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Man charged for stealing truck, ramming gate at Annie's Orchard

by GRANT COURSEY
Staff Writer | November 13, 2024 1:00 AM

SANDPOINT — A man has been charged with grand theft and malicious injury to property following an incident that took place at Annie’s Orchard outside Clark Fork on Nov. 2.

Hayden Dwayne Hawkins, 48, of Clark Fork was pulled over by a Bonner County Sheriff’s deputy on Colburn Culvert Road allegedly driving a truck law enforcement said was reported missing from Annie’s Orchard earlier that day.

According to court documents, Annie’s Orchard owner Terry Chowning had been alerted by multiple people that the gates to Annie’s Orchard had been knocked down. According to those documents, Chowning told law enforcement that when he arrived, he found his pickup truck missing and the west gate to the property, and its 3-foot-deep, 8-inch-wide cement base, ripped out of the ground.

According to court records, when law enforcement arrived at the property, they observed divots in the earth and marks on the toppled gate that were consistent with a truck ramming the gate.

In court records, law enforcement said that when questioned, Hawkins allegedly told them he had been walking west on Highway 200 from Clark Fork when he decided to enter the Annie’s Orchard property to find somewhere warm to rest.

Hawkins allegedly told law enforcement that he found the property’s office door unlocked and let himself in, but did not take anything from inside the premises. After warming himself, he purportedly told law enforcement that he went back outside and found the truck parked with the keys inside it.

According to court records, Hawkins told law enforcement that he then took the truck and used it to push down the gate to leave the property.

When asked about the vehicle's decals, which had been removed by the time law enforcement found it in Hawkins’ possession, he purportedly told them he had removed the decals to make the vehicle less noticeable and that he had intended to return the vehicle later in the evening.

During a Nov. 4 initial appearance, Hawkins’ bail was set at $10,000. He is currently being held at Bonner County Jail.