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By Thomas Moriarty Ashland Daily Tidings December 12. 2014 4:02PM Man allegedly stole $20,000 from Ashland home MEDFORD — A 56-year-old Jacksonville man has been charged with stealing $20,000 in cash from his ex-girlfriend's Ashland home last month. According to a probable cause affidavit filed Monday by Ashland police Detective Rick Spence, 56-year-old Craig Alan McNutt had been living with his then-girlfriend, spiritualist author and speaker Pepper Keen Lewis, at her house in the 1000 block of Long Way from October 2012 until March 2014. According to the affidavit, Lewis found the cash missing when she checked her safe in November. Lewis told investigators she suspected McNutt because he had financial problems and had asked to borrow money from her, Spence wrote. Investigators set up a pretext phone call — a tape-recorded call made by the victim to the suspect — between Lewis and McNutt, during which McNutt admitted taking the money, according to the affidavit. Detective Spence wrote that McNutt refused to speak with him at the time of his arrest Dec. 5. McNutt was booked in the Jackson County Jail and released under an agreement that he not have contact with Lewis or her residence. McNutt is charged with aggravated first-degree theft — a Class B felony — under a grand jury indictment filed Thursday in Jackson County Circuit Court. A search of state court records revealed no prior criminal convictions for McNutt in Jackson County or Josephine County. Ashland police declined to provide further information about the alleged theft, citing a policy of not discussing ongoing cases once they've been referred to the District Attorney's Office. Reach reporter Thomas Moriarty at 541-776-4471, or by email at [email protected] . Follow him at @ThomasDMoriarty . http://www.dailytidings.com/article/20141212/NEWS/141219923 © 2015 Copyright © 1995-2011 Crain Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use Privacy Statement -->