Man steals lawn mower to escape from Greenacres | Crime

A morning ride on the lawn mower wasn’t an attempt of yard work. Instead a thief was using it to escape Greenacres following a residential burglary.

Robert Morey, 22, had a fight with his girlfriend the morning of July 5 so she dropped him off on “some road” in Greenacres. Morey proceeded to burglarize a nearby home on the 5500 block of South Conklin Road, running off with some guns, coins and a lawn mower.

Later that morning around 9 a.m., Spokane County Sheriff’s Office started hearing word of a suspicious man carrying firearms while riding a lawn mower down the road near White and Linke Road. When deputies responded they were unable to locate the lawn mower there, but seven miles away along the 19200 block of East Belmont Road, there it was.

The lawnmower was impounded for safekeeping since deputies had yet to receive a theft report for the equipment.

Later that day around 1:30 p.m., deputies started receiving calls regarding a suspicious person walking near Belmont and Linke. That’s when they caught up with Morey who was sitting on an embankment. Deputies discovered Morey had a Department of Corrections felony warrant for Escape and he was booked into Spokane County Jail.

Morey disclosed to deputies that he was the suspicious rider of the lawn mower reported earlier that morning. He ditched the firearms off the side of the road because he couldn’t carry everything.

A few hours later, deputies responded to a residential burglary call where the homeowners say they just returned home from their holiday at the lake and discovered their house had been burglarized. The homeowner says he was missing firearms, valuable coins and a lawn mower. Suddenly the pieces were coming together.

Deputies had to go back to the jail to interview Morey where he admitted to the firearm thefts. Morey says he stole the guns because he was prohibited to be in possession of firearms. He says he just wanted one.

Morey also explained he left the lawn mower where deputies found it because he ran out of gas.

The full list of charges on Morey include Unlawful Possession of a Firearm, 1st Degree Burglary, Theft of a Firearm and 2nd Degree Theft.