Suspected burglar waives preliminary hearing

SANDPOINT — The arraignment hearing for Robert Ravenscroft will begin on Aug. 1 for a felony burglary charge with a felony enhancement for persistent violators. The preliminary hearing had been scheduled for July 20.

Ravenscroft, 53, is facing burglary charges after police said he took a generator from a Ponderay box store.

He was arrested in late March on a charge of felony burglary after Ponderay Police say he took a Black Diamond generator worth about $700 from North 40 in Ponderay in early March.

Ponderay Police said they were contacted March 18 by North 40’s loss prevention specialist Dan Cole, who said a male had taken a generator from the Ponderay store. He identified Ravenscroft as a potential suspect based on similar cases, according to court documents.

Ravenscroft was contacted by Sgt. Brian Koch of the Ponderay Police Department about a possible theft at The Home Depot. According to court documents, Ravenscroft told the officer that he went inside the store specifically to “steal an item that he could sell,” according to the documents.

Koch later contacted Ravenscroft and arrested him on a felony burglary charge for the alleged theft of the generator at North 40.

Ravenscroft has previous convictions in Bonner County for felony burglary and possession of a controlled substance. He also has prior convictions in Kootenai and Spokane counties.

The arraignment will begin Aug. 1 at 8:30 a.m. via Zoom.

Ravenscroft also has a pretrial conference for two misdemeanor counts of commercial burglary, another DUI, and another instance of driving without insurance. That conference will be Aug. 5 at 2:30 p.m.