Man accused of possessing swag from heist

SANDPOINT — A slide-off crash near Priest River on Tuesday uncovered items reported stolen from a Sandpoint business earlier this month.

Robert Eugene Lipska is charged with grand theft by possession and providing false information to a Bonner County sheriff’s deputy, according to court documents. A preliminary hearing on the felony theft charge is set for Wednesday in magistrate court.

Lipska, a 42-year-old Priest River resident, is being held at the Bonner County Jail in lieu of $15,000 bail.

Lipska is accused of possessing computer equipment and tools reported stolen from Pneumex Equipment, a research and development company that manufactures high-tech physical rehabilitation equipment and treatment protocols. Burglaries at the business were reported on Dec. 14 and on Tuesday.

Power tools, hand tools, computer equipment, stereo accessories, firearms and a Japanese samurai sword from World War II were reported stolen from the business, according to court documents.

Lipska came to be charged after a car he was in crashed on Old Priest River Road near Endicott Loop Road on the Tuesday morning, police reports indicate. Lipska allegedly fled the scene upon learning that law enforcement was en route to perform traffic control so the Buick Century could be dislodged from an embankment.

A deputy later found Lipska walking along the road and made contact with him. Lipska allegedly gave the deputy a fictitious name and date of birth, a ruse that ended when the deputy confronted Lipska with his own picture in a law enforcement database. He was arrested for providing false information.

Tools and two computer monitors were visible in the vehicle, items which were conspicuous due to the filthy state of the Buick, the reports said. Moreover, deputies were aware of the overnight break-in at Pneumex.

Lipska denied knowing the items in the car were stolen and denied involvement in the burglaries, police reports said. Lipska initially claimed the items belonged to the owner of an after-hours cleaning service, then stated that they belonged to another woman who was driving the car when it went off the road.

Lipska, the reports said, claimed that the driver planned to barter the swag for a large amount of methamphetamine. However, that woman turned out to be the previous owner of the vehicle, who sold the Buick to a used car lot in Newport. Deputies contacted the woman, who denied knowing who Lipska was and appeared genuinely astonished to be linked to him or the burglaries, the reports said.

It’s suspected that Lipska found something in the car bearing the woman’s name and he used it to lead the investigation astray.

Lipska’s arrest comes less than a month after he was sentenced for leading Idaho State Police on a high-speed chase through Sagle last June that ended in a rollover crash. Lipska was accused of trying to outrun a trooper in a Dodge Charge with a Chevrolet S-10 pickup truck on U.S. Highway 95.

Speeds topped 100 mph during the pursuit, which ended when Lipska tried to avoid a sheriff’s deputy’s stop sticks and lost control of the rig on the highway’s shoulder, causing it to overturn several times. Lipska was injured and charged with felony eluding.

Lipska entered an Alford plea to the charge, which meant he took no moral responsibility for the offense but conceded that he could be convicted if his case went to trial. The Idaho Department of Correction recommended placement in the state’s retained jurisdiction program for up to a year, but 1st District Judge Barbara Buchanan imposed a suspended prison term and credit for 34 days of pretrial incarceration.

Buchanan imposed the sentence with some reluctance and Lipska’s psychological and memory issues factored into sentencing, according to court documents. It was unclear in court documents if those issues were preexisting or a result of the rollover crash.

IDOC is pursing a probation violation against Lipksa for being charged with new crimes. The violation could lead to the imposition of the one- to three-year prison term that was suspended when Lipska was sentenced on Dec. 7.