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Law enforcement vehicles filled the south end of Ninth Avenue Southwest in Pipestone the morning of Jan. 1 after a local family discovered an intruder in their home. The intruder was recently convicted of first-degree burglary. File photo by Kyle Kuphal
Marshall Lee Bejarano, 39, of Granite Falls, was convicted on July 9 of first-degree burglary, a felony. Additional counts of first-degree burglary and first-degree criminal damage to property, both felonies, and possession of firearms and ammunition by a felon, a gross misdemeanor, were dismissed.
Bejarano was discovered in the basement of Chad and Jackie Budden’s Pipestone home on New Year’s Day morning. Chad Budden told the Pipestone County Star in January that Jackie had heard a noise in their basement. At first, she assumed it was their son, Grant. Then the wireless internet stopped working and she was on her way to the basement to reset the router when she saw a man, later identified as Bejarano, sitting on the steps.
She asked him who he was and what he was doing in her house and the man told her his name was Marshall and he didn’t know why he was there, according to a criminal complaint filed Jan. 2. She yelled for Chad and the man ran down into the basement.
Jackie called 911 at 8:03 a.m., according to the complaint, and Budden said officers arrived in about a minute. According to a statement released Jan. 1 by the Pipestone County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded, secured the residence and removed the family to a safe location.
According to the criminal complaint, an officer with the Pipestone County Sheriff’s Office looked down the basement stairs and saw Budden’s gun cabinet open, a shotgun leaned up against the wall and ammunition lying on the floor. Officers believed Bejarano was still in the basement and had access to firearms and ammunition, and considered him a barricaded suspect. Law enforcement set up a perimeter around the residence and shouted down the stairs every 10 minutes requesting that Bejarano acknowledge that he could hear them and show himself to them, but received no response, according to the complaint.
The sheriff’s office requested assistance from the H.E.A.T. Tactical Entry Team and other area law enforcement agencies. Members of the H.E.A.T. Team arrived and used a robot and aerial drone to search the basement, but were unable to check two closets. After about four hours of attempting to contact Bejarano, officers entered the basement and “held the hallway” while other officers retrieved the firearms from the basement, according to the complaint. Others searched the basement and found Bejarano in a closet. Officers ordered him to show his hands and exit the closet, but he did not respond to commands and was removed from the closet and taken to the ground.
Prior to Judge Kayla Johnson sentencing Bejarano in Pipestone County District Court on July 8, Bejarano said he was sorry to the Budden family and the community about what had happened. He said he had mental health issues and that he took responsibility for his actions and was trying to move on, but would probably never forget the incident.
“I feel really bad about it,” Bejarano said.
He was sentenced to three years and nine months imprisonment with the sentence stayed for five years, and must serve 180 days in Pipestone County Jail with 110 days credit for time served. He was placed on probation for five years and must pay $660 in fines, surcharges and fees. A list of additional conditions also applies.