Men face stolen property charges

HAYDEN - Two men were arrested Tuesday morning after Kootenai County Sheriff's deputies confirmed the men were driving a truck containing $6,000 worth of stolen equipment.

Cameron Hagan, 41, of Coeur d'Alene, and Uriah Pym, 36, of Hayden, were arrested after the owner of Aqua Drilling spotted his stolen equipment at a local recycling plant. According to a sheriff's office incident report, the owner called 911 and said he was following a truck, driven by Hagan, on Hayden Lake Road.

The owner eventually flagged down a deputy and told him that the truck pulled into a driveway on Upper Hayden Lake Road, and a male in shorts, who was later identified as Pym, got out of the car.

"He told me he turned around because the males yelled at him and he had lost cellphone reception," the report states.

When Pym was contacted by a deputy, he told the officer that he was getting a ride from the owner of the truck and did not know the names of the other two men with whom he was riding.

Without any evidence to keep Pym in custody, the deputy told him he was free to go.

However shortly after, the officer heard that the truck was stopped at Honeysuckle Avenue and Fourth Street. When the deputy contacted the owner of the missing equipment and told him to meet with officers at that location, the owner confirmed that he saw the stolen items at Inland Mobile Recycling.

"I went to locate Pym and detain him on reasonable suspicion that he was involved in the crime of possessing stolen property," the report states. "I located Pym a short distance west of my original contact location and detained him in handcuffs. Pym was seated in the rear of my patrol vehicle and transported to the scene of the traffic stop."

According to the report, when officers stopped the truck, Hagan was the only one inside. The man told deputies that he had lent his vehicle to a man he met at Razzle's Bar and the truck "just appeared at the location he was staying the next day."

"Hagan admitted no involvement in the theft of the stolen items in the back of his vehicle," the report states.

When questioned again by the deputy, Pym maintained the original story he gave officers about just getting in the truck for a ride. This time though, according to the report, Pym added that he "turned in some copper wire" at Inland Mobile Recycling.

"Pym told me while at IMR he did not touch any of the items in the bed of Hagan's truck, only the copper he had brought in," the report states.

The deputy photographed the items in the bed of the truck, which included multiple batteries and radiators. The owner of the items told deputies he estimated the equipment was worth $6,000 and he observed three males unloading the stolen property at the recycling center.

Both men were placed under arrest for the possession of stolen property and booked into the Kootenai County jail.