An area man with several pending criminal cases was charged in another case involving a stolen vehicle.
Brandon J. Courtois, 43, of Park Hills, was charged Jan. 26 in Washington County with first-degree tampering with a motor vehicle.
A probable cause statement from the Potosi Police Department states an officer was called to Pin Oak Drive about a stolen license plate on July 23.
According to the report, a man told authorities a license plate was recently stolen from his vehicle. The man informed police he had just found the stolen license plate on a vehicle sitting in a parking lot on Pin Oak Drive.
An officer reported that when he arrived at the location, he saw Courtois walking around a black 2012 Kia Sportage and confirmed the stolen license plate was being displayed on the back of the vehicle.
When the officer asked Courtois why he had a stolen license plate on his vehicle, the man reportedly said the license plate was already on the vehicle when he purchased it on July 19.
People are also reading…
According to the statement, the officer ran the VIN on the vehicle, and it came back stolen out of St. Francois County. The report states Courtois again claimed he was the owner of the Kia Sportage.
Courtois was booked at the Washington County Jail and a $30,000 bond was set in the case.
The charging documents filed note that Courtois is considered a persistent drug offender and has a delivery of controlled substance and vehicle tampering case pending in Washington County. The criminal complaint states the man is facing a life sentence if convicted on the first charge alone in that case, and faces another 10 years in prison if convicted in the case filed this week.
Additionally, Courtois has multiple prior felony convictions and is currently on parole from two, 18-year prison sentences he received for manufacturing and trafficking.
The man has a pending case of felony stealing and property damage in Madison County and two felony cases in Washington County set for trial in March.
One of the two cases set for trial was filed in 2020 after Courtois allegedly broke into a Washington County Road and Bridge District facility and stole nearly $30,000 worth of property.
The man is scheduled to stand trial March 3 for second-degree burglary, stealing ($25,000 or more), first-degree tampering with a motor vehicle, and first-degree property damage.
According to a probable cause statement from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, Courtois unlawfully forced entry into the Washington County Road and Bridge District Two building, located on Highway 21, on Oct. 21, 2020.
The report states Courtois, along with another man, forced their way into the district facility by tearing down a fence on the north side of the property, causing $800 in damages.
The two men then reportedly loaded $17,750 worth of items that belong to Washington County into a red 1999 Ford F-350 with a black utility bed.
The report states Courtois and the other man cut the facility’s locked gate and stole the truck with all the stolen items in the truck bed.
The total value of the items stolen is $27,750, according to court documents.
During an interview with law enforcement, Courtois reportedly admitted breaking into the district facility and taking the items.
According to the statement, the man also admitted cutting the lock on the gate and driving the truck out of the district property.
Courtois reportedly drove the truck to a location and traded all the stolen items. The man then left the truck abandoned near the 11,200 block of Route T, according to the report.
The criminal complaint filed in the case states Courtois had been free on a $50,000 bond after being charged in March 2020 for possession of a firearm as a convicted felon.
The report did not identify the other suspect or state whether he had been charged.
Bobby Radford is a reporter for the Daily Journal. He can be reached at bradford@dailyjournalonline.com
Man with multiple pending felony cases charged again - Daily Journal Online
Read More
No comments:
Post a Comment