Pair arrested in theft of car warming up in NE Bend dirveway
A car warming up in the driveway of a northeast Bend home proved too tempting a target for thieves who stole it Tuesday morning, but it was caught on a video surveillance camera, police said. One suspect was arrested driving the stolen car later in the day, and a second a couple of hours later in a motel parking lot.
Police responded just after 7 a.m. Tuesday to a home in the 1600 block of Northeast Providence Drive, where a black 2004 Volkswagen Touareg running to warm up in the driveway was taken, said Sgt. Mike Landolt.
The crime was captured on video surveillance at the home, Landolt said, but officers searching the area were unable to find the car.
Around 6 p.m. Tuesday, police found the stolen car heading east on U.S. Highway 20 toward Hamby Road. Police stopped the car near the intersection with Powell Butte Highway and the driver, Candi Libke, 29, who was alone in the car, was arrested and taken to the Deschutes County Jail. Landolt said Libke was the person seen in the surveillance video.
As the investigation continued, Charles Golliher, 44, was found to have helped Libke take the stolen car, the sergeant said. Golliher was arrested around 8 p.m. in the parking lot of the Rodeway Motel on Southeast Third Street.
Investigators learned the pair had been staying in a room at the motel, and police applied for and were issued a search warrant for the room, served shortly before 2 a.m. Wednesday. Landolt said several items of evidence recovered from the room tied Libke and Golliher to the car theft. Officers also seized five grams of suspected methamphetamine found in the room, he said.
Libke remained held late Wednesday at the Deschutes County Jail on $20,000, facing charges of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, conspiracy and meth possession. Golliher was booked into the jail Wednesday night on a charge of conspiracy related to the car theft and released less than 90 minutes later on his own recognizance, a jail officer said.
Landolt said he didn’t know how long they had been staying at the motel, but Libke listed herself as a transient while Golliher was from the Albany area.
