Accused burglar lauds own work ethic

Cody L. McDaniel might be called the Hard Working Burglar if he’s convicted.

McDaniel, 31, faces arraignment today on 16 charges in a case in which he allegedly told a sheriff’s deputy that he made his living as a thief, and that it’s more work than the deputy imagined.

Allegedly caught red-handed with the fruits of his labors, McDaniel suggested to the deputy who arrested him on June 12 that the victim got what he deserved for “going on vacation when some people had to stay and work,” according to Spokane County Superior Court documents.

Still, the deputy reported, McDaniel hoped the Pine River Park homeowner would be lenient because McDaniel gave back the victim’s red 1987 Volkswagen Cabriolet, his $2,800 Cannondale carbon fiber bicycle, his guns and other stolen items – after being caught.

McDaniel said he had just gotten out of jail and “really needed the money,” the deputy stated.

McDaniel did earn a backhanded compliment from another deputy who stated in court documents that he found McDaniel more believable than his alleged accomplice, 20-year-old Charles Edward Pearson Jr.

McDaniel implicated Pearson in some aspects of the crime but insisted that Pearson didn’t participate in the burglary in the 14500 block of North Dakota Street, according to court documents.

The documents say McDaniel stashed his loot in the Cabriolet, which was inside the home’s garage.

Then he allegedly stole a 1991 Volkswagen Golf that was parked in the driveway and drove it to Pearson’s home, where he offered to sell it “real cheap” if Pearson would drive him back to the home so he could steal the Cabriolet.

A deputy said McDaniel stated that a neighbor ran out and yelled at him as he was leaving the burglarized home in the Golf, but McDaniel hid his face with the hood of the coat he had just stolen.

McDaniel allegedly forged a document releasing the owner’s interest in the Golf and told Pearson it would be easy to get the state Department of Licensing to transfer the title “if you know whose nose to powder.”

Court documents say Pearson was caught in the stolen Golf about 3 1/2 hours before McDaniel was arrested in the Cabriolet.

Deputies stated they were led to the burglarized home when the Golf’s front bumper – and license plate – fell off while Pearson was being shooed away from a children’s camp on Dartford Drive.

McDaniel and Pearson both are charged with residential burglary, theft of a firearm, two counts of first-degree theft, first-degree trafficking in stolen property, three counts of forgery and six counts of second-degree theft.

McDaniel is charged additionally with first-degree burglary and first-degree felon in possession of a firearm.

Pearson, who faces trial Sept. 5, is additionally charged with possession of a stolen firearm.