Montana man arrested in eastern Idaho storage container thefts
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REXBURG — A 48-year-old Montana man has been charged in two eastern Idaho counties for allegedly stealing storage containers and equipment from multiple local machinery and towing companies.
Michael Jack Bothman is charged in Jefferson County with felony burglary and felony grand theft. In Madison County, he is charged with felony grand theft and misdemeanor malicious injury to property.
EastIdahoNews.com reported on the thefts in July and spoke to the victims. You can read more about the case here.
In Jefferson County
On July 16, a Jefferson County Sheriff’s deputy was assigned to investigate a burglary at one of the Liberty Container Services locations in Rigby, according to court documents.
The business owner, Mark Hinds, told deputies he had driven by his lot on July 11 and noticed his light gray 40-foot 2024 Spinnaker Storage container and a white and orange 2015 Bobcat S850 “skid-steer” were missing.
According to police reports, a deputy who responded noticed “obvious marks in the gravel where you could see that the storage container appeared to have been dragged onto a trailer.”
Hinds also noted that he was missing 15 12-foot aluminum panels, a new 24-inch auger attachment for drilling telephone post holes and a new set of six Lug EZY wheels.
During an interview with EastIdahoNews.com, Hinds said he estimated that between $50,000 and $60,000 in total property was stolen from his company.
Deputies obtained security footage from a nearby business, showing that around 9 the night before, a “newer white Ford Dually Pickup pulling a black-fifth wheel flat-bed trailer approximately 40 feet in length arriv(ed) in the area. ”
Police reports say the truck and trailer, which had no license plates, stopped in front of Liberty Container Services and left nearly an hour later with nothing on the trailer.
The truck returns to the property around 2 a.m. and leaves at 3:50 a.m. with the stolen storage container.
In Madison County
Deputies were then told there had been a second theft at Titan Machinery in Rexburg. The estimated value of their stolen property was $6,500.
Officials were able to obtain security footage from the theft in Rexburg, showing the truck pulling a trailer with a fuel tank into the north entrance before driving westbound and stopping alongside the business.
The suspect got out of the truck and reportedly looked around the property before going to an area near a service truck. Officers said the compartment doors were broken when he left.
Tracking down Bothman
On July 26, the Blackfoot Police Department and Bingham County Sheriff’s Office reportedly received a tip that the truck and two shipping containers loaded on the trailer were parked at a gas station in Blackfoot.
At that point, the truck had a Montana license plate and two occupants, Bothman and another man, who has not been charged.
According to police reports, Bothman would not allow investigators to search the truck or the containers and claimed to have obtained them legally.
The containers did not match the description of the stolen ones and were not listed as stolen, so Bothman and the other man were released, according to court documents.
On July 28, deputies were notified of a Facebook post from the Deer Lodge Police Department in Montana asking for the public’s help in identifying a theft suspect with the same description as Bothman.
On Aug. 5, deputies were notified that Bothman was a suspect in a second gas station theft in Deer Lodge.
According to police reports, Deer Lodge officials went to Bothman’s property and saw a “Bobcat skid-steer that matched the description of the one stolen from Jefferson County.”
Officers later received a tip that Bothman had been seen the day of the Rexburg theft at the Maverik on West Main Street.
The security footage shows Bothman and an unidentified man arriving in the same white truck with a trailer carrying a 40-foot shipping container, officers say.
Arrested and charged
Bothman was arrested in Lake County, Montana, and was later released on an unknown bond.
A warrant was issued for Bothman’s arrest in Jefferson County on Aug. 8, and another was issued in Madison County on Aug. 13.
Bothman is expected to appear for a preliminary hearing in Jefferson County on Sept. 27. If convicted, he could face up to 24 years in prison.
He is also expected to appear for a preliminary hearing in Madison County on Sept. 18. If convicted there, he could face up to 11 years in prison.
Although Bothman has been charged with these crimes, it does not necessarily mean he committed them. Everyone is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty.