Man charged with breaking into 17 vehicles across the valley
A 32-year-old Kalispell man charged with breaking into vehicles in Columbia Falls and Kalispell during a four-month spree also faces a charge of issuing bad checks across the valley.
Travis Eilers is charged with felony theft, criminal mischief and issuing bad checks and faces up to 10 years in prison and a $50,000 fine for each charge if convicted.
According to court documents, Eilers is charged with breaking into 17 vehicles — one was unlocked, but he smashed a window to gain access to the others. The first vehicle break-in was reported to Columbia Falls police on Nov. 3, 2012. The last break-in was reported on March 18.
The vehicles were parked at homes around the valley, Teletech in Kalispell, Columbia Falls High School (two vehicles), North Valley Professional Center in Columbia Falls (two vehicles), Flathead Valley Community College (three vehicles), Kalispell Athletic Club, Trinity Lutheran Church in Kalispell (two vehicles), Gold Dust Casino and the post office on Meridian Road in Kalispell.
Missing items included cash, iPods, a GPS unit, cameras, cell phones, gift, credit and debit cards, purses, wallets, checkbooks, a laptop computer, a duffel bag with personal items and collectible coins. In one case, a woman claimed $1,300 was in her purse.
The police got their first piece of evidence on Nov. 6, 2012, after two vehicles were broken into at Columbia Falls High School. A surveillance camera showed a blue GMC sport-utility vehicle in the area of the two break-ins.
After several more break-ins, Columbia Falls police contacted Eilers on Nov. 10, 2012, but he reportedly was elusive about where he lived. Officers went to the home of his girlfriend, Melanie Runningcrane, who gave the officers a backpack containing items from three of the break-ins. A search warrant was issued for Eiders’ vehicle, and items from three break-ins were found.
The son of a woman whose collectible coins were stolen on March 2 coincidentally ran into a man the very next day attempting to sell collectible coins at Wal-Mart in Kalispell. The son said the man was driving a blue GMC.
A witness to a vehicle break-in at FVCC on March 4 reported seeing a man with a goatee drive off in a blue GMC Envoy. Then, on March 17, witnesses to two separate break-ins reported seeing a similar vehicle at the scene.
The next day, following a reported break-in at a Kalispell post office, a man and woman sitting in a vehicle at FVCC saw a man throw a rock through the woman’s vehicle and then remove a laptop from inside. They confronted the man, who dropped the laptop bag and left in a blue SUV. They noted the license plate number, which was registered to Eilers.
Shortly afterwards, Eilers was tracked down and arrested after a short pursuit. As he was being handcuffed, he allegedly said, “I’m not going to lie to you, there is a purse in the vehicle ... it’s not mine, I’m trying to get rid of it for someone.”
A pat-down search turned up a stolen gift card, and a search of Eilers’ vehicle turned up a receipt from a Kalispell pawn shop for the missing collectible coins. An employee at the pawn shop said the coins were pawned by Runningcrane after Eilers was unable to pawn them. Missing items from three vehicles were also found in Eilers’ vehicle.
Bond for Eilers was initially set at $100,000 and then reduced to $50,000. He pleaded not guilty to felony theft and criminal mischief on April 4. His trial is scheduled for July 6.
Eilers has also been charged with issuing nine bad checks on a Washington Trust Bank account to seven stores, saloons and casinos from Nov. 9 through 23, 2012, totaling $707. Bond was set at $30,000, and he was given a public defender. His next hearing on that charge is July 17.