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From STAFF REPORTS

Justin Thurber has an extensive criminal record for minor crimes starting in 2004, according to court records.

He was charged with possession of a controlled substance or drug paraphernalia in early 2004 but the judge found there was not enough evidence to convict.

He was found guilty of attempted criminal trespass in that same case.

Later in 2004 Thurber was charged and pled guilty to criminal damage to a coin machine.

He was placed on probation. He admitted to violating probation in February of 2005 for nonpayment of fines and testing positive for marijuana use. He was sentenced to jail and placed on work release with his employer at the time, BAE Systems in Wellington, a source familiar with the case said.

In June of 2005 Thurber was arrested for allegedly causing fights and obstructing the legal process at two downtown bars in Winfield. The commotion spilled into sidewalks and drew a large crowd, police said at the time.

Police said they arrested Thurber on several charges, including felony obstruction of official duty, but that charge was apparently reduced to lessor charged and Thurber was placed on diversion.

A motion to revoke diversion was filed after he was again arrested in November of 2006 for five offenses, including burglary, forgery and possession of drugs in Ark City.

But the diversion could not be revoked because Thurber had not been convicted, only arrested and charged, with those crimes.

The judge found no evidence of the burglary and forgery charges, which left theft and the drug charges. The charge of theft -- of a television and checks -- was thrown out in discussions between the county attorney's office and Thurber's attorney.

That left two minor drug charges and Thurber has been scheduled to receive diversion on the two remaining drug charges, the source said.

His next encounter with police, according to court records, was the weekend before Sanderholm disappeared.

He was arrested and bonded out on a theft charge for allegedly stealing money from a woman's purse in Winfield on Sunday, Dec. 31. He was arrested on Monday for allegedly impersonating a police officer and for disorderly conduct in Ark City, police have said.

He never went to jail because he complained of chest pains and was taken for medical treatment. Police then arrested him when they found him for questioning in the Sanderholm case sometime after Jodi vanished Friday, Jan. 5.

Since then, two women who either work or live in Ark City have filed retraining orders against Thurber.

They claim he stalked them. Thurber was also known to take an interest in the Cowley Tigerette Danceline team, of which Sanderholm was a member.