The state has secured two convictions in connection with the ransacking of 30 cars downtown two years ago, but some victims this week said that’s not justice enough.
Blake Ward and Austin Hotch each recently pleaded guilty to theft charges. Ward, 21, pleaded guilty to third-degree theft for possessing a GoPro stolen during the June 2013 spree. Hotch, 20, pleaded guilty to fourth-degree theft for possessing a stolen camera.
Other items taken from unlocked cars included cash, credit cards, prescription medication, tools, binoculars, stereo equipment, electronics, cameras, ammunition and driver’s licenses.
Each man received 30 days in jail and was ordered to pay restitution.
Although Ward and Hotch were found guilty only of theft charges relating to two cameras, the 30-day jail sentence reflected acknowledgement of a much larger, wide-ranging crime, said district attorney Amy Paige.
“I am not blind to the concerns of the community and I take them very seriously, so I did try as best as I could to reflect those concerns on a bigger level than just these two individual items,” Paige said. “We considered this to be a larger course of conduct.”
Paige said she knows not everyone will be satisfied by the convictions.
“It’s not going to be adequate justice for some people, but it is some justice. It’s some kind of accountability,” she said. “Frankly, I was pleased to see accountability at any level, even if it is less than people might have otherwise wanted.”
Hopes of securing more or stronger charges basically fell away after items sent to the state crime lab for fingerprint analysis failed to yield any forensic evidence.
“If it had, you’d see a very different case,” Paige said.
Shori Heaton, who had a couple of CDs and an iPod dock stolen from her car while it was parked outside her home near the top of Young Road, called the case’s resolution a “load of crap” and the sentencing “a slap on the wrist.”
“I don’t think they are being held accountable for it at all,” Heaton said of the 30-day sentence. “Maybe if they wanted to give them 30 days in jail for every item they stole, or every two items they stole.”
Heaton said it feels like since the break-ins the town has experienced a rash of unsolved property crimes. “How many times have we read about break-ins? Now it’s every week. I think it has been out of control. Cars being broken into, cars being stolen, houses being broken into. And nothing is being done about it. It just sets a precedent for the town,” Heaton said.
Last week, someone burglarized a house three doors down from Heaton’s. The burglar reportedly cooked food and drank alcohol before leaving.
“It’s just not going to get better until something is done,” she said. “I would like to see them get police officers here with some sort of better training to handle evidence or whatever it may be to catch these people.”
During Ward’s May 27 change of plea hearing, prosecutors and defense attorneys referenced the case’s evidence issues. District attorney Angie Kemp, who was filling in for Paige, explained that felony charges of second-degree theft had initially been forwarded by police, but those charges couldn’t be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
“Some of the reasons why I think that (Paige) handled the case in terms of the charges and the decision to charge in the way that she did – there were several legal things going on that suggest to me that it was appropriately handled,” Kemp said.
“Primarily, that involved the collection of the evidence by the police department there, as well as frankly the nexus between what was found and the ability to prove that in fact it was Mr. Ward and Mr. Hotch who had rifled the other vehicles.”
Haines Borough interim police chief Robert Griffiths said it is his understanding the lesser charges ultimately boiled down to a lack of solid evidence. What evidence the department did have was circumstantial, he said.
“We knew the suspects had been in that area, but to put them actually committing the act, there were no witnesses,” Griffiths said.
The district attorney initially rejected the department’s forwarded charges for lack of evidence, and the department started returning stolen items that had been recovered from a white Chevy Malibu a couple of days after the spree. Police were unaware two of the items were cameras containing photos Ward and Hotch had taken of themselves.
One man came to the station after finding the photos on his camera; another was called into the station by the former chief to review photos on a GoPro. Griffiths lauded the men for coming forward.
“Thank you to the guys who took the time and energy to look at the photos in their cameras and recognize the fact that what they saw on there was valuable, because I don’t think, based on what I’m told of the investigation, that we would have been able to prosecute it without those pieces of evidence,” Griffiths said.
Unlike former chief Bill Musser, Griffiths said his response to such incidents isn’t to tell people to lock their doors.
“I know my predecessor got in hot water for basically telling the community, ‘Well, lock your car.’ And I’m not going to tell you to do that. I mean, this town prides itself on the fact that it’s a safe place, and it still is. Do we have some troublemakers in town? Yes. Are we working on trying to correct their behavior or encourage them to find another community to live in if they are going to continue to do what they do? Yeah, we’re doing that, too,” Griffiths said.
During sentencing, district attorney Kemp invoked “community condemnation” as rationale for the seemingly harsh sentencing agreement of 30 days in jail. Misdemeanor theft convictions don’t usually bring that much jail time, but the court is charged with considering “community condemnation of the criminal act” when deciding an appropriate sentence.
Magistrate John Hutchins said during the hearing it is important to uphold the values of a small town like Haines while also deterring others from committing similar crimes.
“This has affected a lot of people in the community. Haines is a small town and we’re all in it together,” Hutchins said. “People leave their houses open and their cars open because we all live here. It’s our town together, and when you violate that trust, it hurts people. They feel like their privacy has been invaded and they feel like the town they grew to love may have a dark side that they didn’t know about.”
At his May 27 hearing, Ward was also sentenced to write and submit a letter of apology within 24 hours to be included in the court file. As of Tuesday, he hadn’t submitted it.
People who had items taken during the 2013 thefts that were recovered by police for evidence should contact the police at 766-2121 to claim them.