Man denies theft of a $12,000 grain auger

A Havre man denied charges Wednesday in District Court that he stole a $12,000 Grain Vax auger from a farm in western Hill County.

Jason Anthony Laner, born in 1978, is charged with felony theft and misdemeanor theft.

He was being held in the Hill County Detention Center this morning on $2,000 bond.

Court charging documents say a farmer reported to the Hill County Sheriff’s office March 26 that a REM 2700 model grain vac was stolen from his farm.

It appeared someone had driven onto his farm, hooked onto the grain vac and then drove off with it, documents say. He added that he followed the furrows from the gravel road to where the grain vac had been.

An informant reported to the sheriff’s office April 10 that it was Laner who took the grain vac, or he knew where it was. A deputy called Laner’s parole officer to say he would be in touch with Laner.

Deputies went to Laner’s home April 20 and, although he wasn’t there, they found a red motorcycle on the property that matched the vehicle identification number of a motorcycle that had been reported stolen and the deputies had been investigating its whereabouts, documents say.

When Laner arrived home, he told deputies where the grain vac was, the documents say. Deputies went to the ranch where he said it was located and spoke to the couple who lived there.

The man said they were introduced to Laner by friends and that he just started showing up afterward.

The woman told deputies that one early morning Laner pulled up on their property with a red motorcycle in the bed of his pickup truck. The two of them ended up unloading the motorcycle near of the grain bins, the woman told deputies.

The woman said Laner had brought the grain vac — which she described as “very large and either reddish or yellowish” — to the ranch some time later. She knew he was trying to trade it in for some money Laner owed her husband, documents say.

The woman said Laner showing up with the motorcycle and the large grain bin was “very suspicious.” She said she began texting Laner to get the grain vac, the motorcycle and his truck off their property. After several days of no action, the woman said, she had someone transport Laner’s pickup and the motorcycle to Laner’s Havre address.

The woman showed deputies text messages in which she is telling Laner to move the items off their property. One text message, documents say, shows the woman saying if he had a clean bill of sale, she would value the grain vac at zero.

Text messages dated after deputies looking for the grain vac had visited them show the woman telling Laner to get the stolen grain vac off their property, documents say.

A deputy asked the woman where the grain vac was now and she told them all she knew was that is was gone.

The man said that, after the last message his wife had sent Laner, the grain vac was taken to a gravel pit. Deputies then located the grain vac at that location.

Deputies interviewed the man from the ranch April 27, during which text conversations between the woman and Laner were heavily discussed.

Documents say it was determined the woman wanted to cut ties with Laner and she had asked him several times to remove the items he brought on their property. The woman had the motorcycle and the truck removed and the man had the grain vac removed.

The man told the investigating deputy he didn’t call law enforcement “out of fear of retribution from Laner.”