The 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.

APARTMENT HEIST NETS

FOUR MONTHS

Ahmed Ali Shire, 19, Mountlake Terrace, was sentenced to four months in jail Friday after pleading guilty to a charge of residential burglary March 27 in Pullman. Prosecutor Denis Tracy told the court Shire and an associate drove from the Seattle area to Pullman with the intent of taking electronic items from Pullman apartments and later selling them.

Shire was arrested after Pullman Police responded to a report of several males fighting in the area of NE Ash Street. The report said they learned Shire was being held down by a man who discovered the suspect and another man in his apartment when he returned. One of the intruders escaped but the victim chased down Shire.

Investigation later determined Shire was in possession of items from a neighboring apartment on NE Maple, and the resident there confirmed they had returned home to find the apartment burglarized.

The other suspect in the burglary, Vishal K. Singh, was apprehended the next day.

Defense attorney Teresa Keene told the court Friday Shire was a member of an immigrant family from Somalia who had graduated from Lynnwood High School. She noted Shire was 18 when he got involved in the venture which he now realizes brought a lot of shame to his family. Shire was ordered to report to jail Friday to begin serving his sentence. He was also ordered to pay fines and fees and restitution totaling $2,760.

Singh, 20, Lynnwood, was stopped while driving a Scion TC loaded with the stolen electronic goods a day after Shire was arrested. He pleaded guilty Aug. 19 to a lesser charge of possession of stolen property and was sentenced to 30 days in jail. Among items found in the vehicle were three laptop computers, a 42-inch television, play station and turntables.

In a revision of his sentence, Singh was ordered to also pay the same amount of restitution.

DRUG SUSPECTS FOUND IN FIELD

Rebecca Phelps, 26, and David Wilson, 23, both Lewiston, each posted $5,000 bail for pre-trial release Friday after being arrested late last Wednesday, Sept. 7, in a car which had driven into a wheat field off McMeekin Road in the Steptoe area. Deputies responded to a report from a female caller, Phelps, who said she had driven into the field to evade people who were chasing her.

The deputy’s report said the car, driven by Phelps, was running when it was located in a stubble field off McMeekin Road

He said he observed a bong on the floor of the car behind the front seats. A subsequent search of the car led to the discovery of a plastic baggy of methamphetamine and a backpack in the trunk which contained 86 grams of marijuana, the arrest report alleges.

Phelps and Wilson Monday were each charged with possession of methamphetamine and over 40 grams of marijuana.

KAMIKAZE DEER TAKES OUT AMBULANCE

Rosalia ambulance crews were on call at the fair’s rodeo last weekend, with Colfax crews short an ambulance that was wrecked by a deer last week.

EMT Scott Kruse said ambulance crews ran into a deer Sept. 3 while returning from transporting a patient to Sacred Heart Medical Center. The deer jumped in front of the ambulance just south of Spokane while the crew was returning to Colfax.

Kruse said the front end was severely damaged and is being repaired at Jess Ford in Pullman. He said it should be back on line next week, but did not yet have a repair estimate.

TRUCK HITS REST STOP

The Horn School Rest Stop south of Rosalia was unhurt Friday evening after it was crashed into by a 2000 Chevrolet S-10 pickup driven by Jon Ramey, 47, Grangeville.

According to the report filed by State Trooper Bruce Blood, Ramey’s truck jumped the curb while pulling into a parking stall, skidded across the sidewalk and ran into the rest stop near the mens’ room at 6:40 p.m. Ramey was unhurt. His pickup was towed away by All Service East of Spokane.

PALOUSE UROLOGY FILES FOR PARTIAL JUDGEMENT

Attorneys for American Economy Insurance Company filed Friday for dismissal of a suit brought by John and Kimberly Keizur, owners of Palouse Urology of Pullman, in Whitman County Superior Court Friday.

The suit sought $10,000 from the insurance company as compensation for money stolen by Colfax resident Alicia E. Napier, 47, while she worked at the clinic.

Napier pleaded guilty June to 16 of 40 counts of mail and bank fraud brought against her by the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington. She was set for sentencing Sept. 1, but the hearing was postponed at her attorney’s request until Sept. 19.

According to the court filing, Napier pleaded guilty to writing 346 fraudulent checks on Palouse Urology accounts to embezzle a total of $538,725.94.

The Keizurs contend coverage they purchased from American Economy should have reimbursed them $10,000 under a Money and Securities insurance plan, in addition to the $15,000 the company has already paid the clinic under an employee theft plan.

American Economy’s lawyers said in their filing the insurance plan allows American Economy to pay out on either one policy or the other, but not both.

PALOUSE RIVER TO TURN RED

The waters of the North Fork of the Palouse River will run red this week through Palouse as crews with the state Department of Ecology dye the river to collect information on water temperature. Clerk Joyce Beeson said the dye will help Ecology officials determine where to place gauges that will be used to monitor temperature and flow of the river through town.

BURGER SMOKE ALARM

A Colfax fire crew Thursday afternoon, Sept. 8, responded to a report of excess smoke in the A Avenue area in northwest Colfax. They determined the smoke derived from a barbecue operation which was underway to prepare hamburgers for the Thursday night football team dinner.

A fire truck was also dispatched at seven minutes before midnight Sept. 8 to respond to an automatic alarm at the River View Apartments. The alarm was determined to be caused by a faulty smoke detector.

A crew also responded to an alarm caused by a faulty detector at the apartment Wednesday afternoon.