A convicted killer who has been arrested 67 times since leaving juvenile detention is headed to state prison.

Nicholas A. Limpert, 25, was sentenced this week to one year and one day in prison with credit for 18 days served after pleading guilty to two counts of drug possession.

The felony convictions are his 10th and 11th since 2007. He still faces a second-degree burglary charge after police say they caught him in the act Feb. 7.

Limpert avoided prison as a teenager for his role in a murder because a judge believed he could be rehabilitated. He has been arrested 67 times since, mostly for property-related crimes.

Limpert's demeanor seems to have changed since he was a teen. He was described as smirking and laughing during his sentencing for first-degree murder in 2001; Spokane police say he’s now well known for crying upon arrest.

It took three tries, but a Spokane County jury has convicted Gary D. McCabe of his 17th burglary.

  A jury late Friday found McCabe, 45, guilty of residential burglary and possession of a controlled substance.

They acquitted him on one misdemeanor count of possession of stolen property. McCabe was convicted of stealing more than $25,000 worth of rare gold and silver coins from a man who began his collection in 1960.

McCabe, who recently was sentenced to seven years in prison for an earlier burglary, faces a similar sentence when he is sentenced on March 8 before Superior Court Judge Jerome Leveque.

Two previous trials ended in mistrial, including when a juror deduced — correctly — that McCabe burglarized her home last August and a potential juror said he'd transported McCabe as a corrections officer.

Past coverage: Oct. 12: Burglar stole more than gold

March 27, 2009: Arrests may crack burglaries

OK, maybe the headline is a bit of an exaggeration.

Two burglary suspects were arrested Monday after one invited police to search his apartment and they found a stolen TV.

Jarrod J. Howard, 29, assured Spokane Valley police Officer Chan Erdman he wouldn't find anything in his apartment at 10101 E. Main Ave. when Erdman arrived to investigate a burglary at a neighbor's apartment.

Erdman found the TV under a blanket on a bed.

A witness had called police after spotting Howard and another man stealing from the apartment. Police also found stolen knives and X-Box games.

Howard was booked into jail on a burglary charge with suspected accomplice Justin Spenser Johns, 25.

Five tattoo guns were stolen from a Spokane Valley shop last Friday.

The owner of Feel Good Tattoo, 12 N. Skipworth Road, said he slept through a 4 a.m. call from his alarm company but awoke at 9 .am. and had an employee check the business.

The burglar entered the shop through a damaged door, according to Spokane Valley police Officer H.J. Whapeles.

Items stolen include a Kodak camera, a Ted Tattoo gun, a OnePulse tattoo gun, two Spalding tattoo guns and a Dixon tattoo gun, as well as Eternal and Starbright paints, safety glasses, disposable tubes and numerous tattoo needles.  Value of the items exceeds $1,000.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Check at (509) 456-2233.

A violent home-invasion robbery in Spokane Valley last month targeted a former sheriff's deputy with a history of DUI crashes.

James L. Crabtree, 49, was struck in the head with a claw hammer early Jan. 21 by a man who demanded “dope and money,” according to charging papers filed Wednesday against suspects Matthias “Payback” Piggot and Sandy K. Perreira, both 29 (pictured left to right). 

The man, who detectives believe was Piggot, had arrived at the apartment in the 12700 block of East Shannon Avenue with a woman Crabtree said had been at his home two days earlier, police say. Detectives believe that woman was Perreira.

Crabtree told police he grabbed a folding knife but dropped it after he was threatened with the hammer. He told his attackers he didn't have any drugs or money, so the two left with his checkbook, wallet and credit cards, according to court documents. Crabtree suffered a concussion in the attack. His girlfriend, Cheryl L. Dassow, told police the robbers threatened to harm them further if they reported the attack.

Perreira faces an additional forgery charge for cashing a check on Crabtree's Numerica Credit Union account. She also faces drug and malicious mischief charges for an unrelated incident last December. 

