A judge sentenced a Battle Ground man to 60 days in jail — half of which he may be able to serve on a work crew — in connection with the theft of three travel-trailers in August 2022 from a storage area near Walnut Grove.
Matthew A. Scott, 40, pleaded guilty last month in Clark County Superior Court to first-degree possession of stolen property. He originally faced first-degree theft and second-degree burglary, along with a co-defendant, identified in court records as Ramsey Shabeeb.
The case against Shabeeb is pending, court records show.
Prior to being sentenced, Scott told Judge Robert Lewis the incident was a wake-up call, and he’s learned his lesson.
On Aug. 15, 2022, someone reported three trailers were stolen from Curtis Trailers’ storage area. The person had last been to the storage area four days earlier, so officers determined the trailers were stolen sometime between those dates, according to a probable cause affidavit.
An anonymous tipster reported to the Clark County Sheriff’s Office that Scott and Shabeeb rented U-Hauls and stole the trailers. The person said one of the trailers was at Scott’s house and another was at a house in Amboy, the affidavit states.
U-Haul confirmed to deputies that Shabeeb rented a pickup Aug. 12, 2022, and extended it to Aug. 16, 2022. The company also said Scott rented a box truck Aug. 15, 2022, court records state.
When deputies went to Scott’s house, they saw a brand-new trailer parked on the street in front. The vehicle identification number returned as one of the stolen trailers. A neighbor told deputies Scott told them he bought the trailer for $30,000. Scott told deputies a man he knows dropped off the trailer at his house and hadn’t come back for it; he wouldn’t tell deputies who the man was, according to the affidavit.
Deputies also found another trailer that matched the description of the stolen ones at the Amboy house. The man who lived there said Shabeeb asked him to store the trailer until he could find somewhere else for it. He said Shabeeb told him he leased the trailer, court records state.
The affidavit states the two trailers found at Scott’s house and the Amboy house were valued at $89,00 and $78,000.
