Man steals purse from preschool, caught using stolen debit card

A man who Gresham police arrested using a local preschool teacher’s stolen debit card is now out of jail.

Andrew William Hoke, 26, of Spokane was released from the Multnomah County Detention Center on Monday, July 23, because of overcrowding, according to jail records.

Gresham police arrested him at the Wood Village Wal-Mart at 11:34 p.m. Wednesday, July 18, trying to use a debit card stolen from a teacher’s purse at Morningstar Montessori School in Gresham at about 12:30 p.m.

The victim, Yvonne Silva, has taught for 45 years, 25 of them at Morningstar. This is the first time she’s ever been the victim of a crime.

As such, her crash course with the criminal justice system has left her reeling.

“What?!” she said Monday morning, after hearing that Hoke had been released from jail. “I am sick to my stomach.”

She said Hoke had to have been watching her from outside before he stole her purse. She’d just come inside, put her purse away and went outside where the children were playing when her husband noticed a shadow and realized it was of a person running.

Silva went back into the preschool, which is within a church, and saw that her purse was gone. Within minutes, the suspect had racked up more than $2,000 in purchases on her stolen debit card.

Gresham police, hoping to use the spending spree to their advantage, alerted local stores to be on the lookout for the person using the stolen debit card.

Later that night, they arrested Hoke, 26, after he tried to use the card at the Wood Village Wal-Mart.

He was held on allegations of second-degree burglary, first-degree theft, first-degree forgery, heroin possession, aggravated identity theft, 10 counts of felony identity theft and 10 counts of fraudulently using a credit card.

At first, Silva was relieved to hear he’d been arrested. Because he also stole her keys, she had to have her home’s locks changed and began parking her car in the garage.

Knowing he was in jail gave her peace that he wouldn’t be breaking into her home or stealing her car, and that he couldn’t do it to anyone else.

By Monday, she was reeling from a proverbial one-two punch: Not only did the jail release Hoke, but her bank — Chase — is demanding she pay $800 in overdraft fees that Hoke racked up.

“This is a cruel world,” Silva said. “We work hard for our money and have to pay for his crimes. And now the bank is trying to rip us off.”