WILLISTON, N.D. — A man was using houses in remote areas of northwest North Dakota, including a site in a nearby ghost town, to hide a large stash of items stolen from Williston and the surrounding area, according to police and court records.
Toby McLaughlin, 36, racked up multiple felony theft charges for allegedly stealing huge amounts of furniture and other items from a local warehouse and storing it for future use in a man camp, according to a report from the Williams County Sheriff’s Office.
McLaughlin was allegedly using a site in Appam, and a house in Columbus to keep the stolen things, which included “couches, love seats, night stands, dressers, end tables and paintings,” according to the sheriff’s office report.
McLaughlin’s house in Appam, a tiny, mostly abandoned spot outside of Williston best known for the rustic wooden signs labeling what are now empty lots in the town, was littered with automobiles, debris piles, trailers, guns, ammunition, kitchen appliances, power tools and ID cards, a court report says.
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Last week, officers executing a search warrant at the remote site recovered a Suzuki dirt bike and a Hammerhead Go Kart, both of which were stolen in or near Williston several months ago.
A few days later, Williams and Burke county police searched McLaughlin’s house in Columbus, where most of the furniture was found. Someone living in the home told officers the items had come from a building or warehouse in the Williston area, the report says.
McLaughlin first drew attention from the police on June 9 in Divide County, where he was arrested for driving with a suspended license.
During the traffic stop, officers spotted power tools and ammunition which they recognized as some of the items reported missing in a heist totaling more than $10,000 from a hardware store in Crosby.
McLaughlin told police he was in the process of moving from Appam to a house in Columbus, and he’d been making trips to and from a storage unit in Crosby. The report says officers found stolen items in the storage unit as well.
McLaughlin was charged with four counts of possession of stolen property, all Class C felonies, and was being held at the Williams County Correctional Center on $30,000 bond.