Piggot's criminal history includes convictions for domestic violence and attempting to elude police. In June, he was suspected of stabbing a man in Spokane Valley but an uncooperative victim halted the police probe. He also was present when Andrew T. Burns allegedly shot a man last June.

Crime Stoppers is offering a reward for tips that help arrest Piggot, who last gave an address in the 2900 block of North Maple Road, and Perreira, who last gave an address in the 800 block of East Sitka Avenue.

Anyone with information on their locations is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS or submit tips online.

In November, Crabtree, (left) who worked as a Spokane County sheriff's deputy in the 1980s and caused a crash that injured Lt. Earl Howerton in 2001, was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving after motorists noticed him passing out at the wheel of his Cadillac and blocked in his car. Police found an open can of Four Loko in the car. But Crabtree's blood-alcohol level was under the legal limit for driving, and prosecutors haven't yet filed charges.

 A Spokane man who avoided prison as a teenager for his role in a murder because a judge believed he could be rehabilitated pleaded not guilty Tuesday to a second-degree burglary charge. If convicted, it would be his 10th felony since 2007. 

Nicholas Adam Limpert, now 25, declined an interview request. His father, Thomas Limpert, attended his arraignment in Spokane County Superior Court and said his son has “had a rough life.”

Limpert’s criminal history began at age 15 with the November 2000 robbery and murder of a disabled janitor in northwest Spokane.

The decision to allow him to be charged as a juvenile angered the victim’s family, who said they doubted he could be rehabilitated.

Now news of a dizzying post-detention arrest record has the judge who sentenced him wondering the same thing.

Read the rest of my story here.

Past coverage:

Feb. 15: After lock up, teen killer arrested 67 times

A Spokane man sentenced for murder as a juvenile because a judge thought he could be rehabilitated marked his 67th arrest in the last five years last weekend.

Nicholas A. Limpert, 25, was released from jail last week after prosecutors failed to file charges within 72 hours of his arrest for burglary.

A felony burglary charge was filed just after his release, so the Spokane Police Department's new anti-crime patrol team, which focuses on crime trends and fugitives, tracked him down Saturday night. He's now jailed on a $100,000 bond and a Department of Corrections probation hold.

Officer Brian Eckersley said Limpert is very well known to police and often cries when he's arrested. (It shows in his mug shots. Check out two others here and here.)

Limpert was convicted of accomplice to first-degree murder when he was 15 and was in juvenile detention until he was 20. Limpert was to be incarcerated until he was 21 but was released early after being credited for time already served.

His release angered the family of his victim, Kenneth D. Brown, a 59-year-old mentally disabled janitor who was robbed by Limpert and Brandon R. Molony in November 2000 before being stabbed to death by Molony. 

Limpert smirked and laughed during his sentencing in 2001, (pictured left) and Brown's family doubted he could be rehabilitated.

His adult criminal history began shortly after his release and includes at least eight felony convictions and eight misdemeanors, including theft, malicious mischief domestic violence, vehicle prowling and possession of a dangerous weapon.

A sheriff's dog helped deputies arrest two brothers suspected of an attempted burglary this morning in north Spokane County.

A resident in the 1000 block of West Eastmont Way called 911 a few minutes before 7 a.m. and said he was following two burglars. He lost sight of them, but deputies spotted suspects Joseph E. Whipple, 23, (pictured) and Luke R. Whipple, who turns 22 on Tuesday, behind a bank at 7300 N. Division St.

Joseph Whipple was arrested just after fleeing; Deputy John Cook and his K-9, Ekko, tracked Luke Whipple to a basement window well of a home north of Holy Cross Cemetery.

Neither suspect was injured in the pursuit and arrest, but a sheriff’s deputy suffered a minor hand injury while climbing a fence, said Sgt. Dave Reagan.

The brothers were booked into jail on charges of attempted residential burglary and possession of marijuana.

Luke Whipple also faces a charge of obstructing a police investigation, and Joseph Whipple had an arrest warrant form the Department of Corrections for a 2009 second-degree robbery conviction.

