Nicholas Spoors

A Cedar Springs man who was on parole is back in jail and facing a multitude of charges in two counties after he cut his tether and stole a snowmobile.
Nicholas William Spoors, 21, is now lodged in the Kent County jail and is also facing charges in Montcalm County.
According to Howard City Police Chief Steve DeWitt, the Howard City Police Department responded to the Village Trails residential park on January 16 about 10:45 a.m. on a report of an attempted larceny of a snowmobile. The victim went outside in the morning to find someone had removed his Ski Doo snowmobile off of a trailer and attempted to hot wire the ignition to steal it, but they were unsuccessful. The victim’s vehicle was also broken into and a snowmobile helmet and gloves were stolen.
Officers tracked the suspect in the snow and it appears he tried to enter a shed and prowled around in the area and backyards of other residences.
Officers then located another abandoned and heavily damaged snowmobile on the nearby White Pine State Park trail. This snowmobile was registered to a victim in Cedar Springs, who was not aware of its theft until the Kent County Sheriffs Department made contact with them, on behalf of the Howard City Police Department.
Howard City PD developed information on two suspects after canvassing the area, gathering evidence, and witnesses contacting police with information on two suspicious subjects observed that same morning. A security video from a nearby business showed the suspects. This information and a description was provided to the Cedar Springs Police Department, who supplied the name of a possible suspect from the description. Howard City Police then reviewed this subject’s prior arrest photo and made a positive identification of the same subject on the security video. This person was located by the Cedar Springs Police Department later that evening.
The Howard City Police Department and Kent County Sheriff’s Department then located a second suspect, Spoors, hiding under a bed in a home in Cedar Springs Mobile Estates. He was an escapee from Prison Parole since he had cut off his tether days earlier. Stolen property from Howard City and Cedar Springs were recovered from this residence.
Chief DeWitt said the two suspects had ridden the stolen snowmobile from Cedar Springs to Howard City, where it had broken down on the trail, and then one of the suspects attempted to steal the Ski Doo belonging to the victim at Village Trails, in an attempt to flee the area.
Spoors was arrested and charged in Kent County with the larceny of the snowmobile, being a habitual offender, and the breaking and entering of a building in Cedar Springs. Arrest warrants were obtained in Montcalm County as well, charging the suspect with the attempted larceny of a motor vehicle, larceny from a motor vehicle, being a habitual offender, and possession of a stolen motor vehicle. He had not yet been arraigned in Montcalm County at press time.
Chief DeWitt said the first suspect is not being charged at this time.
Spoors was paroled in May after serving time for stolen property valued at $1,000 or more but less than $20,000. He also served time for breaking and entering a building, attempting to assault/resist/obstruct a police officer, fleeing from a police officer, and operating a vehicle while intoxicated.
“The successful investigation and arrest of the suspect was a direct result of the multi-departmental investigation,” said DeWitt. “The call from a concerned citizen to the police of their observations of suspicious persons and/or activity was also instrumental to the investigation.”
He said that the Howard City Police would like to remind all persons to keep your vehicles, home, and storage buildings locked at all times, and to report any suspicious persons or activity immediately. “Many times it’s the smallest bit of information that leads to the arrest of criminals and recovery of stolen property,” noted DeWitt. “Law Enforcement is a community activity that relies heavily on the participation of the average person.”