Suspect racks up new theft charge

SANDPOINT - A Kingston man awaiting sentencing in a vehicle-theft case was arrested Saturday for allegedly attempting to steal a Clark Fork man's all-terrain vehicle.

Cody Eugene Ford was ordered held Monday on $25,000 bail and a public defender was appointed to represent him. Ford, according to a Bonner County Sheriff's deputy report, denied involvement in the theft attempt.

Ford, 18, was arrested after the vehicle's owner, Daniel Beckstrand, caught him rummaging through his partially enclosed porch. Beckstrand, 45, tackled Ford to the ground, the report said. Ford managed to make a getaway but Beckstrand kept the suspect's backpack and positively identified him as the culprit.

The ATV was found to have been moved to the back of Beckstrand's property and the ignition had been tampered with, the report said. A .22-caliber rifle was also reported missing and remained unaccounted for.

Ford is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 25 on a charge filed in connection with a brazen theft of a Bonner County employee's vehicle last spring. Ford allegedly took an idling Geo Tracker as the worker was opening the Clark Fork waste collection site on March 12.

The heist sparked a high-speed chase through Clark Fork and ended in Montana, when Ford crashed while trying to evade pursuing law officers.

Ford entered a written guilty plea to grand theft, a crime punishable by up to 14 years in prison. Under the terms of a plea agreement, the state will recommend a suspended sentence of 2-5 years, probation and restitution for wrecking the employee's compact sport utility vehicle, court records indicate.

The sentencing recommendations are not binding upon the court.

Ford entered an Alford plea, which means he does not accept moral responsibility for the theft but concedes he could be convicted of it if he were to be tried.