Man Steals Credit Cards, Laptops, and a Truck in Missoula
Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - On May 25, 2023, a Missoula Police Department officer met with an employee at Gary’s Auto for a report of a stolen vehicle. A 1990 Chevy extended cab belonging to a customer was stolen.
On May 26, 2023, officers responded to Walmart on Mullan Road for a stolen vehicle that may have been involved in a hit-and-run earlier that day. An officer arrived and located the vehicle, which matched the vehicle that was reported stolen earlier.
While officers canvassed the area for information, an individual came to the scene and informed officers that he heard from a friend that the suspect truck that “burglarized” his garage was at Walmart.
Officers Review the Footage
The individual showed officers video from security cameras showing the green truck pull up to his garage and a male exited the vehicle. The footage shows the male walking items from the individual’s garage and placing them into the truck.
The officer brought the individual over to the truck and the individual was able to identify some of his property in the back, including multiple laptops. According to court documents, the value of the property is estimated to exceed $1,500 in value but not exceed $5,000 in value.
The officer obtained permission from the owner of the truck to retrieve the individual’s property and to search the truck. Officers were able to give the individual back some of his missing property and located a glass meth pipe, a black folding knife, and a black debit card with the name of Benjamin Llewellyn on it that did not belong to either the owner or the individual.
Owner Explains What is Missing
The owner of the truck further advised he was still missing a wallet containing $350 in cash, multiple ID’s, a First Interstate Bank debit card, a Capitol One credit card, a Home Depot credit card, and a gift card.
While on scene, the individual discovered multiple charges to his First Interstate Bank card, including five transactions made at Walmart. There were also additional charges on his Capitol One credit card and First Interstate Bank card. The individual did not authorize these charges and the total value of the transactions was less than $1,500.
An officer obtained video footage of the suspect male who exited the stolen vehicle and entered Walmart. The suspect male matched the physical descriptors of the male from the individual’s security footage. Officers on scene were able to identify the suspect as 24-year-old Benjamin Llewellyn from prior contacts.
Officers Find the Suspect
Llewellyn was later found by officers at the Magic Diamond Casino on West Broadway. An officer approached Llewellyn and secured his wrists into handcuffs. Llewellyn was searched incident to arrest and officers located an empty syringe in his left sweatpants pocket.
While attempting to place Llewellyn into the patrol vehicle, Llewellyn was able to escape and began to run away. Officers commanded Llewellyn to stop, but Llewellyn did not listen to commands and continued to evade officers. Llewellyn crossed Toole Avenue and ran into an apartment complex. Officers were able to finally catch up to Llewellyn and placed him into a patrol vehicle.
Officers Located Several Stolen Items
Also located on Llewellyn was a wallet matching the description of the wallet the individual reported as stolen. Inside the wallet were multiple ID cards belonging to the individual, the First Interstate Bank card, the Capitol One credit card, the Home Depot card, and a Wells Fargo card with the individual’s name on it. Also located was a $100 dollar bill with some other smaller bills. Llewellyn was also in possession of the keys for the stolen vehicle.
Llewellyn was placed under arrest and transported to the Missoula County Detention Center. He is currently being charged with two counts of felony theft, deceptive practices, criminal possession of drug paraphernalia, obstructing peace officer, and attempted escape.
On May 30, 2023, Llewellyn made his initial appearance in Missoula Justice Court and his bond was set at $10,000.
The information in this article was obtained from sources that are publicly viewable.