Charges filed for possession of stolen property, meth

OROVILLE – The theft of a gold dredge and sluice led to the arrest of two men on Thursday, April 2 after they were found to be in possession of the items at a Balmes Road residence. In addition, one of the men was charged for possession of methamphetamine.

Jeffrey D. Clark, 59, of Oroville and Anthony R. Jolly, 37, of Tonasket, were both arrested and transported to the Okanogan County Jail and were booked for possession of stolen property in the third degree. Clark was also booked on possession of methamphetamine, since it was his residence, according to Sheriff Frank Rogers.

On March 26 Okanogan County Sheriff’s Deputies received a report that someone had entered a residence and a trailer on Broser Way in the Mt. Hull area, where several items were stolen, including a gold dredge and gold sluice, along with tools, according to Sheriff Rogers.

“Prior to the report of the theft, deputies received a complaint on March 17 that Anthony R. Jolly had been trying to sell a gold dredge and sluice. They contacted Jolly at Jeffrey D. Clark’s residence at 15 Balmes Rd. They looked at the items and photographed them because it was suspicious but there had been no theft report at the time,” said the sheriff.

According to the incident report, the theft victims had not discovered the items were missing until March 26. When they made the discovery they filed a report and the deputies showed the victims photos of the items at the Balmes Road residence and they said that the dredge and sluice were in fact the ones stolen from their residence on Broser Way.

“Good job on the deputies checking out the complaint and photographing the items at the time,” said Rogers.

A search warrant was obtained and on April 2 deputies executed the warrant at 15 Balmes Road.

“Once in the residence they located the stolen gold dredge and sluice upstairs. They also found drugs at the residence which they believed to be methamphetamine,” said Rogers, who added, the investigation is still on going at this time.