Police: Local man arrested after stealing truck, attempting to push it over cliffside

POCATELLO — A 22-year-old local man was recently arrested after police say he stole a truck, damaged it significantly and then attempted to push it off a cliff using another vehicle.

Sabin Leo Reyes, of Pocatello, has been charged with grand theft and destruction of evidence, both felonies, following an incident that began to unfold on July 20, according to police and court records the Idaho State Journal recently obtained.

Around 5:15 a.m. on July 20 a local man called Pocatello police to report that his 2000 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck had been stolen from his residence, police said.

Around 2:20 p.m. on July 20, an anonymous citizen called to report locating the truck on a cliff near the Trail Creek towers on Howard Mountain near the border of Power and Bannock counties, the report says.

A Power County deputy responded to the truck and confirmed it was the one that had been reported stolen earlier, noting that it was heavily damaged and high-centered on large rocks on the cliff’s edge, police said.

“Due to the damage to the vehicle, the location of the damage, the paint transfer marks, the disturbed ground around the vehicle, and large rocks being used to weigh down the gas pedals,” officers believed whoever stole the vehicle attempted to push the Silverado off of the cliff’s edge with a separate vehicle, the report says.

Officers processed the vehicle and contacted the man who reported it stolen, who noted that several items had been removed from inside the truck, including an inflatable raft, fishing poles and tools, police said.

Officers through the course of investigating the incident heard from witnesses who said that Reyes used his own 2004 GMC Yukon to try and push the stolen truck over the cliff’s edge, according to the report.

On July 21, a search warrant was executed on the GMC Yukon and officers located the raft, fishing poles and tools that had been reported stolen from the Silverado, police said.

Officers interviewed Reyes at the Pocatello Police Department on July 21, during which he admitted to stealing the Silverado and attempting to push it off the cliff with his Yukon, the report says.

Reyes was then charged, arrested and booked inside the Bannock County Jail in Pocatello.

He appeared in front of 6th District Magistrate Judge David Hooste for an arraignment hearing on July 22, during which his bond was set at $10,000. Reyes posted the bond on Thursday and was released from jail.

Reyes is due back in court for a preliminary hearing on Aug. 1, which will involve local prosecutors attempting to prove there is enough evidence against him to elevate the case from the magistrate to district court level for trial.

If convicted of the felony grand theft and destruction of evidence charges, Reyes faces up to 19 years in prison and a fine of up to $15,000.