Martin City man charged with theft of computers from business

A Martin City man has been charged in Flathead District Court after he allegedly stole from a Columbia Falls business, left his cellular phone behind and later claimed he was kidnapped and forced to commit burglary.

Daniel Shaw, 20, was arrested Oct. 23 following the theft of  computers two days earlier at Nelson Tech Support on Nucleus Avenue.

The Flathead County Attorney’s Office has charged him with felony burglary and three misdemeanors — criminal mischief, theft and giving false reports to law enforcement authorities.

 According to court documents, Adam Nelson, the owner of the business, reported the burglary after discovering someone had cut the power to the building and severed cables connected to a security system.

Nelson gave a red cellular phone left at the scene to the Columbia Falls Police Department. A photo of Shaw was found on the phone, according to court documents.

Shaw gave a written statement to police Oct. 23 in which he claimed he had been kidnapped and forced to commit the burglary by two unknown men. He said they took the Gateway and Asis computers stolen from Nelson Tech Support.

When an officer began reading him his Miranda rights, he confessed that the computers were at his trailer in Martin City, according to court documents.

An arraignment has not yet been scheduled.

The maximum penalty for burglary is up to 20 years in prison and a $50,000 fine. The four misdemeanor charges each carry the possibility of six months in jail.