Dewey Earl Lake, Jr. v. United States

On April 30, 1965, an Ingersoll-Rand Air Compressor, Model D.L. 600, Serial No. 34949 (having a value of over $20,000) was received as part of a shipment from New York by the Loggers and Contractors Machinery Company in Portland. The compressor was kept on the open storage lot of the Company and was at that location on May 14, 1965 when an inventory was taken. When the next inventory was taken in mid-June, 1965, the compressor was missing.

The evidence showed that, on about May 17, 1965, appellant Lake hired a truck driver, Lee Grimm, to drive a truck from Portland to Klamath Falls. Lake instructed Grimm to rent a truck from Hertz Truck Rental. Grimm, using Lake’s credit card, rented a 16 foot Ford Van on May 17, 1965, but returned the truck the following day after being told by Lake that “The load wasn’t ready to go. About a week later, on May 23, 1965, Grimm again rented a truck from Hertz with Lake and Goutermont present, and made a $200.00 cash down payment which he received from Lake. This truck —which Grimm was hired by Lake to drive to Reno, Nevada — -was an 18 foot Ford Van, and was driven by Grimm to the home in Portland of one Linda Moran. The stolen air compressor had…