Theft problem solved?

Cheney Police Department officials think four arrests in three separate incidents in the past month and a half may have contributed to a recent drop in vehicle thefts, prowls and thefts from vehicles.

Through August, police had investigated 11 vehicle prowls, 55 thefts from vehicles and 35 motor vehicle thefts, all numbers higher than 2015 totals. In fact, according to department information, the 35 motor vehicle thefts exceeded the totals for 2014 and 2015 combined — by three.

On the evening of Aug. 26, two Cheney officers responded to calls from citizens witnessing two men breaking into vehicles at the Barrington Apartments, 201 Betz Road. The officers confronted the men, 18-year-old Eric R. McGhee and 19-year-old Trent M. Conley, and apprehended them after they attempted to flee.

Both were charged with vehicle prowling and possession of stolen property, and investigators have been able to link property found with the suspects to other thefts.

Four days later on Aug. 30, officers received a report of a vehicle prowl at the Boulders Apartments, 210 Simpson Parkway. Again, the suspect fled when confronted, with officers chasing him into nearby woods.

The suspect, 35-year-old Samuel A. Clopton, was eventually arrested and charged with second-degree theft. On Sept. 23, police were notified of six vehicles that were broken into in the Golden Hills subdivision, and subsequently arrested Daniel A. Harrington, 18, for second-degree theft.

Cheney Police Chief John Hensley told the City Council at its Sept. 27 meeting that since the apprehension of these four individuals, vehicle prowls, vehicle thefts along with thefts from vehicles have slowed “significantly.” Incident reports through Sept. 7 indicated that was the case, but ticked back up mid-month with seven reports of thefts from vehicles — including Harrington’s arrest — taking place from Sept. 12 – Sept. 24, compared to 11 in August.

Three motor vehicle thefts occurred between Sept. 8 – 30, compared to eight in June, seven in July and four in August, while only one vehicle prowling has been reported. So far in October, only one incident of theft from a vehicle and one of taking a motor vehicle without the owner’s permission have been reported.

Hensley said two of the suspects, McGhee and Conley, were working together while the other two were not related. Usually a suspects “MO” (method of operation) will tie other incidents with ones known to have been committed, and Hensley said they plan to present some of this evidence to the four in the hopes it will help them clear similar cases.

Almost all of the stolen vehicles have been recovered, but have been recovered intact and in other jurisdictions. Since all four men are Cheney residents, and all had long rap sheets, investigators think the vehicles were stolen to travel to other jurisdictions in order to commit crime.

“We might catch them for 5 percent of what they do, but 95 percent of what they do goes undetected,” Hensley said.

One disturbing aspect for Cheney’s police chief is an item stolen in 10 of the theft from vehicle reports — a firearm. Five of the firearms were owned by EWU students, with the other five owned by full-time Cheney residents.

“I wasn’t aware so many people kept their firearms in their vehicles,” Hensley said, adding he hopes to meet with EWU Police Department officials on developing some sort of combined policy on storing firearms. EWU Deputy Chief Gary Gasseling said they do not currently have a policy for storing student firearms.

“I don’t want to be the locker room (for firearms),” Hensley said. “It (the process) takes time and takes officers out of the field. But I don’t want guns taken out of vehicles.”

John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.