Four Teens Charged In Rash Of Thefts

Four teenagers are responsible for the recent rash of thefts in Smelterville and Wallace, trading the stolen items for marijuana and cash, Shoshone County Deputy Mitch Alexander said Saturday.

Information from the victims and reports of suspicious activity from neighbors led officers to the four boys, who confessed when questioned earlier last week.

Three of them, two 15 and one 16, live in Smelterville; the other, 17, lives in Pinecreek.

The teens were charged on Tuesday with various counts of burglary and grand theft.

Investigating further, officers learned that the boys were delivering the stolen goods to Larry E. Straw, 21, of Pinehurst, who may have been sending the items to yet another person in Coeur d’Alene, Alexander said.

A search warrant served on Straw Thursday yielded a stolen VCR and speakers, officials said. Straw was booked into jail Thursday evening on charges of possessing and receiving stolen property.

Working in conjunction with Kootenai County authorities, Shoshone County sheriff’s deputies had hoped to pick up the Coeur d’Alene suspect, Alexander said.

But the case came to a dead end Friday, when the subject was tipped off to the police investigations, Alexander said.

Straw is being held on $10,000 bail.

, DataTimes