Police say suspect confessed in missing vehicle catalytic converters case

The police in Liberty Lake recently filed charges in a multistate vehicle theft ring and against a man using a Sawzall to cut catalytic converters from vehicles, causing thousands of dollars of damage.

The first catalytic converter theft was reported by R&R RV on May 28. The business reported the catalytic converters had been cut from five RVs, four of them new and one that was in for repairs.

Police Chief Brian Asmus said Detective Ray Bourgeois checked local recycling facilities to see if anyone was trying to sell the converters, but didn’t have any luck.

“We started looking at videos from surrounding businesses,” he said. “Then we had it happen again.”

On June 24, Meadowwood Children’s Center reported that the catalytic converters had been cut from three of its transport vans. On that same day a local FBI agent reported that someone had attempted to cut the converter from an official vehicle, but failed.

Asmus said there was some video of the thefts, but it wasn’t very clear. “We could see some features and clothing, but not his face,” he said. “It was always late at night, early morning when he was doing this.”

Police asked for information on the crimes in a Facebook post and got an anonymous tip in response. It identified someone Bourgeois was already looking at based on a car seen in the video surveillance footage, Asmus said. “The car was pretty distinctive,” he said.

While the investigation was ongoing, an STCU fraud investigator contacted police about someone cutting the catalytic converter from one of the credit union’s vehicles on June 23.

The man identified by the tip and during the investigation was Trevor D. Yocum, 48. Yocum is on active Department of Corrections supervision in both Idaho and Washington, Asmus said. His criminal history includes a conviction for felony drug possession.

Bourgeois has interviewed Yocum about the thefts.

“The guy confessed to everything; how he did it, when he did it,” Asmus said.

Yocum’s car was seized and searched and police found a backpack seen in video surveillance footage and a Sawzall, Asmus said. Records from a recycling facility in Idaho indicate that Yocum sold 16 catalytic converters on dates in May and June for a total of $1,119.

Asmus said the evidence against Yocum is plentiful.

“This case is all tied up nice with a bow and a ribbon,” he said.

This week Yocum was charged with first-degree theft, possession of stolen property, trafficking in stolen property and first-degree malicious mischief.

Multiple law agencies probe vehicle theft ring

In a separate case, what appeared to be a simple commercial burglary soon involved the FBI and multiple law enforcement agencies in the area. Clearwater Summit, a construction company, reported the theft of $8,000 worth of tools from their location at 24025 E. Appleway on July 1. A 2020 Dodge Ram pickup and a 2017 Dodge dump truck were also taken.

The pickup was recovered a short distance away soon after the theft, said Officer Jeff Jones. The dump truck was located in a rural area in Pend Oreille County by a local sheriff’s deputy the next day.

“The deputy found it suspicious and called it in,” Jones said.

After learning the dump truck was stolen, the deputy approached the truck and found a man sleeping inside and the truck bed full of tools that were later determined to be stolen, Jones said. The sleeping man, identified as 26-year-old Daniel F. Haslagh, was arrested.

The investigation soon pointed to a second man who had just been arrested in Bonner County, Idaho, for allegedly stealing a vehicle in Kalispell. Then the FBI called.

“They’re investigating these two as being part of a motor vehicle theft ring,” Jones said.

The two are accused in several vehicle thefts, Asmus said.

“It sounded like this group, as it was described, was trying to be like ‘Gone in 60 Seconds,’ stealing as many as they could as quick as they could.”

The second man has been identified as Shane B. Johnson. Both are facing charges of commercial burglary, vehicle theft and criminal conspiracy for the thefts in Liberty Lake.