Here's a news release from the Spokane Valley Police Department:
    
“A thief smashed a window in the front wall of Country Homes Power Equipment overnight and made off with a pair of high-end Stihl chainsaws.  The store is located at 5323 East Sprague.

The company received an alarm at 1:09 a.m. Wednesday, but a manager opted to not call police.  When employees arrived later, they discovered the 7’ by 7’ window shattered and the two saws taken from a display shelf.

Value of the stolen saws was set at more than $1,800.  Anyone with information about this smash-and-grab burglary is encouraged to call Crime Check at (509) 456-2233.”

Two burglars were caught in the act this morning in north Spokane, police say.

Spokane police officers saw two men flee an unsecured garage and drop items in a backyard after responding to a burglary in progress in the 4000 block of North Cincinnati Street at 5:58 a.m. 

The men jumped fences and tried to hide, but police found suspect Nicholas A. Limpert, 25, (right) hiding under a car in the 900 block of East Heroy Avenue.

A second suspect, Robert J. McNabb, 20, (left) also was arrested and booked into jail on a second-degree burglary charge.

Limpert is a convicted felon who has been wanted by Crime Stoppers twice since 2008. 

His criminal history includes convictions for domestic violence assault, possessing a dangerous weapon, city theft, second-degree theft, first-degree theft, malicious mischief and vehicle prowling.

McNabb was sentenced in October to 33 days in jail and two years probation for first-degree attempted burglary, possession of a controlled substance, second-degree theft and forgery.

A convicted burglar's criminal history has led to the wheels of justice getting derailed for him once again.

Jury selection was underway Tuesday when attorneys asked if any of the 40 prospective jurors knew Gary D. McCabe, 45, who is accused of stealing more than $25,000 worth of rare gold and silver coins.

One man said he'd transported McCabe several times while a correction officer at Geiger Corrections Center and has transported McCabe several times.

Because other potential jurors were present when the man referenced McCabe's criminal history, Superior Court Judge Ellen Kalama Clark dismissed all 40 people and reset the trial for later this month with a new jury pool.

The same case nearly went to a jury last month before one of the jurors realized that McCabe probably burglarized her South Hill home.

A mistrial was declared, and the woman identified her stolen camera in the evidence pool.

McCabe already is to serve seven years in prison for a 2009 burglary.

Past coverage:

Oct. 12: Burglar stole more than gold

March 27, 2009: Arrests may crack burglaries

A Spokane man suspected of burglarizing South Hill retirement homes has been charged with burglarizing another center in Spokane Valley.

Pavel V. Altukhov, 23, faces three counts of residential burglary and one count of second-degree burglary for break-ins at apartments at the Park Place Retirement Community, 511 N. Park Road, on Nov. 19.

He's already charged with five counts of burglary and one count of first-degree trafficking in stolen property for burglaries at the Waterford and Rockwood retirement communities about the same time.

Police say they found more than 1,000 pieces of jewelery in a Altukhov's car when they arrested him in December.

More than 50 victims had reported thefts from their apartments at just Waterford and Rockwood, police say.

Altukhov has pleaded not guilty and remains in jail. He's to be arraigned on the four new felonies within the next two weeks after making his first court appearance on Monday.

Two burglary suspects were arrested early today after a watchful resident grew suspicious of two men who parked a car in her neighborhood.

Brian Keith Belton, 35, and Tracy K. Whiting, 44, were detained near West Marc Drive and North Pinecrest Drive in north Spokane County after a woman called Crime Check about 1:30 a.m. and said the men suspiciously left a parked car.

Spokane County sheriff's Deputies David Westlake and Thad Shultz found a suitcase with unopened mail for a nearby residence, as well as a walkie-talkie near the men. They also found a smashed window at a home that had been ransacked.

They believe Belton committed the burglary while Whiting waited outside, according the Sheriff's Office. Both men were booked into jail for second-degree burglary.

