Recycling Center hit a second time, arrest made

Friday, February 6, 2015

Nevada Daily Mail

Trouble continued for the Nevada Recycling Center when a second attempt was made to break into the facility on Jan. 28, just a couple weeks after items were stolen from the center.

This time the culprits were unable to get through the new bolted door, but serious damage was done to the door, splitting the wood.

"They didn't get in, that's the main thing," recycling director Dave Irwin said, pointing out there was little for them to steal inside anyway, other than some of the community's recycled items.

The same week the center was broken into the second time, the Nevada Police Department received a tip about the identity of the culprit and, after interviews and the discovery of physical evidence, Timothy Roark, 40, was arrested Thursday morning and charged with attempted burglary in the second-degree and two counts of felony stealing, according to the Nevada Police Department.

Those charges were a result of the recycling center burglary and theft, as well as two other thefts from a parked automobile and a hotel candy machine.

Roark's bond was set at $20,000 cash only and he currently remains in custody at the Vernon County Jail.

The center was broken into the first time the week of Jan. 12, when the offices were rifled through and tools and copper stolen from the center and a vehicle.

"I don't know what the deal is down there," Irwin said of the recent burglaries at the center. "It's not like we're recycling gold."

"It doesn't make sense," northern commissioner Neal Gerster said when the Vernon County Commission discussed the attempted break-in during a meeting Tuesday.

Lynn Seaver of the county's roads and bridges department told the commission they are now looking for ways to deter further attempts on the recycling center, such as installing a camera system.

"I don't know what they think is in there," Seaver said.

Seaver said little of value is kept in the center and now the employees are careful to take their own tools home after having tools stolen.

"Something needs to be done," GIS director Tim Bourassa said while going over the option of installing cameras at the recycling center with the commission. A new camera system could cost as much as $1,500.

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