James C. Fletcher | Bonneville County Jail
IDAHO FALLS — Police say a man and his friend burglarized a local aquarium and other Idaho Falls businesses to get enough money to bail a woman out of jail.
A family member of James C. Fletcher, 24, called the Idaho Falls Police Department on Dec. 26 to check on his welfare. The family member told police Fletcher messaged them about staying at an address on Park Avenue with no heat and being very cold. The family member also said Fletcher told them they were involved in a recent string of burglaries in Idaho Falls.
Fletcher is now charged with four felony counts of burglary for his alleged involvement in the burglaries of the East Idaho Aquarium, JB’s Soda Barn, Sukuru Basu Ramen and the La Carreta food bus.
Officers performed a welfare check on Fletcher and asked him about the burglaries. He initially denied being involved but eventually started talking. Fletcher said he reluctantly went along with the burglaries because he was scared of his alleged accomplice. Fletcher also said they were trying to get enough money to help the other man’s girlfriend get out of jail.
EastIdahoNews.com is not identifying the alleged accomplice as he has not been publically charged in connection to the burglaries.
RELATED | Police investigating business burglaries in Idaho Falls
At first, Fletcher said he began pawning off his things to bail the woman out of jail, according to court documents.
Then during the early hours of Dec. 21, the pair were walking around Idaho Falls and ended up at two food busses on North Yellowstone Highway. While at the businesses identified as Sukuru Basu Ramen and La Carreta, Fletcher said the man took an undisclosed amount of cash.
Fletcher and the man then walked to Fred Meyer to use the building’s WiFi to contact a bail bondsman. The man learned he still did not have enough to free his girlfriend.
“After receiving such devastating news from the bondsman, Fletcher and (the man) walked to the East Idaho Aquarium and observed that a door was open at about 2:30 or 3 a.m.,” an officer writes in a probable cause affidavit. “Both then entered the building where Fletcher stated he had broken several plastic containers and attempted to remove a cash register.”
The pair reportedly left the aquarium with an unknown number of items. Fletcher and the then man went to JB’s Soda Barn on 1st Street, where the man reportedly stole additional cash from the store.
During his interview, Fletcher said he and the man used crowbars to break into the two food busses on Yellowstone Highway. Fletcher said the two dumped the crowbars down a drainage grate along Northgate Mile. Officers went to the drainage grate and spotted two crowbars. Police reported being unable to remove the grate and retrieve the tools due to snow and ice on the ground.
Police booked Fletcher into the Bonneville County Jail after their interview. He remains in custody and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Friday.
Although Fletcher is accused of crimes, it does not necessarily mean he committed it. Everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
The post Men allegedly burglarize aquarium and other businesses to get money to bail woman out of jail appeared first on East Idaho News.
Source: eastidahonews.com
Men allegedly burglarize aquarium and other businesses to get money to bail woman out of jail
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