Bulletin Column: Dec. 13, 2018

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.

CAR SHOOTING VERDICT

Tylor James Wilson, 23, Pullman, was convicted Monday of four charges related to a Pullman Police investigation of a report of the driver of a car on College Hill in Pullman being hit by a pellet gun shot Oct. 11. The jury returned verdicts of guilty on one charge of assault and three charges of malicious mischief.

Wilson was arrested after Madison A. Taylor reported early that afternoon that the driver's window of a 2006 Volkswagen Beetle she was driving southbound on NE Maple had been shattered.

The investigation report by Pullman Officer Todd Dow said Taylor found a BB on the floor mat of the car. She also reported a stinging feeling after the driver's side window of the car shattered.

Taylor was among witnesses called by Senior Deputy Prosecutor Merritt Decker during the one-day trial Monday.

Dow's investigation report said he located shattered glass in the street and located a second-level apartment in a building on 405 E. Campus with an open window. He said when he went to the apartment he observed a box of copperhead brand BBs on a gallon bucket sitting outside of the apartment.

Wilson was identified as the occupant of the apartment and subsequently charged with one count of third-degree assault and two counts of malicious mischief.

The report said Wilson denied owning a BB gun, but police recordings from a previous encounter with the suspect included a statement in which he denied being in possession of any gun except for a BB gun.

The report said a Pullman officer later received a warrant to search the apartment and found a BB gun under a foam mattress.

Decker added a third charge of malicious mischief to the state's case prior to the trial. A Jeep Wrangler at a residence on NE Maple was also hit by a pellet.

Wilson was ordered to be held in custody with sentencing scheduled for Wednesday morning.

PROSTITUTION ARRESTS

Rebecca M. Deacon, 26, Clarkston, was booked into jail here early Tuesday morning on a probable charge of prostitution and possession of drugs. According to an arrest report by Colfax Officer Joe Handley, Deacon was contacted by him on an internet site advertising prostitution and she drove here when he called her and posed as a prospective client.

The arrest report alleges Deacon admitted she was a drug addict and Handley also arranged for her to bring heroin and methamphetamine to sell to him.

The suspect arrived in a Ford Fusion and was arrested when she pulled into the Cougar Food Mart. The report alleges the drugs were found in a search of the car she was driving.

--Trevor D. Yocum, 46, Newman Lake, was booked into jail here early Sunday morning on probable charges of promoting prostitution and driving with a suspended license. Handley said Yocum was stopped for an expired car license on Main Street, and a check revealed the alleged suspended status of his driver's license. A young woman in the car admitted she had been driven to Colfax for a prostitution appointment and had arranged to split the proceeds 50-50 with Yocum, according to the arrest report. She was not arrested.

SEEKS BABY WAGON DONATIONS

Cristi Shindler, a nurse and manager of the Whitman Hospital birthing center in Colfax, has issued a call for residents to contribute to the 2019 New Year's Baby Wagon. The first baby born in 2019 at Whitman Hospital will receive a Radio Flyer wagon filled with items donated by the hospital, hospital employees, area businesses and residents.

Any other donations for the parents and the baby will be greatly appreciated, Shindler noted.

POLICE CAR KICKING NETS JAIL

David Patrick Sheffield, 29, was sentenced to 60 days in jail and ordered to pay the Pullman Police Department $1,104 in restitution for damage to a patrol car after he pleaded guilty Friday to a charge of malicious mischief. Sheffield was charged after Pullman police responded to a domestic violence report at an apartment on NE Providence Court in Pullman Oct. 21. The report said Sheffield had refused to leave an apartment after he was repeatedly told to do so by the occupant.

After officers arrived on the scene, Sheffield put up a struggle which required four officers to place him in the back of a patrol car. He kicked out the window of the car while being transported to the jail.

When Sheffield was booked into jail here, he listed a home address in Tarpon Springs, Fla., but when allowed pre-trial release, he told the court he would reside in Richland.

Charges of criminal trespass and resisting arrest were dismissed.

FAIR PLANS TO OFFER WOOD

The Palouse Empire Fair Board plans to make a posting on Facebook to offer wood from the 20 trees which were cut down along Fairgrounds Road on the west side of the fair RV park. The cottonwood trees were downed because they were diseased and presented a danger to people staying in the RV park and people on the grounds.

