Blake Cody Lund, 37, Minot, made an initial appearance Tuesday in Minot Municipal Court on misdemeanor charges that he tampered with a Verendrye Electric meter on Jan. 25 and stole electricity from the company.

Lund is charged in municipal court with Class B misdemeanor criminal mischief and Class B misdemeanor petty theft.

According to the probable cause affidavit filed with the court, workers went to Lund’s residence at 1925 26th Street SW to inspect the meters. Lund had reportedly been late on making payments on his electric bill and Verendrye believed the meter had been tampered with. They asked police for assistance because Lund had allegedly made threats against Verendrye workers in the past and they did not feel safe going to his residence.

According to the affidavit, the meter had been broken into. Speaker wire that did not belong to Verendrye Electric had been wired around the meter so it would bypass the meter and go directly into the house, enabling the house to use the electricity without being charged by the company. Lund allegedly refused to come out of the house but yelled at the officer through the front window.

Four hours later, Verendrye Electric again called for assistance at Lund’s residence. Lund had allegedly again tampered with the meter after the workmen left and stole electricity. The workers replaced the meter a second time and tried to lock it up so it could not be tampered with.

On Jan. 28, Verendrye reported that the meter had been bypassed a third time and electricity had been stolen.

The company submitted three invoices for the damaged meters and stolen electricity. Lund allegedly stole $189.35 in electricity. The cost of labor to fix and repair the damaged meters was estimated at $2,873.60. The cost to repair parts was $85.50.

Lund is also facing other unrelated misdemeanor charges in Minot Municipal Court, including a disorderly conduct charge dating back to Sept. 8. Lund allegedly got drunk and wandered the halls with a baseball bat, banging on doors at the Guest Lodge. He is also facing multiple felony charges, including two separate burglary and terrorizing charges, in district court in Minot. He allegedly rented a generator from United Rentals on Jan. 28, failed to return it, and then tried to sell the generator on Facebook Marketplace and he was subsequently charged with felony theft of property in district court.

Lund was most recently charged last week in district court in Minot with felony possession of a stolen vehicle and refusal to halt and has been held on $50,000 cash or $5,000 cash or corporate surety bond at the Ward County Jail. The state added a Class C felony burglary charge to that complaint on Tuesday.