Grant County Man Arrested After Drug Deal Backfires

Three people were arrested in La Crosse County after an alleged armed robbery turned out to be a drug deal gone wrong involving a man from Grant County. 26 year old Bridget Schoenfeld and 23 year old Devon Perkins, both of Mindoro, were charged Monday in La Crosse County Circuit Court with delivering methamphetamine as a party to a crime in connection to a January 26th incident in the town of Farmington. According to a criminal complaint, Paul Bunts of Woodman called police around midnight on January 26th and said he had been robbed and one of the alleged robbers had a shotgun. Bunts told police he was in La Crosse to go to the Department of Motor Vehicles office, and then a friend asked him over Facebook Messenger to give Perkins a ride home. Bunts told police that when he arrived at the Farmington residence, Perkins and several other men took $400 cash from his vehicle and threatened him with a gun. Police found Bunts’ story suspicious, pointing out that the DMV was closed that day, a Sunday. Officers asked to see the messages where Bunts agreed to give Perkins a ride, but Bunts declined. Bunts then came clean, saying he went to the residence to buy $400 worth of meth from Perkins. He said Schoenfeld gave him the alleged drugs, but upon inspection, didn’t believe the substance was really meth and thought he got ripped off. Bunts went back to the residence and demanded his money back. When Perkins and Schoenfeld declined, Bunts called 911. According to the complaint, the drugs tested positive for meth. Bunts was arrested and taken to the Richland County Jail, but has not yet been charged. Schoenfeld and Perkins were also arrested without incident. Schoenfeld also was charged Monday with felony bail jumping. Perkins was released on a $1,000 signature bond and Schoenfeld held on a $500 cash bond.