Colville man arrested after deputies find $100,000 in stolen vehicles, machinery
Stevens County sheriff’s deputies arrested a man on numerous felony charges last week after searching a remote property and finding stolen items worth an estimated $100,000, including two tractors, three all-terrain vehicles, a boat, a motorcycle, a tandem-axle trailer and an industrial wood chipper.
Deputies also found 150 marijuana plants, three bins containing 15 pounds of processed marijuana and evidence of methamphetamine use while searching the property at 1994 Clugston Onion Creek Road, northeast of Kettle Falls, according to court records and the Stevens County Sheriff’s Office.
Jacob B. Ralph, 40, of Colville, was booked into the county jail after deputies searched the property on the morning of Aug. 26.
According to court records, detectives identified Ralph as the man who stole a Subaru from a property near Chewelah, and then drove it to attempt a burglary near Hunters in early July. Detectives later spotted the Subaru at the property on Clugston Onion Creek Road, which was Ralph’s last known address. A judge signed a warrant to search the property on Aug. 20.
Court records say some of the vehicles on the property were confirmed stolen out of Stevens County, and the trailer had been stolen from Wallace. Deputies also found 14 guns on the property, including one with the serial number ground off.
Identification numbers on the boat and the wood chipper had been removed, too, and one of the tractors had been spray-painted different colors. Detectives identified the tractor’s owner by checking the engine’s serial number with a local service shop where it had been repaired.
Ralph faces charges of possessing stolen property and stolen vehicles, as well as manufacturing with intent to distribute marijuana.
The sheriff’s office said Thursday it was still working to identify the owners of some of the stolen items. The sheriff’s office said anyone with information about the case should call (509) 684-5296 with case No. 2009927.