Bulletin Column

These reports are from the previous four issues of the Daily Bulletin in Colfax. They are reprinted here for the benefit of Gazette readers who reside outside of Colfax. Some accounts have been updated.

VOTE TOTALS INCREASE

Another 140 votes were added to the April 23 special election returns for the Colfax and Colton school districts. The vote return is now at 48.84 percent for the two election districts.

Colfax added another 102 votes with the approval dropping slightly from 53.22 percent on election night to 52.3 percent. The Colfax count is now at 590 in favor and 538 opposed to the $250,000 special levy for next year. Election night returns were 546 in favor and 480 opposed.

Colton’s approval rate on the $5.6 million bond issue over 30 years also dropped from 74.06 percent on election night to 72.82 percent. The Colton tally now is 375 in favor and 140 opposed. The election night tally was 354 yes and 124 opposed.

MISSING

CHEMICALS SAID FOUND

Brandon Billings, 21, Pullman, was booked into jail here April 25 on a probable charge of possession of stolen property. The arrest report said deputies investigated a case involving the discovery of approximately 50 five-gallon containers of chemicals in a mini storage locker along the Moscow-Pullman Highway.

Value of the missing chemicals was estimated to be in the $10,000 range.

The report said deputies were called when the manager of the storage unit discovered the containers while he began clearing out the storage unit because rental fees were overdue. He contacted the sheriff’s office last Tuesday.

The containers were marked Cryogenex Vegatative and Bloom 1-9-8.

The report said deputies traced the origin of the chemicals to a supply company, D & M Chemicals of Moxee and Cowiche. The company representative advised them they had sold a large volume of the chemicals to a Seattle medical marijuana dispensary. He said he believed the Seattle customer had discovered a large amount of the product had been taken from them.

The manager of the Seattle firm said he suspected Billings of taking the chemicals. He said Billings was a former employee, and the company had paid Billings to store the chemicals in his garage at Federal Way. Billings reportedly fell on hard times and moved from Federal Way and the chemical containers which had been in his garage had turned up missing, the report said.

RICE KRISPY ASSAULT ARREST

Jacob S. Stutesman, 21, a WSU student from Hoquiam, was allowed release on his own recognizance Friday after a first appearance in court. Stutesman had been arrested on a probable charge of assault by WSU campus police and taken to jail.

He was arrested Thursday night after campus police investigated a report he had given a WSU teaching assistant a Rice Krispies treat which had been laced with the marijuana substance THC. The alleged victim, who was unaware the ingredient had been added, was taken to Pullman Regional Hospital for treatment. She told officers Stutesman had earlier brought up marijuana during class sessions.

Stutesman was ordered to have no contact with the alleged victim as a condition of pre-trial release. He has been formally charged with second degree assault.

BANK OF

FAIRFIELD FILES

Bank of Fairfield has filed formal application to establish a full service branch bank in Colfax. The bank presently operates a loan office at 402 S. Main which is located next to the Codger Pole. An ATM machine was installed at the bank last year.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation will receive comments on the application for a Colfax branch no later than May 17. Comments can be mailed to 25 Jessie Street at Ecker Square, Suite 2300, San Francisco, CA 94105-2780.

STAPERT

SENTENCED

TO 45 DAYS

Jason Stapert, 39, was sentenced to 45 days in jail Friday after he pleaded guilty to a charge of second degree burglary. Stapert entered the plea after concluding a bargain agreement with the prosecutor’s office.

Prosecutor Denis Tracy said the state agreed to drop a misdemeanor charge of theft if Stapert admitted to the burglary charge.

Stapert was charged with taking bottles of liquor, guitars and other items from the Bobby Bilderback residence in Malden. He reportedly told deputies he burglarized the residence as a way of getting even with Bilderback who has been charged with homicide by providing methamphetamine to Stapert’s son, Donavin, who died of a drug overdose.

Prosecutor Denis Tracy recommended Stapert be sentenced to 30 days in jail. He said he believes almost all of the missing items have been recovered.

Defense attorney John Hart pointed out Stapert did not have a criminal record and his actions were fueled by emotion and alcohol.

