Former manager of Spokane tire store ordered to pay $186,000 after pleading guilty to theft

A former assistant manager of a Spokane Tire-Rama store has been ordered to pay $186,000 in restitution following allegations that he wrote fraudulent invoices and used company accounts to acquire auto parts that he sold for cash.

Will B. Clark, 46, also was accused of pocketing cash from customers and then “zeroing out” their invoices to make it appear no sale had occurred. Court records indicate he also forged invoices for products, including hundreds of fuel filters, from other stores in Spokane and Colville, and schemed to avoid paying for work done on his own vehicles at the Tire-Rama store at 3510 N. Sullivan Road.

Tire-Rama, founded in 1977, has more than 40 locations offering wheel and repair work in Washington, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. The company hired Clark as a salesman in 2011 and promoted him to assistant manager in 2015, according to court records.

“We are very disappointed because of the many different ways he stole from us and the amount of trust that we had placed in him,” Greg Hansen, the company’s regional operations director, said Friday.

Attempts to reach Clark and his attorney, Christian Phelps, for comment Friday were unsuccessful.

The investigation, which involved a review of Clark’s personal bank statements, began after one of his co-workers raised suspicions in an anonymous letter to Tire-Rama’s corporate office, according to court records.

A Spokane County sheriff’s detective concluded Clark had stolen or misappropriated at least $166,500 from Tire-Rama – and that he had been fired for allegedly stealing from his previous employer, Goodyear Commercial Tire & Service Centers.

“The evidence shows Will Clark’s scheme was multilayered,” Detective Kenneth Scott wrote in charging documents. “Clark rapidly shuffled inventory between customer work orders and invoices. Clark often attempted to hide product on fictitious work orders and often passed said cost onto unwitting customers.”

Clark was charged with numerous felonies in January but took a plea deal Monday, accepting guilt for one count of first-degree theft. In addition to the large amount in restitution, Spokane County Superior Court Judge Charnelle Bjelkengren sentenced him to one day in jail.

Clark was ordered to pay restitution in monthly installments of at least $400. At that rate, it would take him nearly 40 years to pay the total amount.

Court records indicate Clark has one prior conviction for unlawful possession of a firearm in Stevens County in 2002.

Editor’s note: This story was changed on Saturday, Aug. 3, 2019. A previous version misstated who hired and promoted Clark at Tire-Rama. The story also misstated when the company was founded.