Two sought in Newport-area thefts
Arrest warrants were issued Tuesday for two Newport-area men authorities believe are responsible for a series of big-ticket thefts, including a $34,000 truck in which the thieves eluded officers.
The Pend Oreille County Sheriff’s Office identified the suspects as Newport-area residents Mark Alan Stone Jr., 23, and Jonathan Alexander Kirkhart, 21. They are wanted for first-degree possession of stolen property.
Deputy Janet Reed said officers recovered more than $45,000 worth of stolen property Sunday when they searched a residence south of Newport, at 11 Rumsey Road. It was unclear Tuesday who owns that home.
Deputies are still looking for expensive motorcycle equipment and a 20-foot boat.
The blue-and-red 1991 Bluewater runabout was stolen from Pend Oreille Marine on a trailer with Washington license plate 4344-RF.
“It appears that they pretty much took anything that wasn’t nailed down,” Reed said.
Property recovered Sunday included tools and equipment from Cummings Excavation as well as motorcycle equipment and four-wheel all-terrain vehicles from Pend Oreille Marine. Both businesses are located in Newport.
Officers only recently became aware that one group of thieves apparently was responsible for a number of thefts and burglaries over the past two months that they had been investigating separately, Reed said. There were seven victims, mostly individual Newport-area residents.
She said officers were aided by tips from the public, including people who inadvertently purchased some of the stolen goods. A “significant amount” of still-missing property is believed to be stashed on both sides of the Washington-Idaho border, Reed said.
Although Stone and Kirkhart are considered the “prime suspects,” several associates of theirs are under investigation, Reed said.
She noted there were five people in the 2004 Dodge four-door pickup that escaped a police chase Saturday. The truck had been reported stolen in Pendleton, Ore., and Newport policeman Mike Sargent spotted it Saturday in Newport.
The vehicle sped away when Sargent attempted to stop it. About 10 sheriff’s officers from Pend Oreille County and Bonner County, Idaho, joined the chase. The suspects fled south on Idaho Route 41 and escaped in a maze of logging roads in the Rena Road area about five miles south of Newport.
Acting on a tip, officers found the vehicle abandoned in the same general area, about three miles south of Newport, on Sunday.
Stone is described as white, 6-foot-1, 175 pounds, with brown hair and eyes. Kirkhart also is white with brown hair and eyes. He is 5-foot-9, and weighs 210 pounds.