A man who almost daily managed to steal hundreds of dollars of electronics from the downtown Portland Apple Store to feed his $150-a-day heroin habit was sentenced Friday to 3 ¾ years in prison.

Todd Anthony Billinghurst, 39, became so familiar to employees that they knew him by name.

“They would see him coming and say, ‘Stop, Todd!’” said prosecutor Kevin Demer. But their pleas had no effect, he said.

Billinghurst could clearly see into the store, which is essentially a giant glass box on three sides, and he later told police he would watch from afar until the security guard on duty took a break. Then Billinghurst would run into the store, grab an average of about $700 worth of merchandise -- often two Bose headphones at a time -- and escape within 20 seconds, according to the prosecution.

This went on day after day for 3 ½ months until Billinghurst’s arrest Feb. 14 when a Portland police officer recognized him at a downtown Starbucks.

Billinghurst faced the possibility of probation for stealing at least $25,000 of Apple property.

But Demer thought that didn’t seem right. He believed Billinghurst had stolen from other businesses many times and began delving into other cases in which Billinghurst hadn’t been charged.

Over the past few months, Demer built strong cases against Billinghurst for swiping nearly $10,000 worth of eyewear from the Sunglass Hut in Pioneer Place mall and an undetermined dollar amount of men’s jackets during repeat appearances at Ross Dress for Less across the street from the mall. During one of those Ross thefts, he shoved a manager who confronted him and his girlfriend, who was holding a pile of coats, authorities say.

Billinghurst pleaded guilty to first-degree theft and third-degree robbery for targeting the Sunglass Hut and Ross Dress for Less. That was on top of earlier guilty pleas he made for first-degree aggravated theft from the Apple Store and initiating a false report, after he pretended he swallowed a wad of heroin so he’d get sent to the hospital instead of directly to jail after his arrest at Starbucks.

With all of those crimes together, Demer had the leverage he needed to send Billinghurst to prison for years. That led Billinghurst to agree to the sentence of 3 ¾ years.

As part of the plea deal, the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office agreed not to prosecute Billinghurst for any other thefts he’s committed in recent months or years, or to prosecute his girlfriend, who Demer says was a minor player in some of the thefts.

Billinghurst told Detective Jeff Myers that each day he used about 2.5 grams of heroin, which costs about $150, and his girlfriend used about 1.5 grams, which costs about $90, according to court papers.

Billinghurst said the pair had been using $109,000 in settlement money that his girlfriend received in December 2017, but that they’d burned through the money in less than a year and that’s why he’d turned to stealing daily from the Apple Store and other stores, including Eddie Bauer, court documents said.

Court papers didn’t say why the girlfriend got the settlement money.

Billinghurst was so successful at stealing, investigators said, because he knew store employees at many big chains are trained not to lay hands on shoplifters but to report them after they walk away. At the Sunglass Hut, employees stood by helplessly as they watched Billinghurst pilfer dozens of glasses during three visits, investigators said.

He also was savvy, timing his crimes just right -- such as at the Apple Store, when the security guards left to use the bathroom.

And he knew how to run.

“He was quick on this feet,” Demer said.

Billinghurst told Multnomah County Circuit Judge Ben Souede that he was grateful that he got caught because he wants to redirect his life’s course. He acknowledged that he victimized “many stores” and said it started seven years ago when he “threw away nine months” of sobriety and began “one big downward spiral.”

“I have turned into a junkie and it’s unfortunate that I did what I did with Apple and many other stores,” he said. “I’m not going to deny my behavior. ... I don’t wish the disease that I have on my worst enemy.”

During a conversation earlier that day, the prosecutor told Billinghurst that he has “true talent” as a songwriter. Demer said he knows this because he’s listened in on recorded jail phone calls between Billinghurst and Billinghurst’s father over the past five months.

“He’s very, very good,” Demer said.

Billinghurst thanked Demer and said he is looking forward to getting an acoustic guitar.

“It’d be nice to be known for something else than for what I’m known for right now,” Billinghurst said.

Billinghurst also offered “my sincerest apologies to Apple and to every other store” he’s stolen from in Portland.

-- Aimee Green

agreen@oregonian.com

o_aimee

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