Friday, November 6, 2009

Ecstasy bust leads to theft arrest

Man accused of stealing gear from Hailey PD

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By TERRY SMITH
Express Staff Writer

Mathew Richard Fleming

A 20-year-old Hailey man has been charged with theft for allegedly stealing more than $1,200 worth of equipment from the Hailey Police Department.

Mathew Richard Fleming was a suspect in the theft last month of police equipment from the basement of Hailey City Hall, but wasn't arrested until Monday when he was busted by the Blaine County Narcotics Enforcement Team for allegedly selling the illegal drug ecstasy to a police confidential informant.

Fleming remained incarcerated Thursday in the Blaine County jail on $15,000 bond. He was formally charged with two felonies—grand theft and delivery of a controlled substance—on Tuesday in Blaine County Magistrate Court.

According to Lincoln County court records, Fleming also has a pending felony charge there for allegedly obtaining a controlled substance by fraud or forgery.

Blaine County court records list a Creswell, Ore., address for Fleming, but Hailey police reported that he has been living in Hailey.

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Police Chief Jeff Gunter said the police equipment was stolen Oct. 11 while the Friends of the Hailey Public Library were moving books from the City Hall basement in preparation for a Book and Bake Sale held Oct. 14-17. He said "friends of the library" hired several people through Idaho Job Services to assist with moving books. One of them was Fleming.

Gunter explained that the basement is normally locked, as is the police locker room there. However, he acknowledged that one of his officers left the locker room unlocked the evening before the theft.

"One of our officers was working graveyard, and for whatever reason, he forgot to lock it when he left," Gunter said.

Items stolen included a bulletproof vest and helmet, a police uniform, a "hazmat" gas mask, a tactical vest, a first aid kit, binoculars and handcuffs. Gunter said police learned of the location of the items after Fleming was arrested.

"We recovered most of the stuff in a mine up Colorado Gulch," he said.

The ecstasy bust was described in a probable cause affidavit filed in the case by Sun Valley police officer Mike Abaid, who also serves on the county's Narcotics Enforcement Team.

Abaid wrote that the drug purchase was prearranged through a confidential informant who arranged to meet Fleming on Monday afternoon at the Hailey Park and Ride lot at the corner of Bullion and River streets.

Abaid wrote that the meeting was held and the informant purchased two ecstasy pills for $50. The drugs were turned over to waiting police officers and Fleming was arrested.

Terry Smith: tsmith@mtexpress.com