Burglary suspect waives hearing

SANDPOINT — A Bonner County man accused of burglarizing the Panhandle Animal Shelter earlier this month waived his right to a preliminary hearing on Wednesday.

In exchange for not contesting the state’s case at the magistrate court level, Christopher Jon Underwood’s bail was reduced from $100,000 to $10,000, according to court documents.

Underwood’s arraignment in 1st District Court is pending.

In addition to the burglary charge, Underwood was charged with a second felony for allegedly driving under the influence at the time of the Jan. 3 break-in at the animal shelter.

He was also charged misdemeanor counts of possessing burglary tools and petty theft.

Ponderay Police were summoned to the shelter after an alarm was activated shortly after midnight, court records show. An officer encountered a silver minivan, which sped out of the parking lot and was later discovered behind a large Dumpster at Waste Management Inc. on Triangle Drive.

Underwood, 48, denied breaking into the shelter, although two computer monitors were found in his vehicle and identified as property missing from the shelter, the police report said.

Underwood, who lists addresses in Ponderay and Cocolalla, is being prosecuted for felony DUI due to two prior convictions in Kootenai County in 2005, court records indicate.