Citizen's report leads to UPS theft arrest

POST FALLS — An alert citizen delivered when her report to police led to the arrest of a suspect who allegedly stole a UPS package that had just been dropped off on a porch of a Post Falls home on Tuesday afternoon.

The woman told police she saw a male who was with a group take the package from a home in the 1900 block of East Fountain Drive around 12:40 p.m. It was reported the group left in a purple sedan, possibly southbound on Greensferry Road near Mullan Avenue.

A short time later, a police sergeant spotted a 1996 purple Ford Taurus that matched the vehicle description in the area of Lincoln Street and 15th Avenue.

During the traffic stop, the sergeant noted one of the five occupants was wearing a camouflage jacket that had been described by the citizen.

The woman who reported the alleged activity responded to the traffic stop, per police's request, to identify the theft suspect. The suspect, who was arrested for petit theft, is a juvenile male and was transported to the Juvenile Detention Center. He declined to speak with police. The Press does not publish the names of juveniles charged with misdemeanors.

A small package of fire starters was located by police inside the Taurus, and the alleged victim told officers that she was expecting the package sent by Amazon containing wet fire tinder cubes.

A second witness also told police she saw a group of teens at the victim's home. The teens then fled in a purple vehicle.

Meanwhile, James Burress, 19, Coeur d'Alene, who was wanted for probation violation and was among the other occupants in the vehicle, was also arrested and transported to the Kootenai County jail. He was being held at the jail on Wednesday on $5,000 bond.

According to police, Burress declined to answer questions about the alleged theft incident. He told an officer that he was on probation. When the officer contacted the probation officer of Burress, it was discovered that Burress had absconded from his home. He was subsequently arrested.

The three other occupants in the car were released without further incident.

There have been 12 reported mail thefts in the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office jurisdiction reported since Jan. 1. Two were in Hayden and the other 10 were in the same row of boxes in Worley. Other area law enforcement officials said there hasn't been such a recent problem in their jurisdictions.