A Kenai man was arrested Wednesday after a Craigslist ad linked him to tools that were reported stolen from a Nikiski business. Alaska State Troopers with the Criminal Suppression Detail responded to the ad for a plasma cutter and contacted Jason McCormick, 37, at a residence on St. Joseph Street near Soldotna. A plasma cutter and other tools were reported stolen from Baker Hughes in Nikiski over the weekend. Troopers recovered the plasma cutter, which was valued at more than $1,800.
McCormick was charged with second-degree theft, a class C felony. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison and a $50,000 fine. The Craigslist ad, posted Sunday, had an asking price of $1,250 for the “thermal dynamics cut master 52 plasma cutter.”
The comment from the seller read: “I am selling my awesome picture of this plasma cutter made by thermal dynamics, which I purchased unbeknownst to me it was worth so much as $1,250. It will cut through 1 1/8” steel and cost $2,300 somewhere in the real life. I have no use for it anymore, so I am selling it for someone else to do something fun with it.”
The post was updated Wednesday with two words at the top, “Apparently stolen.”
McCormick was arraigned in Kenai District Court Thursday. He is currently jailed at Wildwood Pretrial Facility and is being held without bail.
