A Gillette landlord is accused of taking an estimated $100,000 worth of tools, along with guns, multiple video game systems, and cash while his tenants were on vacation.
Joseph Kraemer, 46, has been charged with felony burglary, which could be escalated to aggravated burglary because the allegations include taking firearms, according to an affidavit of probable cause written by Gillette Police Department Officer Chad Trebby.
Kraemer is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on April 30 to determine if there’s enough evidence to support the felony charge.
Over the course of three interviews with police, Kraemer said he was within his rights as a landlord to remove the property because he felt the couple who lived there had abandoned the place, Trebby wrote.
The trouble with Kraemer's reasoning is that, according to the couple, that’s not true, the affidavit says. They were on vacation in Florida visiting relatives and hadn’t given Kraemer any reason to believe they had left.
They had been living there for the past three or four years and were current on the rest, the document adds, although they didn’t have a lease and were on a month-to-month agreement.
“Joe stated initially the residence was his and there was abandoned property inside the house that he was cleaning out,” Trebby wrote. “Joe stated he’s been unable to contact (the couple) and claimed they never ‘formally’ lived there.”
Kraemer also said that he had been explicit with the couple from the start that “they had no tenant rights while they were living at the property,” the affidavit says.
The officer said he told Kraemer that, contrary to his belief, because they had established residency in the home, “they have tenant rights whether he believes they should or should not, despite there not being a formal lease in place,” the affidavit says.
Meanwhile, news that their belongings were allegedly being raided by their landlord came as a surprise to the couple, the affidavit says.
The Cleaning Woman
That happened in July 2025, when a son-in-law of the couple’s went to check on the couple's cats while they were on vacation and ran into someone cleaning the place for the landlord, the affidavit says.
The son-in-law “discovered there was an unidentified female inside the residence who was moving property within the home and cleaning it,” Trebby wrote. “When they confronted the individual, she indicated she had been hired by the landlord due to the fact that the current tenants were being evicted and there were new tenants scheduled to move in.”
After interviewing Kraemer and checking with the Campbell County Sheriff’s Office, Trebby said he verified that no legal eviction process had been filed.
The son-in-law called his mother and father-in-law, then called police, then looked around the property to see if anything was missing, the affidavit says. He noted about $100,000 worth of Snap-On tools used in the oil field had been removed from a shed.
The couple also confirmed that, until the call from the son-in-law, they were clueless to the situation and that they hadn’t had “any ongoing issues with their landlord,” the affidavit says. “They had lived there for three or four years, were current on rent, and were unsure what the current issue was.”
After the couple returned, they put together a more detailed inventory of what was missing from their home, Trebby wrote. In addition to the tools, those included:
• A number of video game systems.
• A number of weapons, including a .45-70 rifle valued at $3,000, a $1,000 Smith & Wesson 9 mm pistol, a Trump Tribute Mossberg, and a $2,700 Mathews Archery bow and hard case.
• A personal safe that had $2,000 cash in it.
• The man’s birth certificate.
• A prescription of 240 Adderall pills.
Everything Not Returned
Kraemer didn’t deny taking the items, instead justifying his right to do so, the affidavit says.
“Joe’s argument was he had been unable to contact (the couple), therefore the property was abandoned and that it was his to do with as he saw fit,” Trebby wrote. “I was explicitly clear with Joe that (the couple) had tenant rights at the property because it was clear they had established residency at that location — despite his objection — and that there had been arrangements made for them to live there.”
As for the tools, Kraemer “admitted he had taken them as collateral for payment and damages to the residence,” the affidavit says.
After again asserting he had authority to take the “abandoned” property, Kraemer was informed that if he didn’t return it to the couple he could face a serious criminal charge.
“Joe assured me that the property would be returned and that he would handle the issue in a civil manner between him and (the couple),” Trebby wrote.
While some of the items were returned, there are still a number that haven’t, including the firearms, the affidavit said.
When the couple talked with Kraemer, “Joe admitted he still had several of the items in the aforementioned list, but wasn’t sure where they were located because they had been mixed in with his personal property,” the affidavit says.
“It should be noted that at no point had he mentioned they owed him money for back rent,” the affidavit continues. “He stated the items had been taken because they were abandoned and he wanted collateral against damages to the property prior to evicting them.”
Kraemer remains free on a $10,000 cash or surety bond and could face up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $10,000, or both if convicted.
A phone number listed in Kraemer’s court file as a contact number connects to a message that the number has either been changed or disconnected.
Greg Johnson can be reached at greg@cowboystatedaily.com.
