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December 12, 2011 in News, City
Spokane lawyer catches prolific car prowling suspect
Police say a man who prowled at least 30 cars a night throughout Spokane County picked the wrong truck in the Valley recently.
Spokane lawyer Brant Stevens caught up with suspect Nathan John Calvert, 28, after spotting him inside his unlocked truck early Friday in the 1500 block of North Coach Drive, then held him until officers arrived.
“He’d fight for a little bit and then he’d get tired and then he’d stop and he’d try to talk me into letting him up,” Stevens said. “It was kind of an awkward 20 minutes where I’m just laying on the guy waiting for the cops to show up.”
Calvert was using a Jeep stolen from the 4400 block of North Post Street that was filled with what Spokane Valley police Sgt. John Nowels described as a huge amount of stolen property when officers seized it.
“He had everything under the sun,” Nowels said
But Nowels said the case is another example of an ongoing problem for his property crimes detectives: much of the property they suspect is stolen does not appear to have been reported to police.
“It’s just killing me,” Nowels said. “I have a longboard here. If I find a report saying someone had a longboard stolen, I could get it back to them.”
Police have about 80 items of property remaining after 14 victims retrieved their belongings. Pictures are posted on the Police Department’s Facebook page in hopes their owners will come forward.
Calvert is in jail on a Department of Corrections probation hold after appearing Monday in Superior Court on residential burglary and car theft charges. Police say he’ll face more felony charges as the investigation continues. He’d been wanted by the state Department of Corrections since late October for violating a drug treatment sentence imposed that month for a felony gun conviction.
Calvert told officers he’d committed 30 to 40 car prowlings and garage burglaries every night for the last two to three weeks, Nowels said. The crimes occurred in just about every area of the county, Nowels said.
Calvert said he’d already sold stolen items like a guitar and mountain bike but refused to say where or to whom, police said.
Calvert said he tried to commit the crimes between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. but was still out when Stevens caught him about 6 a.m.
“He was out a little bit too late,” Nowels said.
Nowels said Calvert spoke to them for most of the day after his arrest, describing in detail where he’d stolen the property, from the Valley to the Gonzaga area to the Indian Trail neighborhood.
Calvert said he was high on methamphetamine and hadn’t slept in three or four days, Nowels said.
A video posted on his Facebook page Dec. 7 shows what appears to be Calvert in a vehicle he describes as a Jeep. He focuses on a large amount of property in the back and passenger seat and said he hasn’t “really figured out what I’m going to do yet.”
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soccermomsusie on December 12 at 5:21 p.m.
I seriously doubt this criminal could see into the future. He certainly would have been able to see this arrest coming.
HEAR OUR VOICE!!!
Jethro_toll on December 12 at 5:33 p.m.
One would think that with an outstanding Felony Warrant they would have picked him up long long ago.
bdr on December 12 at 6:28 p.m.
They also helo’d flir cammed another on 6th on December 1. same area only on 6th……….HOORAY……!
Now if I could only decide who to get 1000 bucks outta for the damages to my car. (don’t suppose the fellows were good enough to have insurance).
Jethro_toll on December 12 at 9:20 p.m.
Put him in a sealed room with all the dope he wants. When he’s dead let him out
de3 on December 12 at 9:21 p.m.
Why did it take 20 minutes for the police to show up to a street right in the middle of the Spokane Valley?
I mean, you can drive the entire width or length of the Valley in less than 20 minutes, without speeding or running red lights. What’s with that?
jessiepn on December 12 at 9:23 p.m.
I seem to remember a Spokesman-Review article a couple of months ago reporting an announcement by the Spokane police that they no longer had resources to investigate property crimes. So I don’t understand why Nowels is surprised that people aren’t reporting such crimes, given that the victims have no expectation of anything happening.
John_Thomas on December 12 at 9:55 p.m.
Nice work, Brant. Catching the guy is certainly an admirable feat, but refraining from beating his ass while you waited for the cops is truly remarkable.
zelda on December 12 at 10:26 p.m.
It was the Spokane Police Dept. that announced it was not investigating property crimes. No such announcement from the Valley PD or sheriff’s dept. that I know of.
But, since most info. seems to spread via word of mouth, people have jumped to the conclusion that it’s futile to report a property theft. It also emboldened a lot of stupid and dangerous thieves into thinking that if they’re caught red-handed they won’t be arrested.
This has got to be frustrating not only for LE but for insurance companies. Cops look for patterns and commonalities along with tangible evidence. Many times one thief is responsible for dozens of thefts and burglaries — like this one.
Enough has been said about the SPD on this issue so the best thing for people to do is stop making yourself an easy target for thieves. Take common-sense precautions. Lock your doors and windows, don’t leave your garage door open when you’re not in the immediate area and don’t leave anything visible inside your car, esp. after you’ve been Christmas shopping.
Next time your at the Valley Mall, sit a minute in your car and look around. They are there and they’re prowling from lot to lot, always watching and waiting for people who are in a hurry, too busy to stow their packages in the trunk before rushing off to another store.
monkeyman on December 12 at 11:43 p.m.
No jokes about lawyers?
arroyoribera on December 13 at 12:40 a.m.
de3, I am sort of doubting this was a “street fight”. You may not know that Brant Stevens has done a fair amount of serious fighting. Tiger Brawls, Tough Gloves competition, cage fights, Flatline fights, etc. I seem to recall a story (heard it on the golf course) about him being in a bout in which he could only use one arm because of an injury and went quite sometime. This is not a lawyer you want to go a round with if you are just the ordinary run of the mill meth using car prowler. John_Thomas comment about Brant is certainly true.
BigE on December 13 at 2:01 a.m.
1. 30 cars a night, we used to have a citizen patrol. These were men of the community that kept their eyes open and were not afraid to say something. Since we do not have a police force that can handle the mayhem, you city folks better get going.
B. A lawyer that that settles things the correct way, I like this guy, the one arm, brawling, crime fighter. He or she who has the best lawyer wins, bigger the letterhead the better, yup.