Belton also was booked on a felony drug charge for a small amount of meth found in his shoe.

In a news release, Sgt. Dave Reagan called the case “a scenario that would warm the heart of any Neighborhood Watch captain.”

Read Reagan's drama-filled news release by clicking the link below.

A convicted Spokane burglar who was given drug treatment instead of prison is wanted by police after leaving his rehabilitation center.

 Richard C. Hebert, 23, was ordered in December to complete residential drug treatment in lieu of a two-year prison sentence but left the center on Jan. 5 and never contacted the state Department of Corrections.

He had told his probation officer that treatment was going well just a couple weeks earlier, court documents say.

A no bail arrest warrant was issued Jan. 13 on second-degree burglary and second-degree theft charges.

Now Crime Stoppers is offering a reward for information that leads to his capture.

Hebert, 5-foot-5 and 180 pounds, has previous convictions for first-degree driving while suspended, attempting to elude a police vehicle, residential burglary and probation violations.

He last gave a home address in the 400 block of East Fifth Avenue in Spokane, according to Crime Stoppers. Anyone with tips on his current whereabouts is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS or submit tips online. Tipsters to not have leave their name to collect a reward.

A crime spree that included vehicle prowling, burglary and prescription fraud earned a 23-year-old Spokane Valley woman about two years in prison this week. 

Jenalee Jean Hall, who police say is a cousin of Eddie Ray Hall , was sentenced Tuesday to 25 months in prison, the same sentence handed to her former roommate and partner in crime, Miranda L. Watson, last April.

The duo was accused of a crime spree that included vehicle prowling and thefts at Spokane Valley and South Hill fitness clubs and locker room burglaries at East Valley and West Valley high schools.

Spokane Valley police were flooded with tips about the locker room thefts after distributing surveillance photos of the women (Hall is to the left; Watson is to the right.) Hall also was charged with fraudulently filling OxyContin prescription and once told detectives she and her friends plotted a theft while sitting in a car “ingesting narcotics” with her young son present, according to previous reports.

Superior Court Judge Maryann Moreno ordered Hall to pay $985 restitution after pleading guilty to possession of a controlled substance, third-degree assault, first-degree theft and three counts of second-degree possession of stolen property and $3,342 restitution after pleading guilty to two counts of second-degree theft, second-degree identity theft, second-degree theft with intent to resell and forgery.

A suspected car prowler was arrested early today after a woman spotted him stash stolen property before he pilfered a neighbor's garage.

A home-invasion robbery targeting a medical marijuana patient led to the arrests of two suspects this week.

Nicholas S. Gardner, 28, and his girlfriend, Jill A. Benton, 26, are in jail on robbery, assault and kidnapping charges for allegedly attacking John J. Beck, 30, on Jan. 15 at his home in the 5400 block of North Lincoln Street. 

Beck has a medical marijuana prescription and grows a small amount in his basement, according to police. He'd met Benton on two occasions when she stopped by about 12:30 p.m. last Friday and stayed for about 10 minutes.

About 15 minutes after she left, two men - one with a gun and the other with a baseball bat - knocked on Beck's back door, then pushed him into the house, according to police.

They asked where his “stash” was and tied Beck's hands behind his back and feet together using electrical cords. One of the robbers said “we got the gimp” during a phone call, then fled, Beck told police.

Benton told police she'd stopped by Beck's to look for her $350 sunglasses. She said “she has no idea about any robbery,” Spokane police wrote in a search warrant. But police say her phone records showed a call just before 1 p.m. through a tower near Beck's home.

Gardner was given $150,000 bond after appearing in Superior Court Thursday. Benton's bond is at $20,000. A third suspect has not been identified.

A Spokane woman never imagined that serving on the jury of a burglar would solve her burglary, as well.

“In all my time as a prosecutor, that’s the first time I had a juror solve her own case,” Deputy Prosecutor Bob Sargent said. “What are the odds of picking a jury and picking a gal who is a victim of the defendant but doesn’t know it? Then she gets a suspicion that is correct.”

