Pocatello man arrested after allegedly using bank cards stolen from unattended vehicles
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POCATELLO — A man police say broke into two cars and used bank cards stolen from both, has been charged with multiple felonies.
Christopher Michael Bock, 51, faces two counts of burglary, two counts of criminal possession of a financial transaction card, two counts of destruction of evidence and two counts of grand theft, court records show.
Pocatello police received a call from a woman reporting a theft around 2 p.m. Sept. 30, according to an affidavit of probable cause. The caller said she arrived at Halliwell Park around noon and left her car unattended for two hours. When she returned, the passenger side window was broken and her purse had been taken from inside the vehicle.
The victim told police she received notifications that the bank cards inside her purse had been used at two separate area grocery stores.
Officers obtained video surveillance footage from the grocery stores and identified Bock as the person who had used the cards.
The following morning, Pocatello police received reports of another burglary in which the passenger window of an unattended vehicle was broken and a purse taken from inside the vehicle.
The second victim’s bank cards had also been used — at a clothing store, a liquor store, a gas station and a convenience store.
After identifying Bock as a suspect in the first burglary, officers had begun following him. While they were watching him, police reports show Bock visited all four stores where the stolen cards were used.
Officers conducted a traffic stop and placed Bock under arrest without incident. During a search, officers found him in possession of the second victim’s stolen bank card, according to the affidavit.
Bock was questioned by police and reportedly admitted to breaking into both vehicles and using cards stolen from the vehicles.
He was taken to Bannock County Jail, where he is being held on a $40,000 bond.
Though Bock has been charged with these crimes, it does not necessarily mean he committed them. Everyone is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty.
If he is found guilty, Bock could face up to 68 years in prison.
He is scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary hearing before Magistrate Judge Paul Laggis on Oct. 12.