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.

VOTER

REGISTRATION DEADLINE

Deadline for on-line and mailed voter registration changes for the general election is Monday, Oct. 6. The deadline for in-person registration of new voters and out-of-state voters at the elections office here and in Pullman is Oct. 27.

Ballots will go out on Oct. 17, the required 18 days before the Nov. 4 general election.

INDECENT

LIBERTIES ARREST

Chandler Tran, 18, a WSU student, was allowed release on his own recognizance Friday after being arrested in Pullman on a probable charge of indecent liberties. The WSU police report alleges Tran exposed himself to a 19-year-old female student in the laundry room at Streit Residence Hall.

The alleged victim said Tran grabbed her around the waist and pushed himself against her. The victim said the incident happened two to three weeks ago, and she eventually decided to report it after thinking other residents in the hall could also become victims. The report said she didn’t know the identity of the suspect, but he was identified through a social media photo.

DEER, PATROL CAR COLLIDE

Matt Malakowsky, one of the part-time officers who has been working graveyard shifts for the city police department, collided with a deer in the 400 block of the Fairview Street hill at about 2 a.m. Tuesday morning. Damage was limited to the turn signal light on the Ford Crown Victoria sedan.

Malakowsky later in the shift stopped a driver of a 2008 Kia which had the license plate light out. The driver turned out to be sought on an arrest warrant out of Spokane County and she was taken to the jail here to await transfer to Spokane.

PLUMBING

PERMIT

A permit for plumbing work in the courthouse remodeling project was issued by the city Monday to Greenwater Energy LLC in Clarkston. The plumbing permit rate is issued per fixture and the applicant listed 23 fixtures involved in the project. Total fee amount was $161 for the 23 fixtures plus a $20 basic fee.

The courthouse construction project with Elmer Construction of Spokane has been listed at $350,749 in the general construction permit.

Most of the remodeling job involves reconstruction of restrooms on both floors of the courthouse. The project also includes installation of alternate exits out of offices which now have just one point of entry. The alternate doors are installed as a safety measure.

TEEN SAID LOCATED

IN BUSH

Amended charges of harboring a minor and failing to register as a sex offender were filed Friday in superior court against Michael McFarlane, 22, Pullman. The charge alleges McFarlane provided housing to a 16-year-old Moscow girl who had been reported as a runaway.

According to the WSU police report, Moscow Police relayed a tip that the girl could be staying with people she knew at an apartment on Terre View Drive.

Officers went to the apartment late Sept. 5 and located McFarlane sitting out on the patio of the apartment. After learning why officers were at the apartment, McFarlane said he didn’t know the person they sought, and allowed them to search through the apartment.

After the search, officers said they received a tip that the missing girl was hiding in bushes next to the patio and that’s where they found her. The report said the girl told officers McFarlane had instructed her to hide in the bushes.

The failure to register charge alleges McFarlane failed to register as a sex offender after being convicted of communicating with a minor for immoral purposes in November of 2010.

ELEVATOR PIT FIRE DOUSED

Colfax fire crews Friday responded to a report of a pit fire at the grain elevator on Last Street at 1:26 p.m. The fire was smoldering in grain dust in the pit area of the elevator between West and Lake streets.

According to Assistant Chief Jim Krouse, cause of the fire was believed to have been motor belts which over-heated when the auger they were driving jammed and caused friction on the pulleys the motors were driving.

Employees at the elevator used fire extinguishers to douse the smoldering debris, but the smoke persisted and the fire crew was called to the scene.

Krouse said a light sprinkle of water was used to put out the smoldering material to keep the dust factor to a minimum in the confined space.

BRUSH FIRE OVER UNION FLAT

Albion and Colfax rural fire crews Sunday night responded at 8:03 p.m. to a brush fire in the area of Upper Union Flat Road west of the Hamilton Road intersection. The fire was believed to have been started off the site of an earlier controlled burn which was hit by wind in the evening.

The fire burned a grass area on the steep hillside above Union Flat Creek. It was stopped before getting into trees which were located downhill.