Judge David Frazier, noting the estimated $27,000 value of the recovered items, decided to sentence Stapert to 45 days, the middle point of the standard range that applied to him. He also ordered Stapert to pay fines and fees.

FRANK

LAZCANO FILES APPEAL

Notice to appeal for Frank Lazcano, 35, was filed April 25 in Whitman County Superior Court. The notice was filed by Defense Attorney Steve Martonick.

Lazcano was sentenced to 300 months in prison April 12 after a superior court jury convicted him of first degree murder March 1.

The sentence was appealed to the state Division III appellate court in Spokane.

THREE ARRESTS ON DRUG CHARGES

Three people were arrested and booked into the county jail on drug charges after officers served a warrant to search a residence in the N. 700 block of Park Street at approximately 6:30 p.m. last April 25.

Colfax officers seized evidence related to possession, use and sale of narcotics, including methamphetamine, according to Colfax Assistant Chief David Szambalen.

Arrested were Garrett E. Finch, 26, Lela Nance, 41, and Kelsie Johnson, 18, all of Colfax. Finch was arrested on two outstanding warrants from Asotin County along with probable charges here of possession and delivery of drugs. Nance and Johnson were arrested on probable charges of drug possession.

BICKLE APPEAL REJECTED

An appeal by Paul S. Bickle, who was sentenced to 68 months in prison for a string of burglaries during the summer of 2010, has been dismissed by the State Division Three Court of Appeals in Spokane.

Bickle at one time faced 21 different charges for break-ins at the Arrow Machinery on Highway 195 north of Colfax, the Department of Transportation shops adjoining the Arrow site, now Pape’, and the Walmart construction site in Pullman.

Bickle, who was living in LaCrosse, eventually agreed to a plea bargain under which he admitted to four charges.

He was sentenced in December of 2010 with much of the 68 month term resulting from an extensive criminal record in Kitsap County.

The appeals court issued a ruling last August and it was returned to superior court here after being decreed final in March.

Bickle filed his appeal three months after he was sentenced. The appeal court confirmed a trial court ruling here which said Bickle had failed to submit a proper affidavit with the appeal.

In addition to the 68 months Bickle was ordered to pay more than $41,000 in restitution. He was arrested after Pullman officers reviewed a surveillance video at the Walmart construction site which shows Bickle attempting to break into a construction trailer. Bickle at the time had been hired as a night watchman at the Walmart site. Many of the items taken during the crime spree were found at Bickle’s residence in LaCrosse.

REPORT WSU GATOR HEIST

Thomas D. Brekenridge, 20, was arrested Tuesday on the WSU campus after he allegedly admitted taking a John Deere Gator, a utility vehicle, near the Student Recreation Center and riding it around the area last Saturday.

According to the arrest report, Brekenridge is suspected of taking the vehicle which was in use next to the center. The report said he was seen riding it down Orchard Street to NE Valley View.

Investigators learned the vehicle had been driven into a volleyball area where it left tracks in the sand pit. It also had been ridden over three small trees. Estimated damage was $1,000 plus another $1,500 to the Gator.

According to the report, Brekenridge admitted taking the Gator. He said he left it behind a gray barn and later returned it to the hill next to the recreation area.

He was allowed release on his own recognizance after a first appearance in court April 23.

RELEASE FOR C. BILDERBACK

Chastity Bilderback, one of the suspects in the drug overdose death of Donavin Stapert, 17, at Malden, was allowed release on her own recognizance in Whitman County Superior Court. Bilderback, who had previously been held in jail under a $250,000 pre-trial release bond set by the court after her arrest, was ordered to reside at her residence in Malden.

The release order also bans her from having contact with other alleged suspects in the case and refrain from using drugs. She is also ordered to have no contact with Jason Stapert, the father of the alleged victim.

Chastity Bilderback, who was originally identified as Chastity Barkhuff, pleaded not guilty March 27 to charges of homicide by a controlled substance, unlawful distribution of methamphetamine to a minor and unlawful disposal of human remains. She had been scheduled for a May 13 trial, but waived her speedy trial right until October.

Another suspect in the case, James Ramson, 30, Medical Lake, who is suspected of assisting with removing the body of Donavin Stapert from the Bilderback place in Malden, has also been released on his own recognizance.