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.

FOOT CHASE

ENDS IN ARREST

A Lewiston man was arrested in the back yard of a residence along the 500 block of N. Mill Street Feb. 5 afternoon after a foot chase which started on the first floor of the district courthouse. Deputy Bryce Nebe had been dispatched from the sheriff’s office to walk over to the district court office and take custody of the suspect. According to Nebe, when the suspect saw him approaching in the hall, the man opted to run down the front steps of the courthouse and north along the front of the courthouse. He turned right on North Street and then left on Mill Street with Nebe in pursuit.

Nebe said he was unable to see the man after he rounded the corner onto Mill Street, but an onlooker from the opposite side of the S. Palouse flood channel, near the back of the Master’s Touch lot, signaled the escapee was in the back yard of a residence on the west side of Mill.

The suspect, Derek James Brackett, 25, Lewiston, was arrested on an outstanding Whitman County warrant. Nebe said he was also jailed on probable charges of obstruction of justice and driving with a suspended license. Alleged source of evidence for the driving charge was surveillance video from outside the sheriff’s office.

At the start of the chase, Nebe was able to alert officers that the chase was underway, and other deputies and city police responded to the scene.

FRATERNITY FIRE

AT PULLMAN

Pullman fire crews early Sunday responded to a kitchen fire at the Delta Tau Delta fraternity. Members of the fraternity were evacuated from the fraternity located at 700 NE Campus.

The fire alarms were determined to have been triggered by a kitchen fire. The fire was confined to the kitchen range and extinguished for the most part by the hood extinguisher.

Pullman fire prevention officer Rich Dragoo said the fire started after some members of the fraternity did some cooking in the early morning hours and then went to bed without turning off the stove. The fire melted pans on the stove and ignited a significant amount of built-up grease collected in the range and the vent hood. One fraternity member also used a fire extinguisher on the blaze.

Most members of the fraternity heard the first alarm and exited the building, but firefighters had to rouse six of the members and lead them outside.

CAR KICKING

CONVICTION

Daniel J. Fitzgerald, 25, Seattle, was sentenced to 364 days in jail with all but two days suspended after he pleaded guilty in superior court Friday to a charge of malicious mischief in the third degree. Fitzgerald was arrested last Sept. 20 when officers responded to a report of someone damaging cars that had been parked in the Fine Arts Building garage. The report was received during the WSU football game.

According to the report, an officer located Fitzgerald in the garage building, and he had problems responding to questions. The officer discovered a side door on a car had sustained extensive damage. The report said Fitzgerald agreed to show the officer the bottom of his shoes, and the tread pattern on the shoes matched the pattern which had been left on the door. The officer said it appeared the door had been “donkey kicked.”

Fitzgerald was originally charged with second degree malicious mischief. He pleaded not guilty to that charge and had been slated for a Jan. 20 trial, but later agreed to plead guilty to the reduced charge of third degree malicious mischief.

For the remaining two days of his sentence, he was credited with two days spent in jail after his arrest. He was also ordered to pay $2,400 in fines and fees including $100 restitution to the owner of the vehicle and $1,600 to the insurance carrier.

JAIL FURLOUGHS REJECTED

A second request by LaMeece Dillsi, 42, Albion, for a jail furlough was rejected Friday in superior court. Dillsi was sentenced to six months in jail Jan. 23 after she was convicted of possession of methamphetamine by a jury Jan. 20.

The sentence report noted Dillsi had been convicted Sept. 12 for possession of heroin. She had been sentenced to 30 days on that conviction but allowed to convert the jail time to 240 hours of community service.

The Jan. 23 sentence evolved from a police response to an Oct. 16 report of domestic dispute. Deputies at that time learned Dillsi had been suspected of using methamphetamine, which was discovered after a warrant search. Dillsi Jan. 23 was also fined $2,000 and ordered to pay other fees and costs. She was also placed on one year of community supervision and ordered to undergo a drug evaluation and follow any recommendations for treatment.

Dillsi Jan. 30 requested a jail furlough to seek employment. Judge David Frazier pointed out her conviction had concluded the case and declined to consider a revision.

Dillsi has also filed an appeal of her conviction, and the judge Friday again pointed out he lacks authority to revise a sentence when it is under appellate review. Dillsi’s latest furlough request was to obtain a drug use evaluation.

The court also noted the drug evaluation and treatment were listed in the sentence as conditions of the community supervision part of her sentence after she completes the jail time.

ROLLOVER NEAR

ST. JOHN

Luis Perez-Jimenz, Quincy, was unhurt Saturday afternoon when he lost control of a 2001 Nissan Maxima on Highway 23 just north of St. John. According to the Washington State Patrol report, he was driving northbound at 2:20 p.m. when the Maxima drifted onto the gravel shoulder of the highway. He over-corrected, and the car went off the north side of the highway and rolled in the ditch.

