Libby auto thieves sentenced

Two Libby men were sentenced Monday on felony charges for their involvement in a string of thefts of items from vehicles, along with the theft of a vehicle itself.

Tyler Davis, 27, and Isaac Macy, 18, had both entered guilty pleas to charges of felony theft by accountability. Davis received a five-year commitment to the Montana Department of Corrections while Macy was handed a two-year deferred sentence.

The two were arrested in the early morning hours of Feb. 16 following a report of the theft of a 1999 Ford Explorer from outside a residence at Reese Court. Officers responded to the scene and spoke to the victim, who told them he had heard doors slamming and his vehicle starting, and had seen it driving away when he went outside to look.

In an affidavit filed in support of the charges, Deputy Brad Dodson of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office reported that he and another officer had gone in search of the vehicle, and when he spotted it he conducted a traffic stop. Davis was driving and Macy was in the passenger seat, Dodson reported.

Macy later told law enforcement officers that he and Davis had walked from Davis’ residence along Park Street to Reese Court, getting into around two dozen vehicles and stealing items from them along the way, and had decided to steal the vehicle so they wouldn’t have to walk all the way home. They had to stop to let the windows clear and had started along their way home, planning to ditch the vehicle when they got closer, when they were pulled over, Macy said.

Another Libby man, Zachary Trager, 20, is also charged in a related case. He is charged with felony theft by accountability in connection with the theft of a vehicle in January, allegedly in association with Davis.

The vehicle, a 2001 Ford Taurus, was reported stolen on Jan. 20 from outside a residence on the 1400 block of Main Avenue. It was later recovered at J. Neils Park, and items that had been inside were reported missing.

In documents filed in support of the charges, Libby police officer Terry Watson reported that he spoke with Macy’s girlfriend, Erika Amos, who told him she had seen a camera that had been stolen from the car at the residence Davis shared with Trager, and that Trager had been trying to sell it. Amos told Watson that she had seen Davis and Trager go out on walks at night and return with knives, flashlights, loose change and other items.

Watson also reported that Amos told him that soon after Davis and Macy were arrested, she overheard Trager telling Davis’ girlfriend that it wasn’t the first time Davis had stolen a vehicle, and that he and Davis had stolen the Taurus in January.

According to a report from Libby Police Chief Jim Smith, a search warrant based on interviews with Amos was executed at Davis’ and Trager’s residence on Feb. 26, and numerous stolen items were recovered.

Trager has pleaded not guilty to the charges.