapids, are charged with burglary. According to police reports, on Aug. 10, 2015, an officer was dispatched to a business on the 1900 block of 8th St. South regarding a complaint of burglary.

According to the complainant, when she opened the business that morning, she noticed that the door was unlocked, and that the safe was wide open and that all of the cash inside was gone. There had also been a bank bag reported to have had money taken from it.

The officer spoke to the manager of the business who allegedly reviewed video footage of Parker, who worked at this business at the time of the burglary, and witnessed Parker entering the store after business hours. The complainant told officers that according to video footage, Parker entered an area of the store out of camera view, and then exited the store soon after.

On Feb. 10, 2016, a detective spoke with defendant, Nicholas Wodlarski, who told the detective that it was Parker’s idea to burglarize the business, and that she would leave the back door of the establishment open for him to enter the business after hours, as well as give him the combination to the safe to take the cash. Wodlarksi told the detective that he allegedly was told by Parker to cut the breakers to cut off power supply to the cameras, later confirmed by the complainant to be true.

If convicted, Parker and Wodlarksi each face up to 12 years and six months imprisonment and up to $25,000 in fines. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Mar. 7 for both parties.