Property found at LaCrosse: Bond set at $200,000 for suspect in 8 crimes

A $200,000 bond for pre-trial release was set for Paul S. Bickle, 32, new LaCrosse resident who was arrested Monday as a suspect in at least eight crimes committed over the past three weeks. Also arrested was Vikki Jane Kropp, 37, who officers say resided with Bickle at the trailer home in LaCrosse.

They were arrested Monday after officers in Pullman said they observed them attempt to break into a construction trailer at the WalMart site the previous night.

Bickle started work as a night watchman at the WalMart site at the first of the month.

Bond for pre-trial release of the suspect was set by Court Commissioner Gary Libey.

Bickle was booked into jail Monday at 5:25 p.m. on four probable charges of burglary in the second degree and two counts of theft of a motor vehicle.

Kropp, 37, was booked on probable charges of possession of stolen property, vehicle prowl and trespass.

Monday’s arrests followed an investigation conducted by Sheriff’s Deputies and Pullman Police after break-ins were reported in the Colfax area and in Pullman. The chain of violent burglaries began July 21 when a window was shattered at Arrow Machinery four miles north of Colfax on Highway 195.

Pullman Police Officer William Orsborn, in an arrest report filed Tuesday in superior court, estimated property worth more than $10,000 was found at a trailer home on Clark Street in LaCrosse where the couple had moved. The report said some of the suspected stolen property was being kept under an outside awning because of space limits in the trailer home.

Officers served a warrant to search the mobile home site. The report said property taken from two burglaries at Arrow, from two vehicles taken from the Department of Transportation shops next to Arrow on the same nights, from a truck which was taken at Palouse River Rock on the Walla Walla highway at Colfax, from Ace Hardware in Pullman, from Rite Aid in Pullman and from the WalMart site were found.

According to the report, Bickle surfaced as a suspect when the superintendent for Bateman-Hall, the general contractor for the WalMart construction, reported Aug. 4 tools had turned up missing from subcontractors trailers and materials, including a pallet of 12 X 12 ceramic tiles, were missing. The superintendent, Chuck Bowers, told police he had become concerned about Bickle who had just finished his first four-night stint as watchman. He was expected to start another four days Saturday.

After the site superintendent reported he had recently hired Bickle as night watchman police ran a records check of Bickle and determined he had 14 felony convictions on the west side of the state involving property crimes.

According to the report, Pullman officers placed the WalMart site under surveillance Sunday night and Monday. They allege they observed Bickle attempt to pry open a construction trailer while Kropp held a flashlight. The report said Kropp had been left at the Shopko lot across Bishop Blvd. from the WalMart site while Bickle reported for his night shift at WalMart. After all other workers had cleared the site, Bickle opened the gate and allowed Kropp to enter.

The report said Pullman police followed the two suspects early Monday morning to LaCrosse where they were arrested.

Bickle is suspected of the Arrow and DOT break-ins July 21 and 28 north of Colfax. Property taken from the Arrow break-ins was valued at approximately $18,000.

He was also suspected of taking a truck from the Palouse River Rock site on the Walla Walla highway west of Colfax July 28. The truck was later found at the Palouse Empire Fairgrounds, but equipment which had been on the truck was missing.

Bickle is suspected of breaking into the Ace Hardware site at the Wheatland Shopping Center on S. Grand Aug. 1. Value of the loss at Ace was placed at more than $4,100. Two days later the RiteAid at the center was also hit. That led to a foot chase of a suspect across the WalMart site which is located on the hill behind the shopping center. The suspect was able to elude police by jumping over a retaining wall and running north into a residential area.

The Arrow, Ace and Rite Aid thefts all involved entry by breaking glass windows or doors. The report noted surveillance cameras outside the two Pullman stores had apparently been blocked by the suspect. However, cameras at Ace showed the suspect, who was wearing a ski type mask, had made three trips into the store to remove items.

The report noted some of the tiles and other materials taken from the WalMart site has apparently been used on a remodeling project which was underway on the trailer at LaCrosse.