Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - On October 9, 2022, a male contacted the Missoula Police Department to report a theft of over $10,000 in cash. Approximately six days earlier, the male was gambling at a casino on W. Broadway when he met 33-year-old April Hartley. The male invited Hartley to accompany him to another casino in town.  

When the pair arrived at the casino, the male won $13,700. He gave $200 to Hartley and then took her to Walmart. At Walmart, he bought Hartley $358 worth of merchandise. He said that he was trying to help Hartley out because she was homeless and recently lost her husband. Police Public Information Officer Lydia Arnold picks up the story. 

“Hartley ended up staying at the victim’s residence and the victim woke up ill,” Arnold said. “Hatley gave the victim a ride to the hospital and the victim allowed Hatley to use his vehicle while he was in the hospital. When the victim left the hospital, he located his truck, but it was locked. The victim had to get new keys to his truck made and when he accessed his truck again, he noticed only a small amount of money was still in the truck. The victim noticed he was missing thousands of dollars.” 

According to court documents, when the victim finally got back into his truck, he discovered that he was missing approximately $10,900 of his winnings and that $600 had been left behind for him. 

The victim went to work on the morning of October 8th and told his coworker what had happened. His coworker knows Hartley and called her to encourage her to make things right with the victim. Hartley agreed to meet with the victim. When they met, Hartley told the victim she gave his money away to various homeless people around Missoula. 

“The victim provided law enforcement contact information for Hartley,” Arnold said. “Officers made contact with Hartley and took a statement from her. Hartley was taken into custody of felony theft charges.”  

When the officer called Hartley, she admitted that she borrowed the victim’s truck and gave his money away to homeless people. When asked how much she gave away, Hartley initially claimed it was only a couple hundred dollars.  

The officer confronted Hartley about the discrepancy between her amount and the amount reported stolen by the victim. When pressed again by the officer, Hatley admitted it was between $5000 and $6000.  

Hartley was transported to the Missoula County Detention Facility. She is currently being charged with one count of felony theft. 

The information in this article was obtained from sources that are publicly viewable.

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