A woman pleaded not guilty Tuesday to accusations of stealing a pickup truck from a Billings auction lot, crashing it through a fence, then driving all the way to a rural home, where she broke inside and went to bed.

Aubrey Rain Williams has been charged in Yellowstone County District Court with theft of a light vehicle, criminal mischief and misdemeanor trespassing. The 18-year-old attended her arraignment Tuesday, following her arrest late last week.

Aubrey Rain Williams

Aubrey Rain Williams, 18, pleaded not guilty in Yellowstone County District Court to theft of a light vehicle, criminal mischief and trespassing Aug. 11, 2026. 

Image courtesy of Yellowstone County Detention Facility

On Aug. 7, staff at the Billings Public Auto Auction were busy holding their semiregular auctions at the lot's location on First Avenue North.

Amid the yard’s normal operations, Williams allegedly got behind the wheel of a pickup truck up for auction and hit the gas, plowing through a chain-link fence and turning onto First Avenue North.

The impact tore out a length of fence and uprooted a fence post from its concrete foundation. Immediately after the theft, one of the auto auction’s operators, Geordie Steilen, took to social media.

“Some gal just stole this 2015 Chevy Silverado,” Steilen said in a video posted to the Billings Public Auto Auction page on Facebook.

“It’s a gray truck. She went through this fence here,” he said, with the camera following Steilen to the gap in the fencing where the truck went through and onto the street.

“They gotta have a busted roof,” Steilen said. “They’re heading east. If anybody sees a Silverado, it’s a 2015, and it obviously just went under a fence, please call law enforcement.”

The Billings Police Department began searching for the missing truck, court documents said, and received word that Williams was a potential suspect. Police were unable to find the truck in town.

Later that night, deputies with the Yellowstone County Sheriff's Office received a call about a suspected break-in at a property between Billings and Roundup. The owners of the property told deputies that a gate and cattle guard outside of their home was damaged. They suspected that someone had broken into their property and may be inside their house.

Several deputies approached the house, according to charging documents, and found the stolen pickup truck parked nearby. When they couldn’t find the driver, they devised a plan to search the house without putting anyone in harm’s way.

When their shouts into the house went unanswered, deputies allegedly deployed a drone, guiding it through the home’s hallways and into the basement. With no sign of anyone inside, deputies entered the house. Deputies found Williams sleeping in one of the bedrooms, court documents said, her feet sticking out from under a quilt. They arrested Williams and booked her into Yellowstone County Detention Facility.

At the jail, a deputy interviewed Williams, who allegedly agreed to give a statement. Williams admitted to taking the pickup truck, according to charging documents, saying she was afraid of someone she had seen earlier that day. Williams also admitted to breaking into the rural home, court documents said, telling the deputy she became tired of driving and the front door to the house was unlocked, so she went inside and went to sleep.

On Monday, county prosecutors filed criminal charges against Williams. Along with stealing the truck and trespassing on private property, Williams is charged with causing about $2,000 in damage to a gate and cattle guard. If convicted of felony theft of a light vehicle, Williams could face up to 10 years in prison.