Shea Swoboda, 28, had her South Hill home pilfered Aug. 16. Last week, she realized defendant Gary McCabe (right) may have burgled her own house, which led to a mistrial.

Read Thomas Clouse's story here.

Past coverage:

Oct. 12: Burglar stole more than gold

March 27, 2009: Arrests may crack burglaries

Someone stole thousands of dollars in electronic equipment from Redeemer Lutheran Church, 3606 S. Schafer Road, this week. The theft was discovered Wednesday. Since there was no sign of forced entry, Spokane Valley Police believe someone may have hidden inside the church Tuesday night when it was locked up. Click here for more on the story. Anyone with information on the theft is asked to call Crime Check at 456-2233.

Crime Stoppers is offering a reward for tips that solve a burglary in which two Spokane-area companies lost more than $5000 in copper wire and power tools.

The crime is believed to have occurred between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. Wednesday at an Avista Utilities storage site at 2400 N. Dollar Road in Spokane Valley.

Employees believe the thief or thieves cut a padlock from a gate and backed a vehicle into the lot, then removed more than $3,000 in items from five Avista work trucks using a wheelbarrow.

Bouten Construction, which also stored items at the site, lost several power tools valued at about $2,000, including two Skil circular saws, two roto hammers and two cordless battery charges.

Anyone with information on is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS or submit tips online.

An observant postal inspector arrested two mail theft suspects this week after recognizing them from surveillance video.

Tony L. Gust, 31, and Dustin C. Hoyle, 22, were arrested Tuesday after admitting to breaking into post office boxes at the Opportunity station and stealing mail, according to federal court documents.

The men are accused of breaking into 32 post office boxes and 18 parcel lockers at the post office at 11712 E. Sprague Ave early Monday.

Video showed two men breaking into the boxes about 12:52 a.m. and leaving at 1:07 a.m., then returning at 1:42 a.m. and using a knife to access the lockers, according to court documents.

U.S. Postal Inspector Shannon Saylor was patrolling the area of Pines and 5th Avenue Tuesday when she saw two men who looked like the burglars.

Hoyle and Gust were detained for questioning then arrested after reportedly admitting to the crime.

Both were allowed to leave jail after appearing in U.S. District Court on Tuesday, but Hoyle remains in jail on an unrelated negligent driving charge.

A burglar stole a credit card reader and a small amount of cash from a Spokane Valley pizza shop overnight Tuesday.

The owner of Buck's Pizza, 13221 E. 32nd Ave., told police the thief pried open a back door and an interior door to access the office.

A sounding alarm likely prevented the thieves from gathering “additional booty,” Sgt. Dave Reagan said in a news release.

Tracks in snow and pry marks on a door at a neighboring business, R. Salon, indict the thief also tried to break in there, police said.

Police found the card reader and a pry bar inside a stolen truck processed on Tuesday, but no arrests have been made, Regan said.

Someone stole more than $5,000 worth of tools and copper wire from an Avista Utilities storage site in Spokane Valley early Wednesday.

Employees at 2400 N. Dollar Road believe the thief or thieves cut a padlock from a gate and backed a vehicle into the lot, then removed more than $3,000 in items from five Avista work trucks using a wheelbarrow.

Bouten Construction, which also stored items at the site, lost several power tools valued at about $2,000, including two Skil circular saws,  two roto hammers and two cordless battery charges.

Based on the amount of snow accumulated in footprints, police believe the break-in likely occurred sometime between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. Wednesday, according to the Spokane Valley Police Department.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Check at (509) 456-2233.

A convicted burglar accused of stealing a Spokane man's gold and silver coin collection began this week after the suspect backed out of a scheduled plea hearing at the last minute.

 Gary D. McCabe, 45, is facing up to seven years in prison in connection with a burglary that occurred last August in the home of Dennis and Bette Miller.

