A man police described as "homeless" was sentenced to 60 days in the Blaine County jail after pleading guilty Monday to stealing a bicycle from a Hailey thrift store.
Forty-five-year-old John F. Bennett was originally arrested Sunday on a charge of felony burglary. He pleaded guilty instead Monday to misdemeanor petit theft and was sentenced.
Hailey police alleged that Bennett, around noon on Sunday, climbed a fence behind the Barkin' Basement Thrift Store on Main Street and took the bike, valued at $500. A passerby reportedly witnessed the theft and called police. Bennett was apprehended a few minutes later in the alley behind the Hailey police office, which is on the same block as the thrift store.
"We asked him where he got the bike and he said he stole it," said Hailey Assistant Police Chief Dave Stellers, who described Bennett as a "homeless guy that's been in the area a few years."
According to the police report, Bennett has been living in the Lion's Park area. The park, west of Hailey near the Big Wood River, is an area that has been inhabited in the past by homeless people.
Bennett has had other encounters with the law in Blaine County.
According to court records, he has been convicted for petit theft twice before. Since 2001, he has also been convicted in the county of DUI, criminal trespass, resisting arrest, being an intoxicated pedestrian, possession of a controlled substance, unlawful weapons discharge and probation violation.
Terry Smith: tsmith@mtexpress.com
John F. Bennett
