On Sept. 4, a 51-year-old Lopez man was convicted of malicious mischief in the third degree, a gross misdemeanor requiring six months of time served and $3,011 in restitution. Evan Robard Thorp will serve three months in jail and three months on work crew.

Officers first responded to a hit and run complaint on Jan. 20. According to court documents, the complainant, who owns an automobile mechanic shop on Lopez, said he had left a truck with the keys in the ignition for a customer to pick up after hours. The complainant said this was “a common practice of his as a courtesy to his customers.” The next morning the truck was in the same place but with damage to the front.

On Jan. 30, Thorp called the complainant to tell him that he had borrowed the truck under the impression that it was his friend’s truck, and did not know at the time it belonged to someone else. He offered to pay, and the complainant told him it was in the process of being fixed and to call back the following week.

Thorp told sheriff’s officers that during the early morning hours of Jan. 20 he had been driving to the ferry landing to catch a boat to Orcas when he “opened and shut his car door and slammed his finger with the car door when he closed it.” As a result, his car went into the ditch. He then used the truck, located at the mechanic shop down the road, to pull out his car, damaging the front in the process. The owner of the truck stated to officers that he did not know Thorp.