Vancouver man accused in July theft of excavator

A Vancouver man is accused in the July theft of an excavator from a job site for Clark County Public Works north of Dollars Corner.

Andrew Kyle Miller, 36, appeared Monday in Clark County Superior Court on suspicion of first-degree possession of stolen property and first-degree theft. Judge Gregory Gonzales set bail at $35,000, court records show.

Clark County sheriff’s deputies were contacted July 17 about an excavator that had been stolen overnight from Northeast 259th Street and Northeast 72nd Avenue. Mark Clark, co-owner of Clark and Son’s Excavating, reported the theft and said there was a GPS tracker on the excavator. He said he was en route to recover it, according to an affidavit of probable cause.

The business’s other co-owner, Josiah Thomas, said the excavator was last seen around 5 p.m. the evening before, parked on a hill. The foreman discovered it was missing the next morning. It was described as a gray 2011 Takeuchi with red writing on it, black rubber tracks and “Clark and Son’s Excavating” stickers on the sides, the affidavit says.

The GPS showed the excavator was about 500 feet south of Kadow’s Marina on Northwest Lover River Road at 6:53 a.m. A deputy responded and found it in the 10000 block of Northwest Lower River Road, sitting on a flatbed trailer. The trailer had an Oregon license plate, and dispatch found it was reported stolen June 25, along with a John Deere excavator. The trailer was attached to a green Dodge Ram pickup with Washington license plates registered to Miller, according to the court document.

Clark and Thomas identified the excavator as theirs and noted the business stickers had been removed. They provided proof of purchase, approximately $28,500, and the serial number for verification. They also showed the GPS tracker information, court records state.

Two women at the scene said Miller was driving the truck and trailer, and said they had seen him earlier that morning, according to the affidavit.

Miller will be arraigned Friday.