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.

CAROTHERS ROAD POT CHARGES

FILED HERE AFTER U.S. COURT DEFERS

William Dougherty III, 30, who was arrested after officers said they found a temporary greenhouse with a large marijuana grow operation on a place he was renting on Carothers Road, has been summoned to appear in court March 28 after formal charges were filed against him Tuesday, March 11, in Whitman County Superior Court.

Dougherty was charged with manufacturing marijuana and possession of marijuana with intent to deliver. On both charges the state also filed a notice of intent to seek a sentence over the state’s standard range. The charges were filed by Senior Deputy Prosecutor LeBeau.

After Dougherty was arrested last September his case was turned over to the District Attorney’s office for prosecution in U.S. court. The federal court decided not to file charges under a policy which evolved from voters’ approval in Washington and Colorado to allow possession of marijuana.

That put the case back here and charges were filed last week after required testing of the evidence.

According to the arrest report, members of the Quad Cities Drug Task Force worked with agents of the Drug Enforcement Agency on conducting the warrant search and the arrest.

The arrest report said officers went to the site on Carrothers Road and served the search warrant. It said in a 30x70 greenhouse structures they found 32 large marijuana plants, and in a smaller building they found 13 smaller plants. The arrest report also gave an account of finding processed marijuana in the residence on the property.

According to the report, the weight of the marijuana plants and the processed marijuana was 740 pounds. When the DEA agents asked to have the processed marijuana weighed separately the alleged total was 87 pounds.

The report said agents also seized property at the suspected grow operation. Among items seized were a Toyota Tacoma pickup truck, a Case dozer and a flatbed trailer. The report alleges in a surveillance operation agents saw the Case dozer used to level a site for the temporary greenhouse.

In an initial arrest report, officers said they had been investigating the Carothers Road grow site for approximately a year.

Since the warrant search on the property, Dougherty also faced a civil eviction action after his landlord contended the growing operation violated the terms of the lease.

REID SUIT

DISMISSAL

AFFIRMED

A superior court ruling to dismiss the public records suit of Christopher Jack Reid against the city of Pullman has been affirmed by the Division Three Court of Appeals. A mandate with the appeals decision was filed in superior court here Monday.

Reid is the former porn film actor who was convicted here in the 2007 burglary and second degree rape which resulted from his entry into WSU sorority houses. Reid filed public disclosure requests with the city of Pullman after he lost appeal of the conviction.

The appeals ruling said Reid was requesting public records from the Pullman Police Department which he believed they might have, but that they actually did not possess. It said Reid failed to prove Pullman ever withheld evidence and his contention that they did was speculative.

The ruling noted Pullman did respond to Reid’s request by sending him two four-inch ring binders and one three-inch binder which contained the department’s case investigation in the file.

Among items Reid sought was an audio recording of the initial call from the rape victim in September of 2007. The city’s response noted it did not have the recording because 911 calls are made to Whitcom which serves several police agencies in the area.

AVISTA GAS MAIN CONCERN

Possible use of an alternate Palouse River crossing for an Avista gas main was among items on the Public Works agenda. Avista has inquired about re-locating the main next to the city sewer bypass line which was installed over the support pillars which at one time supported the Inland Electric rail line into Colfax.

Mayor Todd Vanek Monday, March 17, said Avista has become concerned about the main which is presently located under the Highway 26 exit bridge at the north end of Colfax. The sidewalk of the bridge has been blocked off by the Department of Transportation because of concerns for the support structure under the sidewalk portion of the bridge.

The city sewer line is an alternate bypass route which was installed as a precaution after the 1996 flood. It is not an active part of the city’s sewer system.

NEW PARK SLIDES ON WAY

New play equipment for Colfax parks is expected to arrive this week. Colfax City Council members Monday night approved a $25,009 payment to Game Time for the purchase of the equipment. The equipment has been shipped from the company in Fort Payne, Ala.

The order includes a triple-access slide and a play structure for children in the age bracket of five to nine years. Two aging play structures have been removed from Schmuck Park.

WARRANT ISSUED FOR PREWITT

A warrant was issued Friday, March 14, for the arrest of Lynette Ann Prewitt, 33, Kooskia, Idaho. The warrant was issued after she failed to appear for scheduled arraignment Friday in superior court on a charge of third-degree assault.

Prewitt had posted $1,000 bail for release after her arrest. The court ordered the $1,000 bail forfeited and set a new bail of $25,000 on the arrest warrant.

Prewitt was arrested Feb. 27 after she was charged with assaulting Washington State Patrol Trooper Bruce Blood at the Rosalia area rest stop. The arrest report alleged she became upset after Trooper Blood stopped a Chevrolet pickup truck at the rest stop and placed the driver under arrest for driving under the influence.

