Granary theft nets jail time

BONNERS FERRY — A couple of fact-seeking phone calls and a surreptitious weekend visit to General Feed and Grain landed a Bonners Ferry man behind bars, but a plea agreement saved him from time in prison.

Robert A. Gross, 23, was initially charged with burglary, a felony, after admitting to breaking into his former workplace in late February, but the charges were reduced to misdemeanor petit theft and unlawful entry, for which he’ll spend 20 days of a 90-day sentence in jail.

According to court records, the phone at General Feed and Grain rang just after closing Feb. 20 and the employee who answered was told, and believed, he was talking to another employee who was, at the time, suffering from a cold.

The supposed employee at the end of the line asked where that day’s money box was and the real employee, convinced he was talking to his co-worker, told him. But a few minutes later, the phone rang again, and the same voice now asked, “where’s the key?”

Growing suspicious, but still unsure, the real employee said he didn’t know, hung up, finished closing shop for the weekend and went home.

Monday morning, he went back to work and asked the employee who’d allegedly called if he had. He hadn’t. Concerned, both went to owner Vic Rae Jr., who opened the box in question and found it to be short by $205.

Police were called and it was learned that the call originated from a cell phone with a restricted number, so a warrant was obtained and Verizon traced the call to a phone registered to an Ash Street residence.

Police visited the address and a woman answered, but said she hadn’t had the phone that weekend as she’d given it to her boyfriend, who was at the time not home. She was able to tell them where he could likely be found, and when they pulled in, Gross walked up, said he did it and confessed to having taken $200. When pressed, he admitted the amount was closer to $205.

Last week, he pled guilty to petit theft and unlawful entry, and was sentenced to 90 days in jail with 70 days suspended, ordered to pay fines and costs, and placed on two year’s probation.