Malden youth back in jail

Christopher Thornton, 17, the Malden youth who was convicted in 2015 of a series of car thefts and a high speed police chase, was arrested Monday on a charge of taking a Toyota pickup truck from Malden. Deputies received a report that the truck was missing, and a resident along the Malden-Pine City road later reported he found a pickup on his property. He said the truck had been covered over with branches in what appeared to be an attempt to hide it, according to the arrest report.

The report said Thornton later admitted to taking the truck. In November of 2015, Thornton was ordered to be confined in detention to between 40 and 52 weeks after admitting charges of vehicle theft, residential burglary and attempting to elude an officer. The case involved a series of vehicle thefts when Thornton and a juvenile girl made a run through Washington, Idaho and Oregon.

Thornton in January of 2016 was ordered to pay $3,456 restitution to five different victims of the 2015 spree.

Thornton Tuesday posted a $2,500 bond for pre-trial release in the new case involving a pickup truck.