Man sentenced for 17 vehicle break-ins

A 32-year-old Kalispell man charged with breaking into 17 vehicles in Columbia Falls and Kalispell during a four-month crime spree and issuing bad checks across the valley was sentenced to four years under the Department of Corrections.

Flathead County District Court Judge Heidi Ulbricht also sentenced Travis Eilers on Sept. 12 to four years under the Corrections Department, suspended and consecutive, and six months in the county jail, also suspended and consecutive. He was also ordered to pay $875 in restitution, a $2,000 fine with half suspended and $800 in public defender fees with half suspended.

Eilers was initially charged with theft, criminal mischief and issuing bad checks and faced up to 10 years in prison and a $50,000 fine for each felony charge if convicted.

According to court documents, Eilers broke into one unlocked vehicle and smashed a window to access the others. The crime spree lasted from Nov. 3, 2012 through March 18 this year.

The vehicles were parked at homes around the valley and at Teletech in Kalispell, Columbia Falls High School (two vehicles), North Valley Professional Center in Columbia Falls (two vehicles), Flathead Valley Community College (three vehicles), Kalispell Athletic Club, Trinity Lutheran Church in Kalispell (two vehicles), Gold Dust Casino and the post office on Meridian Road in Kalispell.

Missing items included cash, iPods, a GPS unit, cameras, cell phones, gift, credit and debit cards, purses, wallets, checkbooks, a laptop computer, a duffel bag with personal items and collectible coins. In one case, a woman claimed $1,300 was in her purse.

He was also charged with issuing nine bad checks on a Washington Trust Bank account at seven stores, saloons and casinos in November 2012, totaling $707.