Fire victim a suspect in burglary
Could it be retribution for being a suspect in the theft of power-pole collectibles?
By CHERY SABOL
The Daily Inter Lake
Alvin Matthews of Kalispell was reportedly set on fire Friday. His car burned on Monday.
Could it be retribution for being a suspect in the theft of power-pole collectibles?
Last Thursday, Matthews' home on Kalispell's west side was searched by law officers from Lewis and Clark County, with the help of Kalispell police.
Officers were looking for glass insulators - those bulbs that are attached to telephone and electrical power poles. While some are still in use, most have become part of a culture of collectors.
Detective Ray Potter of Lewis and Clark County said a collection of insulators, valued at $100,000, was recently stolen from a Helena Valley man's home.
The man had held an insulator swap meet a few weeks before and Matthews had attended.
Later, someone called the Helena man. The caller said his name was "Jack" and that he had inherited some insulators that he wanted the man to look at. When the Helena man went to Kalispell to meet the fictitious "Jack," someone burglarized his home and took about 80 valuable insulators.
With evidence pointing to Matthews as a suspect, Potter obtained a warrant to search Matthews' home.
Officers seized hundreds of insulators from Mathews' home. An insulator collector will evaluate them to see if they belong to the Helena man, Potter said.
The insulators come in a range of colors and shapes, which makes a third-party appraiser necessary, Potter said.
One insulator alone is valued at $20,000, he said.
Matthews has not been charged with any crime.
The day after his home was searched, Matthews was reportedly attacked.
He said he answered his door to find a stranger who threw gasoline from a small container onto Matthews. The assailant then reportedly ignited the fuel with a lighter. Matthews said he extinguished the fire with his T-shirt.
He went to the hospital for treatment of minor burns.
Early Monday, Matthews' station wagon burned outside his home. The Kalispell Fire Department determined that the fire was not accidentally or mechanically caused. It started in the passenger compartment.
Potter said he heard that Matthews has said he was targeted because he is suspected in the insulator theft.
If he is connected to the theft, he could be charged with burglary or possession of stolen property, Potter said.
Reporter Chery Sabol may be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at csabol@dailyinterlake.com