Man nabbed in forest fee thefts

Investigators with the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office announced on Monday, August 30, the arrest of 41-year-old James Preston Storns of Bend in connection with a string of thefts from Forest Service fee tubes from High Lakes to Sisters.

According to sheriff's office reports, 34 such thefts were reported from May through August of this year. Fee tubes are used to collect trail fees at trailheads and other recreation areas requiring passes in the Deschutes National Forest.

The sheriff's office and Forest Service law enforcement personnel ran an operation on Monday, August 30, that resulted in catching the suspect allegedly in the act of stealing one of the fee tubes.

The sheriff's office reported that they caught Storns trying to break into one of the fee tubes he had allegedly stolen and they took him into custody without incident.

Storns was charged with two counts of first degree theft and one count of first degree criminal mischief; 31 counts of second degree criminal mischief and 15 counts of second degree theft.