OFFICER ASSAULT

TRIAL SET

A Dec. 15 trial date was scheduled for Jayme N. Hattrup, Pullman, who has been charged with third degree assault and being a minor in possession after she was arrested at the Sept. 13 WSU-Portland State football game. She pleaded not guilty to the charges Friday in Whitman County superior court.

According the arrest report, Hattrup was observed having trouble walking on the concourse of the stadium with what appeared to be a flask sticking out of her shirt. The officer confiscated the flask which reportedly had a small amount of alcoholic beverage inside of it.

The report said the suspect became argumentative and was placed in handcuffs. She was then taken to a holding area and the handcuffs were removed but later replaced.

The report said the suspect became upset when the officer was holding her cell phone prior to the arrival of a transport unit. It said she got up off the bench where she was sitting and kicked the officer in the right shin. The officer said he had been holding the cell phone to give it to the driver of the transport unit.

DEBRIS HITS TOYOTA

Drivers of a pickup truck and a Toyota MTX were unhurt in an accident involving debris Saturday on Highway 195 about five miles south of Pullman. According to the Washington State Patrol report, Bernard M. Schultheis, Colton, was driving a 2001 Chevrolet pickup truck southbound at 10:20 a.m. when debris fell off the bed of the truck. The debris struck a 2011 Toyota MTX being driven northbound by Heather L. Ramsey, Genesee.

The debris hit the passenger side doors on the MTX.

TRIAL SET

IN STORAGE UNIT CASE

A Dec. 15 trial date was set for Michael A. Carter Friday after he pleaded not guilty to a charge of possession of stolen property in the second degree. Carter, 36, was arrested Sept. 19 by Pullman Police who allege they located property which was believed stolen from a utility trailer that had been parked in a lot at an apartment complex on Westwood Drive in Pullman. The report said a padlock on the trailer had been cut to gain entry.

The police investigation alleged wheels and tires, some of the items reported missing from the trailer, were found inside a unit which Carter had rented at a mini-storage along the Moscow/Pullman Highway. The report said Carter was believed to have been connected with other theft cases in Pullman in recent weeks and other items in the storage locker could be stolen. Information obtained by police during the investigation led them to the storage unit.

Carter, who had been held in jail in lieu of posting the $5,000 bail set by the court, was allowed pre-trial release on his own recognizance Friday to reside with members of his girlfriend’s family in Troy, Idaho. A family member told the court she would guarantee Carter will appear for subsequent court sessions on the case.

THREE HURT ON AIRPORT ROAD

Three people were taken by ambulances to Pullman Regional Hospital Friday morning from the scene of a collision on the Pullman Airport Road just east of the O’Donnell Road intersection beyond the east end of the airport.

According to a report from the sheriff’s office, a 1992 Honda Odyssey, which was being driven eastbound by Stobahn Deus, 19, Pullman, drifted into the oncoming lane of traffic and collided with a 2002 Jeep Liberty being driven by Taylor Byers, 22, Pullman.

The two drivers and Kelsie McGraw, a passenger in the Jeep Liberty, were all taken to the hospital in Pullman.

Deus apparently was blinded by the sunlight and drifted into the oncoming lane at about 7:45 a.m., Sheriff Brett Myers reported.

SPORTS GARB NETS $848

A project to raise funds through the sale of Bulldog sports apparel and other items has raised $848 for improvement to the Colfax High School weight training room. Orders for goods were taken by the Colfax cheerleaders with the help of football team members. The sale items were offered by Extreme Sports which donated $8 per item ordered to the designated fund.

Jordan, 58, Pullman, was sentenced to 364 days in jail with all but 30 suspended after pleading guilty in superior court

Friday morning to a charge of possession of stolen property in the second degree. She was allowed the option of doing 240 hours of public service in lieu of spending the time in jail.

After Jordan entered her plea of guilty, the state reported she had a prior record of five thefts.

Jordan told the court this morning she had moved to Pullman in an attempt to change her life. She said she had a full time job and her own residence, and she presented the court with a letter of support from her church.

Judge David Frazier commented it didn’t make sense why she continued to get involved in thefts. The Pullman case involved taking a credit card and using it to make small purchases, including cigarettes and other items.

