Sidney man receives probation for theft of truck

Wyatt Coleman was sentenced to two years of probation on Tuesday for stealing a pickup truck from a Sidney residence in December 2013.

The pickup was recovered by the Weld County sheriff’s department near Greeley, Colorado a few days after it was stolen. Coleman was reportedly driving the truck on Interstate 76 when he was pulled over and arrested.

On April 2 Coleman pled no contest to one count of theft by unlawful taking, a class four felony.

All parties agreed that a waiver of probation fees would be appropriate, in exchange for Coleman paying restitution to the victim of his crime.

“To be honest, he is a perfect candidate for probation,” said deputy Cheyenne County attorney Jonathon Stellar.

Joel Jay, representing Coleman explained his client’s background to the court.

“Mr. Coleman went through a very bad period about a year ago,” Jay said.

The house in which Jay and his girlfriend were living at the time burned down.

“He started making some bad choices,” Jay said.

Coleman then lost his job, was homeless for a while and he and his girlfriend broke up. Although he didn’t enjoy the jail time after his arrest, it gave Coleman some time to reflect and clean up his act, Jay said. Now the defendant has a job with a local contractor and is striving to reconcile with his girlfriend.

“He’s working now, trying to do some things that are different,” Jay said.

In addition to the two years of probation time, Coleman was also ordered to complete a substance abuse evaluation and to abide by its orders as well as to get his GED.

“A GED will help you improve your employability, so get it done,” Weimer said.

The court agreed to waive probation fees so the defendant could pay the victim $800 in restitution.

Although Coleman provided information about another burglary to which he was tangentially connected to local law enforcement, he did not know enough about the crime to bring about any charges. That case is currently stalled, Stellar said.