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Police aim to arrest Marine

Warrant is from probation violation

David Montero And Bill Scanlon, Rocky Mountain News

Published September 9, 2006 at midnight

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Boulder authorities issued an arrest warrant Friday for a missing Marine who they believe, with the help of a friend, staged his disappearance to avoid returning to duty and possibly another tour in Iraq.

In addition, the Boulder County district attorney's office authorized a nationwide extradition order, should Lance Cpl. Lance Hering be found outside of Colorado.

The warrant stemmed from Hering's violation of the two years' probation he and his friend, Steve Powers, received in 2004 after pleading guilty to felony burglary.

A massive search followed Powers' Aug. 30 report that Hering fell and injured his head while they were hiking in Eldorado Canyon State Park.

Hering and Powers were charged this week with filing a false report, a misdemeanor that would be a violation of their probation.

Hering had just come back from his first tour in Iraq - a seven-month deployment. The Marines said that Hering's unit was not scheduled to deploy to Iraq "anytime soon" but made no other comment.

Hering was due to report to his unit at Camp Pendleton next week.

Greg Brown, chief probation officer for Boulder County, said that both men were three weeks away from being clear of their probationary status. Had they made it, the felony convictions would have been wiped from their records.

Instead, Brown said that if they are caught they could face a maximum of three years in prison after a probation hearing.

"If only they had waited," Brown said.

According to Brown, both Powers and Hering were under unsupervised probation - a status Hering achieved in November 2004. Brown said it is likely that Hering presented a plan to the judge that included a desire to enlist in the military.

The burglary happened early Aug. 4, 2004, according to an arrest report.

An alarm went off at Savers discount store in the Table Mesa Shopping Center. Two law enforcement officers went on the roof and saw two young men, later identified as Hering and Powers, wearing ski masks.

The officers ordered the men to stop, but they fled, jumping down about six feet to a lower portion of the roof, then another 15 feet to the ground.

Hering then gave up. Officers noticed that someone had tried to cut through the padlock of the roof hatch.

Hering was carrying a flashlight, a folding pocket knife and a green mask. Powers was caught nearby, trying to walk away casually.

Family members of Powers and Hering did not comment Friday.

Boulder County sheriff's spokesman Phil West said that Hering's family has remained cooperative as they try to find the Marine. The latest information has been tough on them, he said.

"They were pretty much stunned by all of this," he said.

West said his department has "a couple of detectives" working to try and find Hering and that the case is "very active."

He said that there is some anger among those in the search-and- rescue units because two people were injured looking for the Marine.