Alleged spree burglar jailed

SANDPOINT — A Bonner County man was arrested Thursday in connection with a string of burglaries in late summer and early autumn.

Jason Lee Williams is charged with six counts of burglary and six counts of felony theft. He made an initial appearance in Magistrate Court on Friday, where Judge Barbara Buchanan set his bail at $15,000 and appointed a public defender to represent him.

Williams, 31, is accused of burglarizing four homes, a shop building and a Sandpoint business in June, August and September, according to charging documents. The burglaries occurred in Sandpoint, in addition to unicorporated areas of the county.

A homeowner in one of the burglaries told sheriff’s officials she arrived home in June and discovered a Jeep parked at her residence. After searching the home, crossed paths with Williams outside.

“Ma’am,” Williams reportedly said to the woman before getting in his rig and nonchalantly driving off.

The woman managed to note the license plate number on the Jeep and investigators found Williams was the registered owner.

Williams was also identified through records kept by a pawn shop where some of the ill-gotten gains were sold, court documents indicate.

Snowboarding gear, bicycles, mountaineering equipment, power tools, luxury handbags, laptop computers, guitars and other valuables were taken in the burglaries. Some of the swag was recovered from a storage unit Williams was renting, according to voluminous police reports in the case.

It’s the second time in as many months sheriff’s deputies and Sandpoint Police have collaborated to take down prolific burglars. Last month, sheriff’s and police investigators to dismantle a burglary ring that vexed the community.