Rural Albert Lean Lynn Marie Spicer was charged in Freeborn County District Court on Wednesday with a fourth count tied to a series of recent reported burglaries in both rural Freeborn County and Albert Lea.

Lynn Marie Spicer, 47, faces one new second-degree burglary charge for the alleged burglary of a residence at 21409 700th Ave. in Armstrong on Oct. 7. She was charged on Friday with three other second-degree burglary charges tied to different residences.

According to court documents, this charge came after an off-duty Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office deputy who was hauling grain in a semi saw Spicer at the residence.

Deputies had stopped by Spicer’s house about 15 minutes prior to talk with her regarding some restitution owed for damage at another residence. They also wanted to question her about some recent burglaries in Albert Lea; however, she was not at the home.

A few minutes later, an off-duty officer called into dispatch saying he had seen Spicer at a vacant residence about a mile away.

Court records state the deputy reportedly saw Spicer go up to the front door of the house, knock on the door and then walk to the back of the house where there was a deck.

She was reportedly “looking inside the residence and appeared to be trying to find an open door to enter the residence,” documents state.

The deputy was aware of the recent burglaries in the area and called dispatch to run the license plate of the vehicle sitting at the house.

According to reports, as Spicer tried to get in her car and leave the area, the deputy asked her why she was walking around the house. He noticed a fresh cut on her left hand.

Spicer reportedly told another deputy she knew the house was vacant and that she was looking at moving, though this house was less than a mile away from her current residence.

When asked about the cut on her left pinkie, she told the deputies she got it from a hay ride the previous weekend.

The deputy recognized that the cut was consistent with blood evidence from a previous burglary Oct. 5 in which the burglar cut himself or herself on the left hand.

When Spicer was told that blood evidence was collected at the previous residences, she reportedly “got a perplexed look on her face and was silent.”

Reports stated there were no clear signs of forced entry or broken windows at the residence, but the back door of the garage was open and the door in the garage was left open. There was no damage inside the house.

When asked whether she entered the house, Spicer reportedly told authorities that the house was empty and no one was there.

The light in the entry of the house was left on and doors had been left open.

Retired Freeborn County District Court Judge James E. Broberg, who is filling in for Judge John A. Chesterman, ordered Spicer’s bail be set at $20,000 unconditional or $10,000 conditional. The same bail options were set for each of her previous three charges regarding different residences filed Friday.

Spicer faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine for each second-degree burglary charge.