In brief: Man arrested in truck break-ins
Spokane Valley police arrested a man Friday in connection with a string of vehicle prowls targeting Ford trucks.
Peter N. Harras, 29, was booked into Spokane County Jail on five counts of trafficking in stolen property, said Sgt. John Nowels. He likely will face additional charges.
Police were still searching for Johnnie Lee Bonner, 33, whom they say acted as an accomplice. He is white, 6 feet tall, about 250 pounds and has a shaved head and a white pride tattoo on his arm.
Over the past few weeks, police say the two broke into Ford trucks and stole thousands in tools and other valuables, including a $2,000 set of hearing aids.
Surveillance video showed two men breaking into the vehicles and driving away in a green Suburban with temporary plates on the back, Nowels said. Detectives then discovered property of one of the victims had been pawned. They matched the name of the man who pawned it with a name on a list of green Suburbans recently purchased in the area, leading them to Harras and the cache of stolen property at his apartment, 940 S. Lincoln St.
Ex-postal worker sentenced in theft
An ex-postal supervisor and Air Force veteran will be on probation for five years for stealing prescription medication from mail.
Mark Charles Raley, 46, of Spokane, also will pay $5,045 in restitution under a sentence imposed this week in U.S. District Court in Spokane. He pleaded guilty in May to two counts of theft of mail by a postal service employee.
Raley was a supervisor at the U.S. Postal Service Spokane Processing and Distribution Center when he became addicted to hydrocodone after gastric bypass surgery. He began sorting mail looking for Veterans Affairs packages containing hydrocodone. He wouldn’t steal any other prescription drugs, according to court documents.
Raley entered a drug treatment program offered by the VA in December shortly after being confronted about the thefts. He continues to attend drug rehab and is living in a clean-and-sober house that requires him to take random drug tests.