Walmart theft suspect arrested

SANDPOINT — A Post Falls woman was arrested Thursday for a series of brazen merchandise thefts at Walmart in Ponderay.

Trista Lee Paulk is charged with burglary, grand theft, possession of methamphetamine and introducing contraband into the Bonner County Jail.

Paulk, 32, made an initial appearance in Bonner County Magistrate Court via video feed from the county jail. Judge Debra Heise set Paulk’s bail at $20,000 and appointed a public defender, court records show.

Paulk is accused of stealing $1,320 worth of merchandise and attempting to steal another $3,840 worth of merchandise between Dec. 16-29, 2016, according to a Ponderay Police report. The thefts were committed through a variety of schemes that included simply wheeling carts of merchandise out of the store without paying and bogus merchandise returns. She and a male accomplice allegedly concealed high-cost merchandise elsewhere in the store so it could stolen later, the police report said.

In one instance, Paulk allegedly tried to push a cart out of the store but turned back upon seeing a police officer in an entryway. She abandoned the cart inside the store and left, but returned the next day to make fraudulent returns, police reports said.

Police and asset-protection officials at Walmart connected Paulk to the thefts through video surveillance and a license plate number, court records indicate.

Paulk was arrested for burglary at the Walmart in Hayden in September 2016, the Ponderay Police report noted. She pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of misdemeanor theft was scheduled to be sentenced in Kootenai County on Monday.

Before being booked into the jail, Ponderay Police Officer Mike Victorino asked Paulk if she had any contraband and warned her that she could face additional charges if she didn’t turn it over. Paulk denied possessing any contraband, although pipe and several baggies of suspected meth were found in her purse.

The Idaho Supreme Court Data Repository shows Paulk has misdemeanor theft convictions in Kootenai County in 2014 and 1998 as a juvenile.

Jason William Box, Paulk’s alleged accomplice, was charged with burglary in Kootenai County the day after Paulk was apprehended for burglary. The burglary charge against Box is pending in Kootenai County.

A probable cause affidavit in Paulk’s case states that Box, a 31-year-old Post Falls resident, stole more than $500 in merchandise from the Ponderay Walmart, although there is no record of a pending charge against him in Bonner County, according to the repository.