By Alan Sorensen
A father and son who came here this week from Colorado to help build a church on Rocky Boys Reservation were victimized by thieves twice after reaching Montana.
Lee Larson and his 15-year-old son, Jason, brought camping equipment for their one-week stay in the Bear Paw Mountains. They also brought along drywall equipment from the familys construction business in Loveland, Colo.
Pastor Joe Bailey of Our Saviours Lutheran Church at Rocky Boy said the first set of thieves struck while the pair were in Billings. Most of the Larsens drywall equipment was taken from their pickup.
The second theft occurred while they were staying at a Havre motel.
Havre police report that Larsen notified them shortly after 10 a.m. Tuesday that someone stole several items from the back of their pickup parked in the 100 block of Sixth Avenue. Taken were a new Coleman lantern with case, new queen-size mattress in box, extra-long gray/green sleeping bag, bright yellow tool box containing some drywall tools.
Bailey said the Larsens purchased replacements for most of the stolen items and reported for work at the church Tuesday afternoon. He expressed regret that the Larsens were getting, in his opinion, the wrong impression of Montana and Montanans.
Police are continuing their investigation of the theft.
