ARIZONA COMPUTERS STOLEN The Daily Courier - Police play cat & mouse: Chino man faces multiple theft charges:

Police play cat & mouse: Chino man faces multiple theft charges

By Lisa Irish, The Daily Courier

Monday, October 12, 2009

Prescott police arrested a Chino Valley man on charges of theft of a motor vehicle and many other felonies Saturday afternoon after he drove his car into a yard on Pinon Drive.

Officers charged John Travis Altman, 24, of Chino Valley, with unlawful use of means of transportation, possession of stolen property, prohibited possession of a weapon, driving on a suspended license, criminal impersonation and endangerment and booked him into Camp Verde jail.

A Prescott police officer found Altman in the parking lot of Taylor Hicks Elementary School at 1:49 a.m. Saturday sitting in a white Toyota Corolla with its headlights on, said Lt. Clayton Heath of the Prescott Police Department special operations bureau. Altman told the officer he was waiting for a friend.

When the officer asked for his identification, Altman said his name was John Lake, but it took him a while to answer his date of birth, which made the officer suspicious. Altman then told the officer his real name and that he had a suspended driver's license.

While officers, checked the license plate, Altman drove away through the school's front lawn, Heath said. The officers followed Altman, but lost sight of him.

Soon afterward, officers found Altman's car stuck on a dirt mound in a side yard one foot from a home in the 1800 block of Pinon Drive.

"Altman ditched his car at Pinon then ran into the brush," Heath said.

Inside Altman's car, officers found a gun, a pry bar, baseball bat, an iPod and a digital camera. Officers didn't find Altman, but had the vehicle towed away.

A short time later, Altman's grandmother, who owned the car he had driven, called Chino Valley police to report her car missing. She told police Altman did not have permission to use her car.

Prescott police officers arrested Altman a few hours later, when his friends drove him back to Pinon Drive to pick up the car, Heath said.

Late Monday, Chino Valley police reported that during a search to Altman's grandmother's home officers found two laptop computers that matched the description of the seven laptops stolen from Chino Valley High School on Sept. 23. They since identified the computers as two of the seven stolen, said Cmdr. Mark Garcia of the Chino Valley Police Department.

During the investigation, officers learned that Altman's friend Samuel Boyles, 26, a custodian at Chino Valley High School, said he used his school keys so he and Altman could steal the computers.

Chino Valley Police booked Boyles into the county jail on charges stemming from his involvement in the burglary.

At the time these crimes occurred, Altman was out on bond from a prior attempted burglary at the Ace Hardware in Chino Valley. During that arrest, Altman kicked out the rear window of the patrol car, escaped and officers caught him a short time later.

Chino Valley police still are looking for the five other Dell laptop computers stolen from the high school, Garcia said.

Anyone with information should call the Chino Valley Police Department at (928) 636-4223 or Silent Witness 1-800-932-3232.