Sentences handed down for Arrow, DOT burglars

Paul S. Bickle and Vikki Kropp, who were arrested after officers located stacks of stolen property at a mobile home where they had been living in LaCrosse, were both sentenced last Friday in superior court. The arrests ended a summer crime spree in which businesses at Colfax and Pullman, and the Department of Transportation were hit.

Bickle, 35, was sentenced to 68 months in prison. Originally charged with 21 counts, he pleaded guilty Oct. 29 to a reduced charge of four counts of burglary.

Bickle, who has a record on 10 crimes going back 14 years in Kitsap County, had an offender score of 22. With that score, each of the burglary convictions was in the 51-68 month range. Judge David Frazier opted for the top of the range, but allowed Bickle to serve the terms consecutively.

Bickle was also ordered to pay a total of $41,185 in fines and fees and restitution. He was ordered to pay restitution to Arrow Machinery of $10,386 and the State Department of Transportation of $3,791. Bickle twice last summer broke out glass at the Arrow building north of Colfax and took items from the showroom. He also broke into the neighboring DOT complex next to Arrow and took a truck. In both cases, the truck was found on a neighboring road.

Among other restitution recipients listed were Palouse River Rock $1,000, Rite Aid in Pullman, $1,100, Bateman Hall Contractors at the WalMart site $4,879 and other contractors and individuals on the construction site.

Kropp, 37, who pleaded guilty to an amended charge of third degree theft, was sentenced to a year in jail with six months suspended. The prosecutor had recommended she be sentenced to 30 days because she assisted in convicting Bickle, but Judge Frazier opted for the six-month term. Noting Kropp benefited from the string of break-ins and thefts, the judge said he has sentenced shoplifters to more that 30 days, and her involvement in the summer crime spree was much more serious than shoplifting.

Kropp was initially charged with possession of stolen property, and two counts of attempted burglary. Officers contend they saw her assist Bickle by holding a flashlight when he was attempting to break into a construction trailer at the WalMart site the night of Aug. 8-9. Bickle had actually been hired as a night watchman at the site in Pullman. Officers had the site under surveillance that night and followed the duo to the mobile home in LaCrosse. They reported the amount of stolen property at the trailer house was so extensive some of the items were kept outside under an awning.

Kropp was credited for 23 days already served in jail. After she was arrested and held on $50,000 bond, she was released on her own recognizance Aug. 25 and gave her residence as Bremerton.

She was ordered to pay $1,700 in fines and fees and will be under 24 months of unsupervised probation. She was taken back into custody last Friday.