Ephrata man sentenced for gas station theft

EPHRATA — A Ephrata man was sentenced for stealing from an Ephrata gas station.

Ryan Newman, 28, of Ephrata, pleaded guilty to third-degree theft. Grant County Superior Court Judge John Antosz followed a joint recommendation between Chief Deputy Prosecutor Alan White and defense attorney Susan Oglebay and sentenced Newman to 180 days in jail, with 150 days suspended for two years. Charges of unlawful imprisonment (domestic violence), second-degree assault (domestic violence) and third-degree malicious mischief were dropped in a plea agreement between White and Oglebay.

Newman’s sentence stems from an incident on Feb. 13, when the Ephrata Police Department received a report of a robbery at a gas station in the 700 block of Basin Street Northwest. A store employee advised a woman came into the store with a man he did not recognize, later identified as Newman, and the woman purchased some items while Newman stood behind her, according to police records.

Newman accused the store clerk of overcharging the woman, his girlfriend, and him for cigarettes. The employee told police he noticed Newman’s girlfriend had two black eyes. Newman told the clerk to get him two packs of cigarettes and told him if he told anyone he would “slap the s**t out of him.” Security camera footage reportedly shows Newman grabbing a lighter from the counter and putting it into his pocket as the clerk’s back was turned.

The clerk gave Newman two more packs of cigarettes and Newman asked him for a marijuana bong from a locked case. He handed the clerk a $1 bill and told the man to retrieve him a bong worth $20. Newman can reportedly be seen via video surveillance exiting the store and re-entering with a $20 bill to pay for the bong and eventually departing. The two packs of cigarettes totaled $17.12.

Later in the day the EPD responded to an alarm call at the same gas station and contacted Newman’s girlfriend. She wasn’t aware of the theft situation involving her boyfriend and the store clerk, but told officers Newman has assaulted her about three days prior. She said she had gotten into an argument with Newman and he got on top of her and punched her about 10 times in the face. She said earlier in the day on Feb. 13 she got into another argument with Newman and he took a screwdriver and stabbed her vehicle tire.

Officers contacted Newman at his home and he said that he was friends with the gas station clerk and sold him marijuana in the past. He said the cigarettes were given to him as payment for marijuana he previously sold to the clerk. When asked about fighting with his girlfriend, he said she was trying to leave and he took the keys to her vehicle in an attempt to stop her from leaving. He told police the woman punched herself and advised him she was going to call the police on him, according to police records.

Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.