Car thief gets prison in crash case

by Ralph Bartholdt Staff Writer
| June 21, 2017 1:00 AM

COEUR d’ALENE — A 21-year-old Post Falls woman faces a five-year prison term for stealing her neighbor’s Mercedes, crashing it in Spokane and trying to cover up the theft.

Sara L. Cook, was sentenced to a two-year fixed prison term, with a maximum sentence of five years in prison on a felony burglary charge, and one misdemeanor charge of resisting and obstructing law enforcement.

Additional charges of grand theft and burglary, both felonies, were dismissed as part of a plea agreement. First District Judge Cynthia K.C. Meyer retained jurisdiction, allowing Cook to be placed on a prison rider program. If Cook successfully completes the program, which can last up to a year, she will be placed on probation. A violation of the terms of probation, however, could land the 21-year-old back behind bars to finish her sentence.

Cook was charged with stealing the silver Mercedes Benz ML 250 from her neighbor on the 6000 Block of Seltice Way more than a year ago, but the case was not adjudicated until this month.

According to a deputy’s report, Cook broke into her neighbor’s house in December 2015, stealing the keys to the Mercedes from a key hook near the entrance, and driving the car to Spokane, where she was involved in a crash the same night.

Cook told a Kootenai County Sheriff’s deputy a friend had taken the car and was arrested in Spokane for DUI, but local authorities learned the Mercedes had been involved in a wreck and had been towed, and that Cook was the driver, according to the Washington State Patrol.

Deputies and Post Falls police were called to Cook’s residence later the same day for a domestic dispute in which Cook claimed her boyfriend had beaten her and dragged her across the floor by her hair. When officers arrived, Cook was arrested on the theft and burglary charges.

She later pleaded guilty to one count of burglary, and the misdemeanor, as part of a settlement agreement.

Her boyfriend, Gregory R. Davis, 34, was charged with domestic battery. The charge was later dismissed.