Prewitt was a passenger in the pickup truck. The report said after the trooper placed the driver in the back of his squad car, Prewitt again began to object and when the trooper tried to place her under arrest she struck him in the face and broke his glasses.

CHURCH TO RENT GARDEN SITES

Peace Lutheran Church this year plans to rent space in the raised garden beds which are part of the community garden behind the church along Lake Street. The church will offer space in the six 3x20 raised beds which stand more than two feet high. The beds have automatic watering systems.

The garden marked its first year of operation last year as part of the Backyard Harvest program, and church members plan to build six more of the raised gardens for the community garden site. Produce from the community garden has been provided free to the public and excess goes to Backyard Harvest.

CITY DOG

TAGS LAG

Dog licensing registration in Colfax to date has lagged. Owners have obtained licenses at city hall for just 55 dogs as of Monday. Colfax issues between 250 and 300 dog licenses each year.

The city conducts renewals of dog licenses in March of each year.

Cost for a dog license is $5 for neutered or spayed dogs and $12 for other dogs.

Dog owners are required to show that their dogs have been vaccinated before the city can issue a dog license.

LATE ARRIVAL NETS JAIL

Sheila Evans, 33, Tekoa, was ordered to jail Friday, March 14, after she arrived late for a scheduled plea and sentencing. Evans is one of the suspects in the Tekoa-area thefts which were reported at the end of the year.

The court determined she was six hours late for arraignment due to automobile problems. She was ordered held on $5,000 bail and her plea and sentencing was set back to this Friday, March 21.

She faces charges of second degree burglary, first degree theft and possession of methamphetamine. The burglary charge involves the entry of a rental unit at J & B Storage in Tekoa Dec. 16, and the theft charge involves a Kubota utility vehicle taken from the Tekoa area Dec. 20.

Arrest report in the case said deputies located stolen property at Evans’ residence, and at first she told the officers the tools and other property were brought to the house by her boyfriend and she was just beginning to realize they were stolen. The report alleges officers later learned that she had been a participant in the crimes.

INMATE ATTEMPTS SUICIDE

A Colfax ambulance crew responded to a report of an attempted suicide by an inmate in the jail at 4:25 p.m. Saturday, March 15. The male inmate, who was reported to be up and walking when the ambulance crew arrived on the scene, was transported to Whitman Hospital for checkup and underwent counciling from a mental health professional before being returned to the jail.

CUB DANCE ASSAULT CHARGES

Daquawn D. Brown, 18, pleaded not guilty in superior court Friday, March 14, to two charges of fourth degree assault. Brown, who is a member of the WSU football team, was arrested March 7 at the WSU police station after an investigation was conducted last week.

The investigation report alleges Brown hit two people during a dispute which broke out at a stroll dance which was sponsored by a fraternity and sorority March 1 at a Compton Union Building ballroom on the campus.

According to witness accounts Brown, who was identified by students at the dance as “Cheetah,” had been cautioned by one of the attendees who alleged Brown had been making sexual gestures behind one of the female stroll teams at the dance.

The report said a confrontation followed and that led to pushing from both sides.

It alleged Brown then hit one of the males who sustained a bloody nose.

The WSU police report said a witness reported “chaos” followed with several people at the dance getting into the melee.

The WSU police report alleges Brown knocked one of the females unconscious.

The alleged victim in a later police interview said she had sustained a concussion, had two teeth knocked loose and suffered nose bleeds.

Chief Deputy Prosecutor Bill Druffel advised the court that a third charge could be filed against Brown after the investigation is concluded. Brown was booked into the jail here Friday afternoon and later allowed release on his own recognizance. A trial date has been set for May 19.

Brown is listed on the WSU roster as a freshman cornerback from Dorsey High School in Los Angeles.

DECREMER

SENTENCED

A case which started with a report of a woman screaming in a car at the intersection of Fairview and East Street in Colfax on Christmas Day concluded March 7 when Terry Lee DeCremer, 27, former Colfax resident living in Albion, pleaded guilty to charges of fourth degree assault and malicious mischief. He was sentenced with 364 days in jail with all but 10 of them suspended. He was credited for time served in jail and also ordered by pay fines and fees totaling $1,450.

A charge of harassment was dismissed as part of a plea bargain.

The report said residents on the south end of Colfax called police after they heard a horn and a woman screaming from a car. The woman was DeCremer’s wife who reported they had been quarreling most of the day because they were considering a divorce.

She reported they had come to Colfax to purchase gasoline and that DeCremer again became upset and broke the window of their car when he pulled on it. She said she stopped the car on the South Hill and pushed on the horn to get assistance.

DeCremer, who left the scene, became the object of a search and was later found in downtown Colfax where he was arrested.