Duo facing theft, burglary charges

PONDERAY — Two Sandpoint men accused of stealing nearly $3,000 in merchandise from Walmart are awaiting preliminary hearings in Bonner County Magistrate Court.

Johnathan Daniel Sullivan and Brandon Michael Wilson are each charged with one count of burglary and one count of grand theft.

Preliminary hearings to determine if the state possesses enough evidence to warrant a trial in 1st District Court are set for Sept. 12.

Sullivan and Wilson, both 19, are free on their own recognizance while their cases are pending.

The two suspects allegedly committed the thefts by slipping items through and over a fence at the store’s garden center on several occasions in the early morning hours on several dates in July. The stolen merchandise included a television, Blu-Ray disc player, a laptop computer, a 45-piece tool set and numerous games for PlayStation 3 and Xbox video game consoles.

The retail value of the merchandise totaled $2,756.22, according to documents filed with the court.

Wilson and Sullivan admitted perpetrating the thefts to Ponderay Police, a police report states. There is also video footage of the thefts, court records indicate.