Coon Rapids man's lying ways cost woman dearly, charge says

A Coon Rapids husband and father romanced a Wisconsin woman for about two years, draining $112,000 from her savings and the sale of her house while he made empty promises of marriage and lied about having cancer, according to a felony theft charge filed this week.

By the time authorities caught up with Brian R. Pool, 44, the money was gone, most of it used to finance his gambling addiction, according to the criminal complaint filed in Eau Claire County Circuit Court in Wisconsin.

During a detailed admission last week to an Altoona, Wis., police officer, Pool was asked by police whether he could recall the woman's last name, according to the complaint. After four attempts, he gave up.

The charge says "that something clicked" in late May "and she realized she was never going to see her money" after Pool spun a tale to her about being pulled over by police in California and having all of the money, $112,000, taken by the officers.

She then shared with her sister and a friend the details of her relationship with Pool, a man she knew as Brian Pinarello, according to the complaint. The sister ran a phone number for Pool through an Internet search. It was traced to Pool's wife.

The possibility that other women have been scammed was not discounted by Eau Claire County Assistant District Attorney Gary Schuster, who would only say that authorities are continuing to work on the case.

According to the complaint:

She and Pool started a romantic relationship in 2008. He said that he was divorced and had a teenage daughter, and gave the woman a phony date of birth that made him two years younger.

The complaint said that the first of several times she gave Pool money was in September 2008, when he said he needed to pay $2,000 to his employer for being late or missing work because of illness.

In July 2009, she gave him $7,000 for what he said was a trucking business he was starting in California, the charge said.

According to the complaint, there were several more transactions built on lies after that, including one for $13,000 for his father's medical bills after getting in a wreck with a drunken driver.

When she gave him $14,500 from her 401(k) toward the California business, the woman said, she understood that she would be a partner in the business, move to California and be married to Pool, the charge said. The two talked about marriage "all the time."

Over the course of the relationship, the woman quit her job of 30 years at a fabric shop and sold her home -- she gave him at least $26,000 from the sale -- and she was given $10,000 by her father that was handed over to Pool, according to the complaint.

The woman declined to comment Friday about Pool, but did say she is working again and is living in Chippewa Falls, Wis.

Pool has been married previously. His former wife died in 2000 at age 43.

Also in 2000, Pool filed for bankruptcy, according to court records. Among his creditors was the IRS for more than $23,000 in back taxes, records indicate.

A message left for Pool at his Coon Rapids home Friday was not returned. He remains free on a signature bond.