Couple charged with stealing over 240 signs for state representative campaign

ALEXANDRIA, Minn. (FOX 9) - A central Minnesota candidate for the state legislature and his wife have been arrested and charged after a search warrant executed on their home found over 240 stolen signs, with several of them painted over.

Wendy Hoff, 50, was charged with felony theft, while Judd Hoff, 53, is charged with one count of aiding and abetting felony theft, and one count of felony receiving stolen property. 

Judd and Wendy Hoff were arrested and booked into Douglas County Jail on Aug. 10 after a warrant was put out for their arrests, and remain there as of Aug. 11. 

Timeline of stolen signs

According to court documents, on July 31, police took a report of stolen signs from across Alexandria. The complainant told police she was in charge of the Interlachen Bazaar, which is a crafts fair in the city. She said she had put signs all over Alexandria to promote the event, which included eight wire signs, two large banners and one wooden sign, with a total value of about $422. 

The organizer of the event ensured that all of her signs were not in the right-of-way, and had permission from business owners to place signs there, the charges state. 

In Minnesota, signs cannot be placed on public right-of-way, including trunk highways, county highways and other state, county, city and township roads and highways. 

Between July 10 through July 27, all the garage sale signs and other signs were taken from the property of Lake Country Meats in Alexandria, investigators found. 

Investigators then found that a series of sign thefts similar to these have been happening across the area, court documents say. On July 11, Douglas County Sheriff's deputies had a report of three stolen signs from Mark Adams Remax Realty. Wendy Hoff was named a person of interest and was interviewed about the July 11 theft, but denied knowing anything about it. 

A Douglas County deputy told investigators that when he talked to Wendy Hoff on July 10 she was frustrated about one of her husband's signs being taken down by law enforcement due to it be in a public right-of-way. 

The body camera video from that interview showed Wendy Hoff saying, "If I put a sign within 12 feet of this property, by law, you as a person could come by and take that piece of property because it's in the right-of-way," and "You can't put even a, technically, a garage sale sign, a realtor sign, okay? Them b----es gotta go."

Other signs stolen

On July 13, there was a report of four "No Parking" signs stolen from Alex Viking Towing in Alexandria. The license plate on the car of the suspect in this theft was captured on surveillance footage, and was identified as Wendy Hoff, court documents state. 

Later on July 26, an off-duty Alexandria Police Officer saw a white van with the same license plate number captured at Alex Viking Towing pulling over at homes along East Golf Course Road Northeast. Wendy Hoff was then seen taking "Josh Owen" signs from yards and putting them in her van. The van was seen driving back to her home without getting rid of the signs along the way.

 Those signs were made following the death of Pope County Sheriff's Deputy Josh Owen. 

On July 30, seven signs were stolen that were displayed for the Art in the Park community event. 

Then on Aug. 2, political signs were stolen from Alex Pro Firearms. Wendy Hoff was seen taking these signs and an employee confronted her, court documents say. Wendy Hoff said the signs were in the right-of-way and left in her van. She allegedly took four Donald Trump signs worth $40 and other political signs. These signs were also off the right-of-way and on private property. 

The next day, on Aug. 3, three plywood signs were stolen that belonged to Hoffman Produce stands, which were valued at $300. These were taken near the Viking Plaza Mall. 

Court documents go on to say that between July 10 through Aug. 3, several citizens reported various garage sale and business signs went missing. 

Search warrant at Hoff's home

On Aug. 7, the Alexandria Police Department executed a search warrant for Hoff's home on the 2700 block of Le Homme Deiu Heights. Neither Judd or Wendy Hoff were home at the time of the search warrant. 

Court documents say that in the backyard a large pile of signs were in "plain view," and inside the garage there was a large pile of wire-framed, wood and steel-framed signs. 

The signs found include seven Interlachen Bazaar signs, seven Art in the Park signs, three Trump signs, six Steve Boyd signs, a Mark Adams Remax sign and a Josh Owen sign. All of which were confirmed stolen. 

In total, Alexandria police found about 242 signs. 

Charges state that many of the signs that were seized were painted black, and a number of the painted signs said "Vote Hoff, State Representative 12B." 

Officers were able to scrape the paint off these signs, revealing the original stolen signs. One of the signs that was painted over was a "very large" Michelle Fischbach political sign. 

The charges say, "It appeared that these signs were being used to further Judd Hoff’s political campaign."

According to the complaint, total damages are estimated at $5,000. 

Judd Hoff's campaign for state representative

Judd Hoff filed to run as a DFL candidate in District 12B in May 2024. This was after he was disavowed by the Minnesota DFL, who said the candidate was "unfit for elected office."

In November 2023, Judd Hoff won an endorsement from a local DFL party to run in District 12B, which is a House of Representatives seat that includes parts of Douglas, Stearns, and Pope counties. 

But in April 2024, Minnesota DFL Chairman Ken Martin issued a statement saying their party would no longer back him following the revelation of previous criminal offenses including assault, damage to property, and disorderly conduct.

"The kind of violent and threatening behaviors that Mr. Hoff has engaged in have no place in the Minnesota DFL party. The Minnesota DFL strongly disavows this endorsement, and I have asked the local unit in question to withdraw their endorsement immediately," Martin said in a statement. "The Minnesota DFL will not spend any of our resources on behalf of Mr. Hoff. We all have a responsibility, regardless of party or ideology, to reject violence in our politics – we can and should expect better from candidates for elected office," Martin said.

Rep. Mary Franson, Hoff's opponent in District 12B, also accused Hoff of harassing her, including moving across the street from her home.