Bulletin column - Aug. 12, 2010

Pullman driver hits bridge

Suprateek S. Sarker, 45, Pullman, was unhurt Sunday afternoon Aug. 8 when he lost control of a 2002 BMW X5 sports car and struck the bridge barrier next to the Colfax Chevron lot on Highway 195. According to the Washington State Patrol report, Sarker was driving southbound into Colfax at 2:08 p.m. and drove off the side of the highway and through the lot at the Chevron station and collided with the barrier at the end of the bridge.

Richardson trial set Sept. 13

A new trial date of Sept. 13 has been set for Cody A. Richardson who was arrested in Spokane on a bench warrant. The warrant for his arrest was issued after Richardson failed to appear for a readiness hearing July 9 in advance of his trial which had been slated for July 19.

Richardson, 19, Spokane Valley, faces charges of taking guns from an unoccupied house in the Winona area last November. Richardson pleaded not guilty to the charges May 14.

Richardson has posted a $10,000 bond for release after he was arrested on the warrant.

Assault, elude charges filed

Formal charges of first degree assault and attempting to elude were filed Friday Aug. 6 in superior court against John T. Hamre, 41-year-old Spokane man who was arrested Aug. 3 after an alleged chase in the Rosalia area. The chase ended with a crash off the John Wayne Trail on the west side of Rosalia.

The assault charge alleged Hamre attempted to ram WSP Trooper Doug Power’s patrol car on the Thornton Road.

Power started the chase on Highway 195 when he was driving north and recorded the speed on an oncoming car at 101 mph. He turned around and started to pursue the car which turned off on the Thornton road south of the Rosalia rest stop.

Power’s report said the suspect made a U turn and headed toward him. Power said he drove into the ditch to avoid a collision and the car the suspect was driving missed his by “a couple of feet.”

The chase continued back north on 195 until the driver crossed the highway and went the wrong way up the entry ramp from the Highway 291 intersection. The car collided with the guardrail along Highway 291 at the top of the ramp, backed up and then went north on the old highway segment toward Rosalia.

The driver turned off on the Malden road south of Rosalia and then turned right onto the John Wayne trail where it intersects with the Malden road. The car, a Chevrolet Cavalier, crashed a gate barrier on the trail and continue north. It crashed into another trail gate at the Bruce entry road and then crashed after the car went down a bank and attempted a turn. The two occupants ran from the scene.

The suspects were described as wearing different colored shirts and the passenger, identified as Gregory C. Early, 51, was apprehended near the scene of the crash. Hamre was apprehended when WSP Sgt. Brad Hudson spotted the suspect down in the brush along the trail. Hamre by that time had shed his shirt.

A Rosalia ambulance crew was called to the scene and treated the suspect for heat exposure before he was taken to the jail.

A $25,000 bond for pre-trial release was set for Hamre during a first appearance in court.

Suggest end to campus ban

A psychologist treating David Noble, who was found not guilty by reason of insanity on charges of hitting two WSU students on campus last Dec. 7, has suggested a court order banning Noble from WSU be lifted. The doctor said Noble’s job at the University of Idaho has been eliminated, and he would like to apply for possible job openings on the WSU campus, according to a report filed in court Friday by Mark Moorer, Noble’s attorney. Under the court finding, Noble has been placed under supervision for 10 years by the state Department of Corrections.

City rates hearing Sept. 7

A Sept. 7 hearing date has been set for a proposed hike in Colfax water and sewer rates of three percent over each of the next five years. City council members approved the hearing, which is required to pass a rate ordinance, Aug. 2 after receiving a report on what the overall gain of return would be on the hikes.

A report submitted by City Administrator Carl Thompson reported the fee hikes would net an additional $19,122 in 2011, $19,696 in 2012, $20,286 in 2013, $20,895 in 2014 and $21,522 in 2015.

Colfax now has 1,120 water/sewer connections with 1,100 of them on three-quarter or inch hookup. Basic water rates for those connections will go from $21.10 now to $24.50 over five years. The basic sewer rate will go from $22.60 now to $26.20 in 2015.

The rates also include step hikes for volume charges. The volume charge is now 58 cents per 100 cubic feet to 73 cents per 100. The sewer volume rate, which is determined on water use, will go from $1.95 now to $2.15 in 2015.

Jewelry trial stricken

A trial for recovery of jewelry said sold to Anthony and Alicia Napier of Colfax has been stricken from the court docket. Pullman Attorney Howard Neill, who represents Harry Ritchie’s Jewelers, Inc., moved to scratch the Aug. 30-31 trial dates. The motion said the Napiers have filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy which requires an automatic stay of legal proceedings.

The jewelry firm, based in Eugene, Ore., has alleged the Napiers failed to make payments for the jewelry purchased under terms of a contract, and sought to have jewelry items returned.

Spokane pawn shops later became involved in the suit when Neill contended some of the jewelry items purchased under the contract had been pawned there.

Spokane driver arrested

Lorinda Vanderholm, 40, Spokane, was arrested early Friday morning Aug. 6 after officers allege they found packets of methamphetamine in the car she was driving, a 1995 Dodge Stratus, on Highway 195.

The arrest report filed in court said an undercover investigation on drug sales in Colfax led to an arranged purchase of drugs with a suspect who said he could bring four ounces of methamphetamine from Spokane.

Deputies intercepted the initial suspect in a pickup truck. A car approaching the scene came to a near stop, and officers became suspicious that the driver, who turned out to be Vanderholm, could be linked to the suspect in the pickup truck. The initial suspect allegedly told officers the meth intended for sale at Colfax was in the Stratus which was stopped and later searched on a warrant. Officers said they found two plastic baggies in the Stratus containing 2.05 ounces of a substance which field tested positive for methamphetamine. They also found two glass pipes, a digital scale, packaging material and crib notes.

Vanderholm was booked in the jail at 5:27 a.m. She was allowed release on her own recognizance in a first appearance in court later Friday.

Colfax man arrested

Richard B. Scoles, 36, Colfax, was arrested last Wednesday night Aug. 4 and jailed on probable charges of residential burglary and assault. A report filed with the case said officers responded to a report of an assault on S. East Street at 7:11 p.m. and found a man bleeding from the nose. Witnesses alleged Scoles entered the residence without invitation and an argument ensued about money alleged due. A first appearance was slated in court Aug. 5.