Arlee man charged with burglary, theft of bus parts

An Arlee man is accused of stealing parts from an Arlee School bus and breaking into the Arlee Elementary School. Donovan Chase McDonald, 27, entered a plea of not guilty in Polson District Court Dec. 21 to felony charges of criminal mischief, theft and burglary.

According to court records, on Oct. 19, 2020, Lt. Levi Read with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office responded to a burglary report at the Arlee Schools. There, he investigated the theft of a catalytic converter which had been cut off of the exhaust system of a school bus. Wires and other cables were also cut or ripped away from the bus.

Lt. Read located the stolen bus part at the Axmen in Missoula two days later. It had been sold as scrap metal for $1.74 per pound for the 87-pound part. Repairs to the bus were estimated at approximately $7,000.

McDonald was also linked, via video surveillance, to a burglary at the Arlee Elementary School. He and another man, identified as Michael Garza, allegedly appear in the video surveillance approaching the school on bikes at 12:45 a.m. June 6. McDonald can be seen carrying a pipe or crow bar in his hand.

The video also shows Garza take a “row” of backpacks and place them in a garbage bag. The next day a child at the school was bragging to other students about her new shoes. The shoes matched the description of a pair of shoes taken the night before. The girl stated that her father, Garza, gave her the new shoes and that he had a lot of backpacks.

Lt. Read applied for and was granted a search warrant for the residences of both McDonald and Garza. McDonald was still wearing the same clothes he appeared to be wearing in the surveillance video.

McDonald is also facing a drug possession charge. A pretrial hearing is set for April 11 in that matter.

Judge Deborah “Kim” Christopher set the new cases for trial June 10. McDonald's bond totals $140,000.

Garza has not yet been charged for his alleged involvement.