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An insurance agent who admitted earlier this month to pocketing a friend's $6,900 check is now wanted for skipping out on serving her sentence.
A no-bail arrest warrant was issued Thursday for Kelly Anne Winebarger.
Judge Vic VanderSchoor ordered the warrant after a Benton County corrections officer said Winebarger never reported to the jail.
She was sentenced Aug. 5 in Benton County Superior Court to a month in jail for first-degree theft. She was given the option of serving the time on work release or a work crew, but her deadline to report was Aug. 11, according to court officials.
Winebarger was an insurance agent for Steve Shoemaker Insurance in April when she told a woman she needed a check from her for $6,500 to pay a premium. The victim wrote a check for that amount to the insurance company.
That check was altered to read $6,900 with payment to Winebarger, court documents show. The victim only learned of the forgery when she got a letter from the company thanking her for a $2,217 payment.
Winebarger deposited the check into her own account, documents said. She called her own employer and made the smaller payment for the customer, then used the rest of the money, allegedly to pay off her husband's car.
2 face trial for allegedly stealing copper wire
Two Western Washington men are being held on $25,000 bail each on charges they broke into the Benton Rural Electric Association yard to steal copper wire.
Gary Alan Shaw, 55, and Roger Dean Engel, 51, face trials Oct. 11 for one count of second-degree burglary. Shaw is from Maple Valley and Engel is from nearby Ravensdale, court documents show.
Prosser police responded to the Benton REA property at 3 a.m. Aug. 11 after Moon Security alerted them to an alarm going off in the 402 Seventh St. yard. Officers initially saw two people walking down the alley, but once stopped could only find Engel, documents said.
A hole had been cut in the yard's chain-link fence and four rolls of high-grade copper wire were found stacked inside next to the hole, said court documents.
Police also discovered shoe prints underneath a window to the business office. The screen had been pried loose.
The shoe prints allegedly were similar to the shoes worn by Shaw, who was found under a loading dock near the Benton REA yard, documents said.
Engel's car was impounded so police could search it after seeing wire and bolt cutters inside.
Deputy Prosecutor Megan Bredeweg requested the $25,000 bail for each suspect because of their previous criminal history.
Shaw has two prior burglary convictions and faces four years in prison if convicted, she said. Engel's record includes convictions in Washington back to the '80s, in addition to a criminal history in three other states.
Pasco woman pleads innocent to hit-and-run
A Pasco woman faces trial Oct. 18 for allegedly hitting a young bicyclist after failing to stop for a red light.
Stacy Gay Lane, 51, pleaded innocent to hit-and-run with injury.
Court documents show that Adrian Torres was riding his bicycle in the crosswalk with the "walk" signal on June 6 when he was hit by Lane's Oldsmobile Alero.
Lane didn't stop for a red light at Clearwater Avenue and Yost Street in Kennewick, documents said.
Torres, 12, was knocked off his bike and suffered bruises to his knee.
Another motorist followed the Oldsmobile to get the license plate and pass it on to emergency dispatchers.
Lane later admitted to "nipping" the bike with her car, but told Kennewick police she didn't stop because she thought Torres was not injured because she saw him get up, court documents said.
Lane failed to appear at her scheduled court hearing in late July. She is out of custody after posting $5,000 bail.
-- Kristin M. Kraemer: 582-1531; kkraemer@tricityherald.com
