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Police: Man caught cruising in stolen boat

by KAYE THORNBRUGH
Staff Writer | July 3, 2021 1:00 AM

COEUR d’ALENE — Law enforcement arrested a man this week who they said was cruising Lake Coeur d’Alene in a boat paid for with a stolen card.

Timothy S. Bratton, 34, of Twentynine Palms, Calif., is charged with grand theft and criminal possession of a financial transaction card, both felonies.

The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office responded Tuesday to a report from a Post Falls resident who said an unknown person had used her bank card to rent a boat from a local marina.

Coast Guard officials reportedly located the boat on Lake Coeur d’Alene and initiated a traffic stop.

The driver, later identified as Bratton, was accompanied by three teenagers.

Bratton told police he had used his own bank card to pay for the rental.

However, police said the information he recounted did not match the documents provided by the marina.

Bratton used a fake name, driver’s license number and contact number when renting the boat, according to court documents.

Police arrested Bratton at the scene.

Prosecutors said in court Wednesday that Bratton, who recently moved from California to North Idaho, was a flight risk.

He reportedly has multiple criminal convictions out of California.

Judge Mayli Walsh ordered that Bratton be held on $200,000 bail.