Woman suspected in multiple thefts pleads not guilty to aggravated auto burglary, theft of gun

CASPER, Wyo. — A Casper woman pleaded not guilty last Friday to breaking into a car at the YMCA last summer and stealing a handgun, AirPods and other valuables. She is also charged in a separate misdemeanor theft case in circuit court that alleges she stole wallets from employees of Albertsons out of the break room.

Audrey Nichole Schultz, 22, pleaded not guilty in Natrona County District Court on March 14 to charges of aggravated burglary and felony theft in the YMCA case from last August.

Schultz is presumed innocent unless proven or pleading guilty in all matters referenced here.

Police responded to the YMCA of Natrona County on Aug. 7, 2024, after a woman reported that her purse was stolen from an unlocked locker while she was taking her kids to swim lessons, according to the affidavit. With her car keys being in the purse, the suspect was able to access the woman’s locked vehicle and a steal a Glock 43x, Apple AirPods Pro, two sets of key fobs, and a wedding ring valued at $2,785.

The woman told the responding officer that her card had already been used at Wendy’s and that her Apple-brand tracking app showed her earbuds at a location in Mills. 

The officer reviewed exterior surveillance video at the YMCA and saw a female suspect in a grey sweater carrying a bag and entering the truck. Gym staff recognized the woman, who had paid for a day pass just before the burglary victim arrived. They said Schultz had been there before and they suspected her in other thefts at the YMCA. They said they wouldn’t be letting her back in.

The officer then went to the Mills residence where the stolen earbuds were pinging. The residents there denied knowing Schultz or having earbuds or a firearm in the residence. Police later learned that there was a connection between the owner of the house next door and Schultz’s on-again, off-again boyfriend Michael Odom, who is also suspected in multiple thefts and burglaries.

On Oct. 9, a Casper police officer responded to the east-side Albertsons, where employees had reported that an unknown female went into the break room and stole wallets and an iPad. Surveillance footage showed a female suspect going in and out of the room three times and pulling bags out of the lockers, according to the affidavit. 

Later that evening, the same officer responded to the east-side Walmart to assist another officer after a vehicle was spotted in the parking lot that had been reported stolen out of Sheridan the week before, according to the affidavit. While investigating, one of the Albertsons employees called the officer to say his stolen card had been flagged for attempted use at Walmart just minutes before police arrived.

Surveillance footage from Walmart showed Schultz, identified in part by her visible neck tattoo, swiping cards in an attempt to buy phone cards and phones, the report said. Police say she is accompanied in the footage by Odom. After the last attempt to swipe a card, Odom and Schultz are seen on video holding hands and leaving together. In video from the parking lot, they are seen leaving in the vehicle reportedly stolen from Sheridan, with Schultz at the wheel.

Police learned that Schultz and Odom had been known to hang out at a four-plex apartment on the 1100 block of South Nebraska Street. On Oct. 11, an officer posted outside saw Schultz exit, spot the officer and run back inside, according to the affidavit.

Detective Ryan Lowery was granted a search warrant for the residence. The man inside denied that Schultz or Odom were around. While inside, officers noticed that the apartment had open attic access to two other apartments. After the residents allowed police to clear one apartment, Detective Andrea Husted applied for and was granted a search warrant for the other, where there had been no response. 

Schultz and Odom were found hiding behind a couch. Another suspect was found under a futon.

Items of suspected evidence from multiple thefts and burglaries were found in the two apartments, including the driver’s license of the woman at the YMCA, according to the affidavit. 

Schultz reportedly denied having been at the YMCA since 2020, and could not explain why the victim’s driver’s license had been found at the apartment or why her boyfriend, Odom, had cashed a check in his name from the woman’s account. 

The other items reportedly stolen from the vehicle at the YMCA were not recovered.

Schultz remains out of jail on a $15,000 cash or surety bond for the YMCA case. The Albertsons theft case is charged as a misdemeanor, and she has pleaded not guilty.

Odom, 19, is currently jailed on a charge of grand theft for allegedly running out of Buckle at the Blackmore Marketplace with an armload of merchandise valued at $1,300. According to the report, Odom is seen on video escaping with the merchandise while store security was busy trying to stop his alleged accomplice, Anthony Santistevan.

Odom is presumed innocent unless proven or pleading guilty.

Schultz faces up to 25 years in prison on the aggravated burglary charge. The enhancement comes from the allegation that she became armed in the course of burglarizing the vehicle and taking the gun.