Moses Lake Man Steals Canal Liners to Use in Kids Playground
The Grant County Sheriff's Office now says a 57-year-old man has been arrested on multiple charges, stemming from the theft of some irrigation canal liners on August 17th.
The man cut them off and took them from a construction site
The GCSO says 57-year-old Ivan Puyu was spotted by a US Bureau of Reclamation worker using a saw to cut up two large 60-by-36-foot liner sections that were stored on a flatbed trailer in the 500 Block of Road O Northeast. The location was being used as a staging area for crews who were repairing the East Columbia Basin Irrigation Canal that had breached on August 5th.
The canal was repaired within a few days, but some leftover equipment was still at this site.
After being confronted by the USBR worker, Puyu said he wanted to use the sections as liners underneath his children's playground equipment, and he thought they were leftover parts and would be thrown away.
Moses Lake Police detained Puyu until the Sheriff's Department arrived. Irrigation officials say the leftover parts would have been used elsewhere later, the cost to replace them is about $3,000.
Puyu is charged with 2nd Degree Theft and 2nd Degree Malicious Mischief.
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Gallery Credit: Katelyn Leboff
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