—Avery P. Mottet, Selah, was unhurt when the 2003 Acura MCX he was driving struck a guardrail on Highway 26 near Dusty. According to the WSP report, he was driving eastbound at 7:30 p.m. Saturday when the Acura drifted to the right and struck the guardrail on the south side of the highway.

STORM DRAIN

PLAN STALLS

A proposed ordinance for control of storm drain runoff water was sidelined at the Feb. 2 city council session after council members discussed the potential cost to landowners. The proposal would have required developers with projects of approximately one acre or larger to follow regulations in the state’s storm water treatment manual.

Councilman Jim Kackman said he believed the regulations and requirements in the manual would result in a lot of additional expense for landowners who undertake a project in Colfax.

Kackman read a small segment of the requirements in the manual to point out what developers would have to face if the city put the requirement on its books. He also pointed out Colfax is exempt from state storm water runoff regulations because of its small size.

Public Works Director Matt Hammer said the state storm water manual totaled 670 pages when he downloaded it from the internet.

Councilwoman Jeannette Solimine said she would like to know what the city stood to lose if it failed to put the provision in the city ordinance book.

City council members noted the town now had few locations with a one-acre space that could be used for some type of a development.

City Manager Mike Rizzitiello said the ordinance proposal derived from a current Whitman County project to develop a single shoreline management policy.

THREAT TO KILL CHARGE

A charge of harassment with a threat to kill was filed Feb. 4 in superior court against Ricky Lee Fargo, 50, Pullman. He has been summoned to appear in court Feb. 13.

According to a Pullman Police report filed with the charges, officers Dec. 28 responded to a report of a male threatening to take his own life with a knife at a residence on SW Shirley in Pullman. They located Fargo in the basement of the residence.

The report said Fargo told officers they had arrived too late and that he planned to take his own life with a knife. It said he eventually dropped the knife but charged at the officers and threatened to kill them. He was downed with a taser shot, taken into protective custody and treated at Pullman Regional Hospital.

Fargo has been summoned to appear in court Feb. 13.

CITY SIGNS

TWO OFFICERS

Colfax Police Chief Rick McNannay reported the department has signed two officers to join the force. Matt Malakowsky, who has been working as a part-time officer, has been assigned to the full time position. Malakowsky has served as a reserve deputy for the Sheriff’s office and has been employed at the WSU paint shop.

He has been working the Colfax department’s early morning shift which was started after Whitman Hospital and the city worked out a plan for around-the-clock coverage as a security measure for the hospital.

Grant Silver of Coeur d’Alene has been hired for the other open position. Silver has been a Kootenai County Corrections officer at Coeur d’Alene.

Chief McNannay said they plan to get Silver into the state’s basic state police academy starting in March. Malakowsky, who has been certified through his reserve training, is expected to attend the academy later in the year.

TRUCK TRAILER ROLLS

A semi trailer rolled off the side of Highway 26 Feb. 2 when driving conditions led to a series of accidents. According to the Washington State Patrol report, Michael Mindus, Moses Lake, was driving a 2007 International tractor trailer unit eastbound at 6:37 a.m. when it went out of control and slid off the right side of the highway 4.45 miles west of Colfax. The second trailer behind the semi rolled. Mindus was not injured.

Gavin Castaneda, Forks, lost control of a 1992 Chevrolet Blazer Feb. 1 while driving eastbound at 5:05 p.m. on the highway which was covered with snow and slush. The Blazer crossed the highway and rolled onto its top in the ditch on the west side of the highway east of mile marker 119. Castaneda was not hurt.

NUISANCE

ORDINANCE CHANGES

The proposed Colfax nuisance ordinance, which was sidelined at the Jan.19 city council session, is being changed to include wording that will bring enforcement into the city court. City Administrator Mike Rizzitiello told city council members Feb. 2 he has located an ordinance used by the City of Thorpe which includes those provisions.

At their previous meeting, some council members suggested appeal hearings on ordinance enforcement not be directed to city council sessions, as proposed in the draft.

Provisions in the ordinance include an initial time for voluntary compliance before a formal notice process starts. The ordinance is designed to deal with removal of rubbish, junk vehicles, weeds and unfit structures.

Rizzitiello said the revised draft will also reduce the amount of fines which had been proposed in the initial draft. Council members also said they believed the proposed fines were too steep.

TALENT SHOW CALL

A call for participants in the annual Colfax High School talent and variety show was issued Feb. 4 by Cary Cammack, Colfax schools’ vocal director. The show will be Tuesday, Feb. 24, at 7 p.m. A piano player, dancers, instrumentalists and vocalists are sought for the show. Auditions will be Feb. 10-17. Proceeds from the show are used for the high school choir’s spring tour.