Bulletin column - June 24, 2010

Permit for jail roof project

Cobra Roofing BEC, Inc., Spokane, Monday, June 21, applied for a building permit to re-roof the Whitman County Jail. Cost of the project was placed at $99,765. Building inspector Andy Burgard said Cobra representatives hoped to get a two-week run of good weather to undertake the project.

High speed chase at Oakesdale

Danny R. Robichaud, 44, Spokane, was booked into the county jail Saturday night on an attempting to elude charge after a chase on Highway 271 north of Oakesdale allegedly exceeded 90 miles an hour. He was also booked on probable charges of drunken driving and driving with a suspended license.

Deputy Dan Brown said he spotted the blue Chevrolet Camaro in Oakesdale just before 7 p.m. and attempted to stop the driver for a status check regarding an earlier warrant arrest. The driver took off northbound at a high rate of speed but eventually stopped along the highway about one and one-half miles north of Oakesdale.

Brown said during the chase, a passenger in the Camaro opened the door in what appeared to be a move to jump out. The passenger closed the door but later stuck both hands through the sunroof of the car in an apparent surrender signal. The passenger told Brown he urged the suspect to pull over and stop the chase. The passenger was allowed to walk back to Oakesdale.

Bail for pre-trial release was set at $10,000 Monday in a first appearance in superior court.

Robber gets 8 years plus

Jeremy D. John, 38, was sentenced to 102 months in prison Friday in superior court after pleading guilty to robbing the Pullman Check into Cash Store on Bishop Boulevard April 8, 2009. A warrant of commitment to the state prison system was filed in the court Friday. He was credited with 17 days served in jail here.

The sentence will run concurrently with a Chelan County sentence where John was arrested and convicted for committing a robbery two days after the Pullman robbery.

John, who has a criminal record dating back to 1997, had an offender score of six for sentencing here. The 102 months was the maximum he could receive under the sentencing range. Prior convictions included in the sentencing report, in addition to the Chelan conviction, listed three convictions in Ada County, Idaho, and one in Spokane.

John was also ordered to pay $2,100 in fines and fees with $1,300 reimbursement to the Pullman check cashing store.

Fire destroys Pullman garage

A garage attached to a new house under construction on Harvest Drive in Pullman was destroyed by fire Friday night. The house was located in the new development is between Pioneer Hill and Bishop Boulevard.

Firefighters were able to keep the fire confined to the garage. Structural damage was not sustained by the house although it sustained smoke damage.

Spontaneous combustion from rags which had been used in a deck staining procedure earlier Friday is believed to have started the fire, according to Fire Investigator Richard Dragoo.

Colfax and Moscow crews were called to Pullman for reserve backup.

Judge issues protection order

A one-year protection order was issued to Esther Wilson, 48, Endicott, by Judge Scott Bergstedt Friday in District Court in a civil action against Mike McPherson of Colfax. The order evolves from a civil action started by Wilson in the wake of the county’s shakeup in the financial department. Wilson contended McPherson harassed her right after Bev Divine, McPherson’s wife and her boss, was dismissed from the financial department June 1.

Bergstedt, who was serving as a visiting judge because of the courthouse link to the dispute, issued the order after McPherson testified Wilson’s account was mostly fiction. McPherson also offered to present results of a lie detector test which he said proved he was telling the truth, but Bergstedt said the lie detector results could not be admitted as evidence.

Wilson, who is now a candidate for the county auditor, told the court Friday McPherson threatened her life as she walked toward the back door of the courthouse on a routine report errand to the treasurer’s office.

The threat came just after Divine had been fired as head of the finance department. Wilson said she feared for her life, went to the prosecutor’s office and was escorted to the sheriff’s office where she met with Colfax Chief Bill Hickman. McPherson was subsequently arrested, jailed for felony harassment and released on his own recognizance. The case was later referred to Colfax City Prosecutor Mark Monson who said Friday he had not yet decided whether or not to file a misdemeanor charge.

Wilson said McPherson yelled “You fat pig, I’m going to kill you.” She said her account was backed by an independent witness who volunteered her account to police right after the incident.

McPherson told the judge Friday he yelled “You fat pig. You’re next. You’re going to jail.” He said the outburst was a result of his knowledge at the time that Wilson allegedly “hacked” into the computer of Commissioner Michael Largent. McPherson said he was also about 75 feet from Wilson when he yelled at her.

McPherson also said he has spent about $2,000 to clear his name, including paying for a substitute to drive a bulk mail truck into Endicott. Wilson also contended McPherson gestured to her at her residence while driving through Endicott.

Divine testified Friday that the episodes of McPherson banging on the door and making improper comments to Wilson at the finance department office in the weeks leading up to Divine’s dismissal amounted to incidents of mutual teasing.

Judge Bergstedt ordered McPherson not to go within 150 feet of Wilson’s residence in Endicott and to “go the other way” if he encountered her while conducting normal business at the courthouse.

McPherson told the court he planned to appeal in an effort to clear his name.

Hard drive will be destroyed

A hard drive from the computer of Larry Dale, 53, Colfax resident who was convicted April 15 of a reduced charge of failure to report depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, was ordered forfeited and destroyed last Wednesday, June 16.

The prosecutor’s office moved to destroy the material because it included contraband. A “mirror” copy of the hard drive, prepared for trial, has also been destroyed.

Dale was sentenced to seven days in jail for a case which started in July of 2008. His computer was confiscated as part of the investigation.