Theft counts linked to Wilberger case?

PORTLAND, Ore. — The one man to be publicly named as a person of interest in the disappearance of a Brigham Young University student has been arrested by Portland police on unrelated theft and burglary charges.

Tigard, Ore., resident Sung Koo Kim, 30, is being held on $10 million bail after being accused of stealing underwear from three different Portland college dormitories or laundry rooms starting in October 2002.

Sgt. Cheryl Robinson, a spokeswoman for the Portland Police Bureau, said the names of the Portland schools have not been released.

Robinson said the unusually high bail was the result of a court order from a Multnomah County judge. She would not elaborate further.

Kim was arrested Monday following a court appearance in Yamhill County and lodged at the Multnomah County Jail. He is scheduled to be arraigned today.

Kim's lawyer, Janet Lee Hoffman of Portland, said she plans to contest the bail.

"The whole thing is terrible," Hoffman said. "They don't have evidence to charge him, so they keep dragging him into court with these historical panty burglaries and piling charges on him."

The arrest comes just four days after Kim pleaded innocent to charges of stealing women's underwear on May 2 from a dorm room at Oregon State University in Corvallis.

Nineteen-year-old Brooke Wilberger disappeared three weeks after that date from an apartment complex near Oregon State. She hasn't been seen since, despite a massive search and investigation.

Authorities say Kim remains one of four people "of significant interest" in the case.

But Hoffman, his lawyer, said there is evidence that places Kim away from Corvallis on the day that Wilberger vanished.

"We've provided substantial evidence that he was not involved with the disappearance in Corvallis," she said.

Police cannot confirm Kim's alibi, said Lt. Ron Noble, a spokesman for the Corvallis Police Department. He refused to comment further on the case.

Kim is also a suspect in burglaries and thefts at George Fox University in Newberg. Police found more than 1,000 pairs of underwear in his house, some with labels identifying the college, dorm and woman from whom they had allegedly been stolen.