District attorney charges dead man with theft

A man who died from gunshot wounds was charged in 3rd District Court with stealing a computer. Ryan Agar, 24, died last week after being shot Aug. 16.

However, he was charged Tuesday with third-degree felony theft by receiving stolen property and a class A misdemeanor count of giving false information to police.

The man accused of shooting Agar, Richard Sean Craft II, has been charged with first-degree felony murder. Craft, 21, made his first court appearance on Monday. His next court date is a Sept. 12 scheduling conference.

Regarding Agar's death, Alicia Cook, the spokeswoman for the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office, said one set of people handled the theft charge while others handled the murder charge. The first group apparently did not know that a man considered to be a homicide victim had died.

Most arrests go through a screening unit, which then sends the information to the appropriate team within the district attorney's office.

Homicides, however, are handled separately. Police detectives meet with attorneys to review those potential cases.

"The attorneys screening homicides were not involved in the theft case," Cook said. "Our office also screens a really high volume of cases."