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Champagne charged in connection with Great Falls thefts

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Posted at 4:39 PM, Jan 21, 2020
and last updated 2020-01-22 14:57:45-05

GREAT FALLS — Candida Margaret Champagne has been charged with one felony and two misdemeanors in Great Falls.

Court documents state that police were called to a home on the 500 block of Riverview Drive East on December 26th for a report of a burglary. The victim told police that he saw the suspect driving away, and provided a license plate number. The license plate is registered to Champagne, and officers found the vehicle at Champagne's residence.

She gave officers permission to search the vehicle, and they found much of the stolen property. In addition, officers found a silver pry bar, a "bent torx head" screwdriver, and night-vision binoculars. The court documents say that these items "can and were likely used for casing and entering an occupied structure such as the previously burglarized garage."

When questioned, Champagne denied any knowledge of who may have been driving her vehicle at the time of the burglary. Surveillance video of the vehicle from a fast-food restaurant at the time of the burglary showed an "unknown male" driving it. Officers also determined that the vehicle had been occupied at least two other times, but have not yet been able to identify any of the occupants.

Officers then talked with co-workers of Champagne; one of them said that someone else driving the vehicle picked Champagne up on the morning of the burglary, and she was also picked up from work about two hours after the burglary. Court documents state that this means the vehicle still would have contained the burglary tools and stolen property that was later recovered.

On January 2nd, officers talked with Champagne and asked who had picked her up from work. She said that it was a cousin. When an officer showed her a photo of the man driving her vehicle at the fast-food restaurant, Champagne "paused for a moment before telling him she did now known who it was." The court documents state: "Champagne's pause seemed unnatural and deceitful" based on the officer's training and experience, and "it appeared that she knowingly obstructed the investigation by means of deception, to prevent anyone from performing an act which might aid in the discovery or apprehension of the offender."

According to the charging documents, Champagne has two misdemeanor theft convictions.

Champagne has been charged with obstructing justice (felony), possession of burglary tools (misdemeanor), and theft-possession of stolen property (misdemeanor).


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NOTE: The information above is from court documents and/or publicly-available information filed in the case, and do not necessarily provide all of the information relevant to the case. Defendants are considered legally innocent until proven guilty in court.