She was ordered to reimburse the owner of the credit card for the $70 worth of items which were charged with the card. She was also ordered to pay fees of $700 and a $500 fine.

Minimum monthly payment on the sum due was set at $50 by the court.

SUSPECT ARRESTED ON 2013 WARRANTS

Jordan W. Ternes, who was sought on arrest warrants since April 2013, was booked into jail here last Wednesday night. Ternes, 22, who listed an address in Cleavland, Tenn., was charged with delivery of a controlled substance and rape of a child in the second degree. The arrest warrants were issued after he failed to show up at a first appearance in the charges in superior court April 26, 2013.

Bond amount was set at $50,000 in a first appearance in court Friday.

According to Pullman Police investigation reports, the delivery charges stem from an investigation which started when a Lincoln Middle School student was apprehended with a baggie of marijuana. The child rape charge against Ternes was filed at the same time, but the allegation dates back to 2011. He is charged with having sex with a girl between the ages of 12 and 14.

CHARGE

PENDING IN RAY CASE

Investigation in the Colfax child assault case against O’Ryan Ray, 21, Colfax. has turned up evidence of another possible assault episode involving a six-year-old boy who resided at the Ray house. Assistant Chief David Szambelan reported last Thursday the department has reviewed surveillance videos from Rosauers which show Ray allegedly assaulting the six-year-old at the store.

Ray was arrested Saturday on a probable charge of child assault involving a three-month-old girl. That case alleges the girl sustained brain bruises two days earlier when Ray threw her against the ceiling of the mobile home where he lives off Hillcrest Drive. The ceiling episode allegedly took place while Ray was tending the two children while their mother was at work.

Colfax police began the investigation when Spokane Police relayed a report that the infant girl was undergoing treatment at Providence Sacred Heart in Spokane.

The six-year-old boy and a three-month-old twin sister were at the residence when police began the investigation Saturday.

Ray was allowed release on his own recognizance after a first appearance in court Sept. 22. The two children at the residence were removed under the supervision of Child Protective Services.

Szambelan said Thursday the infant has been released from the Spokane hospital and is now under foster care.

The surveillance tapes from the store show Ray losing his temper while attempting to control the six-year-old boy during a shopping trip at the store, Szambelan said.

A formal charge has not been filed in court. One pending part of the investigation will be a review of the medical reports from treatment of the infant girl, Szambelan said.

PLEA INCLUDES $25,781 FRAUD DEBT

A 39-year-old Pullman resident who admitted charges of stealing two sets of silverware from her mother, was also ordered to pay back $25,781 to the Social Security Administration Sept 19 in superior court. Amanda Dantini was sentenced after pleading guilty to three formal charges Friday in superior court.

Under terms of the plea bargain agreement, Dantini was ordered to pay back the $25,781 in social security funds which were determined to have been taken in a fraud investigation done by Pullman Police. A charge in the fraud case has not been formally filed, but the plea bargain allows the state to go ahead and file a charge on the alleged fraud in the event Dantini fails to comply with the terms of her sentence.

Another part of the plea bargain calls for the state to drop a separate charge of possession of heroin. That agreement also allows the state to renew the charge if she fails to comply. The police report alleges they discovered the heroin after going to Dantini’s residence in search of other stolen property.

Friday she pleaded guilty to charges of second degree theft, forgery and possession of stolen property. She was sentenced to 30 days in jail, but has since been taken to the Latah County jail in Moscow where she faces a charge of burglary.

The police report in the silverware theft case alleges Dantini went to her mother’s residence in Pullman last February and asked to borrow lamp shades which were in a storage area at the residence. Her mother later checked the storage area and noted two sets of silverware were missing.

The report said her mother’s husband, who had given Dantini a ride back to her residence, reported Dantini carried a large Tupperware container into her residence. She declined his offer to carry the container because she said it was too heavy for him.

Dantini had been in jail here since last August after a $5,000 bail for pre-trial release was revoked. That action was taken after the charges filed in Latah County were considered a violation of the “no criminal conduct” condition for pre-trial release here on the $5,000 bail.