Criminal Charges Against Indian Motorcycles of the Twin Cities Owner are Dismissed

The Washington County Attorney’s Office has dismissed all criminal charges against Arturo Welch, the owner of Indian Motorcycles of the Twin Cities. 

Welch, of Stillwater, was charged by the Washington County Attorney’s Office in May with first-degree criminal damage to property after Laura Kristy Stevenson, 40, of Forest Lake, told police that he drove his vehicle into her garage door after she refused to meet him for a job interview.

Welch insists that never happened—and has maintained his innocence from the beginning.

Welch chose to represent himself against the allegations brought against him by the Washington County Attorney’s Office. The charges were dismissed before making it to a jury trial.

Imran Ali, a prosecutor with the Washington County Attorney’s Office, said he couldn’t comment on the case, because it is an active and ongoing investigation. Ali would not elaborate.

According to court records, Stevenson told police that Welch drove his truck into her garage door after she refused to open the door of her townhome to meet him for a job interview. The report was filed the day after the incident allegedly occurred.

During the investigation, police told Welch there was video footage of his vehicle at the scene—and a subsequent investigation led police to believe there was evidence that the hitch of his work truck caused the damage.

Welch says that’s impossible.

“I’ve never denied being there,” Welch said. “But I drove my smart car—not my truck—and I didn’t hit her garage.”

There are pictures in the police report that are not only black and white, but distort the image, Welch said, the pictures are blurry and do not give a true representation of any damage on the truck. 

“In fact, there is no damage on the truck,” he said. “The tow package on it not only did not have any kind of matching paint, but it is very visibly clear that the tow package is old and rusted and un-tampered with. There is no Indication of scraping or any damage of that nature. The only damage is rust.” 

But Stevenson’s allegations didn’t stop there.

Stevenson told police that she texted Welch about a job opening—at which time he responded to her inquiry with remarks insinuating “if she had sex with him or sent some ‘naughty or enticing’ pictures” he may consider giving her the job.

“First of all, there was never a job interview,” Welch said. “And if you look at the police report, it’s clear that the text messages she submitted to police were changed, modified and completely taken out of context. More than 90 percent of the conversation was left out.

“She lied to police,” Welch said.

According to the police report, Stevenson turned over all of the text messages as evidence in the case. , deleted or added to the conversation recorded in the police report.

Stevenson also didn’t tell police the two were involved in a past relationship, Welch said.

During the investigation, Welch said he asked Forest Lake Police Officer Lavalle if she would like to see his text messages to compare them to what police were given.

“Officer Lavelle told me she didn’t need to, because she’d already seen them,” Welch said. “Had she actually agreed to see them, this would all be a different story. Her refusal was her mistake.”