Attorneys gave opening statements today before Spokane County Superior Court Judge Linda Tompkins. Stolen were thousands of dollars worth of gold and silver coins, including some from the U.S. Mint dating back to 1960.

Some of the coins have been recovered and efforts continue to recover the rest. McCabe had been scheduled to plead guilty to the current charges on Monday. He was convicted in October for a different burglary that occurred in October 2009 on South Glenrose Road.

McCabe’s rap sheet also includes property crime convictions that date back to age 12.

Past coverage:

Oct. 12: Burglar stole more than gold

March 27, 2009: Arrests may crack burglaries

Lesson number one for the successful burglar: Don't break into a business when two police officers are watching you.

Lesson number two: Don't do anything criminal when there is a nice blanket of fresh snow to perfectly preserve your footprints.

Lesson number three: Don't tell the police you can't get out of the car because your seat belt is broken. That won't work. And then you'll have to buy a new seat belt.

Reporter Meghann Cuniff has a little something on a man who did not know those three things before, but he knows them now.

Two suspected burglars were arrested early today after they were tracked from the scene by both the business owner and a Spokane police dog. 

Travis P. Milhous, 26, (top) and Clifford N. Mayo, 31, (bottom) are accused of breaking into a RVs Northwest at 18919 E. Broadway Ave.

The business owner learned of a tripped alarm about 3 a.m. and saw two men climb a fence and run from the scene when he drove up, police said.

Police spotted two sets of “clearly defined” shoe prints in fresh snow and matched Milhous' shoe to them after Officer Paul Gorman's K-9, Maximus, (pictured) found him at East Laberry Drive and East Bloom Circle.

Mayo was located at 19500 E. Sprague Ave., and police matched his shoe to another print.

The owner of RVs Northwest also identified the men as the burglars, police said.

Both men have previous felony convictions and are due in Superior Court this afternoon on second-degree burglary charges. Mayo was treated at a hospital for dog bites before being booked into jail.

A burglary spree at Spokane convenience stores last winter recently earned a 30-year-old man about two years in prison.

Michael L. Yamaguchi was sentenced to 29 months in prison for burglary and car theft charges related to eight burglaries, a few in which cars stolen from local dealerships were driven to the targeted stores.

Samantha Wynne, who babysat Yamaguchi's son during the burglaries and shared in the proceeds, was credited for one day already served in jail after pleading guilty last week to three counts of second-degree burglary and three counts of theft of a motor vehicle.

Yamaguchi's accomplice, Stephen Victor, pleaded guilty Tuesday to the same charges as Yamaguchi, eight counts of second-degree burglary and three counts of theft of a motor vehicle and was sentenced to 180 days in jail with credit for 145 days served. He'll be on probation for 12 months and all were ordered to pay $9,045 restitution. Detectives already recovered electronics bought with the stolen cash.

The three were arrested in February, but charges weren't filed until after Yamaguchi was arrested in another burglary in May. They were originally charged with 30 felonies.
  

Spokane Valley police arrested a trio of commercial burglars early today after officers caught them stealing items from a construction shed.

  A neighbor called police shortly after midnight and reported a suspicious pickup truck parked in the 4900 block of East Sixth.   

Officers found three suspects on the nearby Alpine Construction property. Edward D. Counts, 21, was carrying a stolen tarp, police said.

Counts was arrested for second-degeree burglary, along with Jacob Allen McReynolds, 28, and Danielle U. Jeffries after officers found where they'd hidden a stolen nail gun and tent, accoridng to a news release.
  

Two people have been arrested this week for the burglary of the home of Ernest Creach last week. Three people were seen running from the home by Creach's wife on Dec. 15. Several electronic items and a gun were reported missing. The third person has been identified but not yet arrested. Numerous stolen items were recovered during the arrests, according to a Spokane Valley Police Department press release. Click here to read more details and click here to read my original blog post on the burglary.

Thursday update: The third man has been arrested; more here.