Car thief receives deferred sentence

A 21-year-old Missoula woman was released from the Lincoln County Detention Center Monday, after being given a deferred imposition of sentence for stealing a car in Eureka last year.

Tiffany Arcand was arrested Sept. 14, 2015, and charged with one felony count of theft of a motor vehicle and one misdemeanor count of driving while suspended. Arcand entered a guilty plea in January 2016 to the felony count. In exchange, the misdemeanor charge was dropped and the Lincoln County Attorney’s Office recommended a deferred sentence for the felony. 

Montana 19th Judicial District Court Judge James Wheelis accepted the state’s recommendation, which was supported by the pre-sentence investigation conducted by the Department of Corrections, Adult Probation and Parole.

The charges stem from an incident of Sept. 14, 2015, in which Arcand stole a car in Eureka. 

In the affidavit of probable cause the arresting officer, David Blessing of the Eureka Police Department wrote he was dispatched to the home of a Eureka resident whose vehicle, a 2014 Subaru Crosstrek, had been stolen.

The victim described the scene to Officer Blessing.

“[Victim} stated that a female with white sunglasses and shoulder-length hair got into the vehicle and drove off,” Blessing wrote.

The report did not indicate whether or not the keys were left in the car.

Less than an hour after Blessing was dispatched to the victim’s residence, Deputy Dale White of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office apprehended Arcand with the stolen vehicle.

“At 1253 hours Deputy Dale White, with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, had located and stopped the stolen vehicle on Millsprings Road and Costich Lake Drive,” Blessing wrote in his affidavit. “I arrived on scene at 1255 hours and the deputy had already detained the female driver, Tiffany Arcand. Eureka Dispatch contacted [victim], the vehicle owner. [Victim] arrived on scene and identified the vehicle as belonging to her. She stated that she did not know Tiffany Arcand.”

Arcand was ordered to pay neither fines nor restitution in the case.