$100,000 gets man charged in MTA theft out of jail

PALMER — Every prisoner in Alaska is entitled to post bail, but Bob Ristick’s bail almost seemed like the kind that’s so high it’s impossible to post — $100,000 cash.

Ristick, 40, was one of three men arrested for allegedly stealing copper wire from a secured lot at the Matanuska Telephone Association two weeks ago. Also arrested were Robert Stevens, an associate of Ristick’s, and Howard Tresham, 44, a 25-year employee of MTA who had access to the lot.

Last week, Palmer Superior Court Judge Vanessa White kept Ristick’s bail amount where it was set, but dropped a requirement he find a third party to watch over him before he can be released.

And while it may seem incredible, court records show Ristick managed to have his attorney bring that $100,000 cash to the courthouse and bail him out on Thursday. And jail records confirm it — Ristick is listed as being on “community supervision.”

Ristick and Stevens are not Alaska residents, said Palmer Police Detective Sergeant Kelly Turney, the officer who put the case against all three of the defendants together, in a previous interview. Both are residents of Oregon. And both, apparently, are exceedingly mobile. In his investigation, Turney said previously that he found the men had been in Valdez, Anchorage, Fairbanks and Kodiak. In each place they were looking for scrap, though not necessarily scrap obtained illegally.

Both were finally arrested in Juneau aboard a ferry loaded mostly with legislators on their way to the capitol for the start of this year’s legislative session. One man, Jeff Davis, another of Ristick’s associates, is still at large. He didn’t get on the ship to Juneau with the other two men.

The copper allegedly stolen from MTA amounted to $114,500 worth of material — 30,000 feet of wire. It came on huge spools that required a flatbed trailer to move. Tresham was allegedly paid $5,000 for the wire, which was recovered in Anchorage before it could be shipped to a scrap yard in the Lower 48. Most of the money Tresham was paid, Turney has said, was also recovered.

Tresham, Ristick and Stevens all face identical charges — two counts each of first-degree theft, a Class B felony.

There are two counts, Turney said, because this wasn’t the first time he thinks they’ve allegedly run this scheme. The last time it happened was in December, when half as much material was taken from the lot.

Jail records Friday evening showed Stevens was still housed at the Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility. Court records show Tresham was in custody only briefly before he posted $5,000 bond and was released.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.