Two men were charged with theft and trespassing last week after allegedly stealing $300 LED truck lights from a commercial property along Kenai Spur Highway.
Tyler D. Barrickman, 24, and Matthew S. Lay, 21, were arrested March 24 after a man called police to report two men carrying tools and wearing masks in the Pollard Wireline lot, according to an Alaska State Trooper affidavit filed with the court.
Law enforcement officers who arrived on the scene stopped Lay at a Kenai Spur Highway intersection and found Barrickman on a neighboring property, according to the affidavit.
Barrickman reportedly told troopers they had stolen two LED lights from a Ford F350, and directed them to pallets on a neighboring property where they had stashed the lights, according to the affidavit. Troopers reported finding the lights, wrenches and wire cutters on top of the pallets.
Lay allegedly told troopers he was homeless and that he and Barrickman had gone to the property because he had heard it would be easy to steal copper wire and lights.
Lay is charged with one count of tampering with physical evidence, a class C felony; one count of third-degree theft, a class A misdemeanor; first-degree criminal trespass, a class A misdemeanor; fifth-degree criminal mischief, a class B misdemeanor; and violating the conditions of his release, a class B misdemeanor, for a separate burglary case.
Barrickman is charged with one count of tampering with physical evidence, a class C felony; one count of third-degree theft, a class A misdemeanor; first-degree criminal trespass, a class A misdemeanor; and fifth-degree criminal mischief, a class B misdemeanor.
