The theft of a wallet in Keizer nearly five years ago is leading to an auction now underway by the city of Keizer featuring 115 tools and other property collected by thieves.

The items are going up in batches on the website govdeals.com. Hand tools, battery-powered tools and tool chests dominate – some bought at building supply retailers with a card credit stolen in Keizer. 

A set of DeWalt power tools went  online with a starting bid of $150. A DeWalt Bluetooth radio has a starting bid of $80. Time is limited on each sale – bidding closed on these two items on Tuesday, Sept. 2, and the Keizer Police Department is adding new items in the coming weeks.

The man convicted in connection with the case now serves as an addiction counselor, according to state records.

Not long ago, he showed up at the Keizer Police Department, attempting to get back some of the items seized from his Stayton home as part of the police investigation. Because he couldn’t prove ownership, he left empty-handed.

But Michael Padrta, now 51, left behind a message to be passed along to Detective David Zavala, written on a Post-it note:

“Michael Padrta says thank you for arresting him and saving his life,” the note read. Zavala keeps it at his desk.

The path to Padrta’s arrest in 2021 required diligent detective work, as Zavala explained in a recent interview.

The case started in October 2020 as a Keizer man went out of his Northeast Prairie Clover Court home to his pickup truck to leave for a hunting trip. Earlier, he had packed the truck, loaded his gun and put his wallet in. He didn’t lock the truck.

Padrta, who lived in Stayton, later told Zavala that he and an associate would prowl Keizer, looking for just such an opportunity. He told Zavala he stole only from unlocked vehicles, never breaking in.

At first, there wasn’t much for the police to investigate.

Zavala did get security video from a nearby home that showed a man walking a dog at about the time of the theft.

Two months later, Zavala dug in. He learned the Keizer man’s credit card had been used at building supply retailers in Albany and Corvallis. He obtained grainy videos of a man using the card.

Then, the card popped up in use at a Salem Walmart. Zavala got store security video that showed what appeared to be the same man in a car. He identified the make of the car but had only the first three elements of the Oregon license plate number.

He launched a computer search to find possible matches. He found one and also learned that the Stayton Police Department had earlier cited the driver.

Zavala now had a name – and Padrta’s driver’s license photo on file with the state.

The detective and other officers in the agency’s Community Response Unit spent days surveilling the Stayton address they had for Padrta.

On March 15, 2021, Keizer police executed a search warrant at Padrta’s Stayton home, catching him as he ran out the back door.

His wife, Raelene J. Bravo, now 46, told Zavala that her husband did “odd jobs” for a living, according to his report at the time.

“She said he picks up items like tools and other similar items from locations and then delivers them to those who called,” according to the report.

Padrta then confessed to Zavala, identifying his accomplice, and confirming having his dog with him in Keizer.

Police soon followed up with a search of the Sherwood home of the accomplice, Brienne R. Hicks, now 40. Zavala said police found stolen mail among property there. They also found clothing that matched that of a woman recorded in store video using the stolen credit cards.

Padrta had been convicted in 2011 in Clackamas County for delivering heroin. In 2022, he pleaded guilty to charges resulting from Zavala’s investigation – fraudulent use of a credit card, felon in possession of a firearm and attempted delivery of methamphetamine.

He was sentenced to three years on probation and ordered to pay restitution of $2,100. He told KPTV in Portland in a 2023 interview that he had been using drugs since he was 11 and was in treatment after his release from prison. He couldn’t be reached by Keizertimes.

Hicks pleaded guilty in Washington County Circuit Court to three counts of aggravated identity theft and mail theft. She was put on probation for five years but court records show that in April she was sentenced to prison for four years for new criminal charges.

Padrta’s wife pleaded guilty in 2023 to attempted delivery of methamphetamine three years earlier. She was put on probation for three years, according to Marion County Circuit Court records.

NEWS TIP? Send your suggestion or tip to [email protected].

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR DIGITAL NEWS SERVICE: Get around-the-clock access to news about Keizer with a digital subscription to the Keizertimes. It’s secure, is available at $10 a month, and takes just a moment when you go HERE. Your support for local journalism is vital.