Fair Manager Janel Goebel said wood from cottonwood trees is not regarded as the best for providing in-home heating. The fair has received inquiries about what they are going to do with logs from the downed trees which had grown to maturity.

Goebel stressed safety concerns will be a key factor in disposal of the logs. The fair will want to know who might be interested in removing the wood and schedule specific times for cutters to be on the grounds. Access will be limited.

VARNER SENTENCED TO SIX MONTHS

Cody J. Varner, 22, Oakesdale, was sentenced to six months in jail after he pleaded guilty in superior court Friday to one charge of possession of methamphetamine. Varner was arrested last July 5 in Oakesdale, where deputies located methamphetamine and heroin at his residence on McCoy Street.

Charges against him were amended twice prior to Friday's arraignment to the single charge of drug possession.

According to the arrest report, deputies went to the Oakesdale residence after a deputy made a traffic stop in Tekoa. The driver of the stopped vehicle at Tekoa admitted he was in possession of a small amount of methamphetamine. He said Varner had given him a small amount of the drug after he had helped Varner locate a source where Varner could purchase methamphetamine and heroin in Spokane. He told the deputy specific amounts of each drug which had been purchased, according to the arrest report.

Other deputies were dispatched to Varner's residence in Oakesdale. According to the arrest report, Varner waived his constitutional rights and allowed deputies to enter the residence. He showed them where meth was located in a pack of cigarettes which was stored on a shelf and where heroin was kept in a backpack which Varner had in his room.

The arrest report said Varner told deputies he did not use drugs, but admitted he sold the drugs to others.

Varner was allowed to delay serving his sentence until Jan. 4 so he could spend Christmas with his family. Defense Attorney Steven Martonick pointed out Varner cooperated with deputies at the scene of the July 5 arrest and could be trusted to show up at the jail Jan. 4 to begin serving his sentence. He will be allowed work release while in jail.

Varner was also fined $1,000 on the drug conviction and ordered to pay fines and fees of $700.

Varner was originally charged with possession of meth and heroin July 9. The charges were amended July 20 to possession of the two drugs with intent to deliver and then amended a second time to a single charge of possession of meth under a plea bargain agreement.

The arrest report alleges deputies also found drug evidence which resulted in charges filed against Tyler J. Chapman, 24, St. John. He has been charged with possession of methamphetamine and heroin with his next court date now set for Dec. 21.

BAIL REMAINS AT $200,000

A request by Brian Wignall, 22, Lewiston, to have his $200,000 bail for pre-trial release reduced, was denied Friday in superior court. Wignall has been charged with attempting to elude after an alleged high speed chase Dec. 2 which began at Zip's in Colfax and reached a speed of 90 mph before he was stopped by a spike strip on Highway 195 north of Steptoe.

Judge Gary Libey ruled Wignall posed a threat to the public and noted that, at the time of his arrest, Wignall admitted a warrant had already been issued against him as the result of a prior arrest.

Wignall pleaded not guilty to the charge and has been scheduled for trial Jan. 14.

PARADE ENTRIES SET RECORD

Thursday night's Christmas parade on Mill and Main streets is believed to have set a record for number of entries. Val Gregory, joint executive director for the Chamber of Commerce, Perkins House and Downtown Association, said there were a total of 24 entrants in the parade, but some of the entrants had multiple units.

She said the count actually turned out to be 34 different units.

The length of the parade led to a traffic jam at the end of the parade where the front of the parade was blocked off by units on Mill Street waiting to start.

First entries making the loop from Mill to Canyon and then north on Main Street had been instructed to return to Mill via Upton, but the cross street was blocked by later entrants waiting to start the parade.

Gregory said Colfax officers instructed the parade entrants to just keep rolling north on Main. Parade units continued northbound and waved to motorists who had been stopped in the southbound lanes of Main waiting for the parade to end.

"They just waved and took pictures of us, and we threw a little candy at them," Gregory reported.

Among multi entries were four pieces of lighted equipment from Wilbur Ellis, three trucks of Boy Scouts and two Avista trucks.

Sound equipment was set up by Shawn Burt with Dean Ellis moderating the parade on Mill Street and David Cofer of Pullman moderating the parade on Main Street in front of the library.

The cast of "Cinderella" with Director Cary Cammack led off the parade, and Santa Claus again anchored the show aboard a Colfax Fire Department unit. As many as three Grinches, one live and two inflatables, appeared on parade units in between.