Local News

Grants Pass Police arrested two people for drug possession last night following an encounter in the Walmart parking lot. The Police Department reports officers contacted a 31-year-old man and a 41-year-old woman while they were performing a patrol check at the store on NE Terry Lane. Police said David Anthony Wong was located on the northeast corner of the property, rummaging through a backpack and taking out items. They said he was surrounded with tin foil with burnt residue and he admitted the residue was from smoking fentanyl. According to the report, Mary Lynn Tognoni arrived on scene and she admitted ownership of the drug paraphernalia items as well. A consent search of both suspects yielded additional drug-related items that were seized for destruction. Wong and Tognoni were both placed into custody and lodged at the Josephine County Jail for Fentanyl Possession. Wong was being held without bail while Tognoni was eventually released.

 

Grants Pass Police arrested a man for causing a disturbance at a fast food eatery in the south part of the city early yesterday. According to the Police Department, officers responded to the incident at Burger King in the 500-block of Rogue River Highway on Tuesday at 7:30 a.m.. Police said they contacted 41-year-old David Brian Rich at the south Burger King after reports he was banging on the counter, screaming and causing a scene. They said he had been previously trespassed from the restaurant in June. Officers placed Rich into custody and lodged him at the Josephine County Jail for 2nd-Degree Criminal Trespass. He was being held without bail.

 

The Oregon State Police arrested a Central Point man for impaired driving in east Grants Pass yesterday following a traffic complaint on Interstate 5 near the City of Rogue River. OSP reports troopers pulled over a Honda HR-V driven by a 58-year-old male subject on the Grants Pass Parkway near NE Agness Avenue at 2:09 p.m. Tuesday. Troopers said they responded to a driving complaint in the northbound lanes of Interstate 5 near milepost 40 and caught up to the suspect vehicle at I-5 Exit 55. After the traffic stop, they said the driver showed strong signs of impairment. The driver was transported to the Grants Pass Sobering Center where he provided a breath sample that was nearly four times the legal driving limit. The suspect was lodged at the Sobering Center for Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicants and his vehicle was impounded.

 

The Oregon State Police arrested a motorist for impaired driving last night following a traffic stop on Redwood Highway just west of Grants Pass. According to OSP, troopers pulled over a Chevrolet C-15 pickup driven by a 54-year-old female subject on US Highway 199 near Redwood Vista Lane on Tuesday at 9:20 p.m.. Troopers said they stopped the vehicle for a traffic violation and the driver showed signs of impairment. They said she performed poorly in field sobriety tests and was transported to the Grants Pass Sobering Center where she provided a breath sample that exceeded the legal driving limit. The suspect was charged with Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicants. She was cited to appear in court and then released. Her vehicle was not impounded.

 

Grants Pass Police arrested a repeat impaired driver after she crashed a vehicle at a north-city bakery and fled the scene this week. The Police Department reports officers were dispatched to the hit-and-run motor vehicle accident at Babe's Bakery on NE 6th Street on Monday night. Police said an investigation determined that 26-year-old Samantha Lee Smith crashed her Toyota Tacoma onto the bakery property, damaging a fence and a flowerbed. Officers later located the suspect vehicle which had its license plates removed since the crash and was parked among other vehicles at a retirement center in the 1,000-block of NE 10th Street. Witnesses described the driver. Smith returned with her boyfriend a short time later and tried to leave the center, but she was detained and placed into custody. She showed signs of impairment, but refused to cooperate with the investigation -- so a search warrant was obtained for a legal blood draw performed at Three Rivers Medical Center. Based on the results of the blood draw, Smith was lodged at the Josephine County Jail for Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicants, Hit-and-Run Causing Property Damage and Tampering with Evidence. She was also cited for No Operator's License and Failure to Install an Ignition Interlock Device on her vehicle. She lost her license and was ordered to install the device due to previous DUII convictions.

 

The Josephine County Sheriff's Office jailed a Grants Pass woman on two local felony warrants this week. The Sheriff's Office reports deputies arrested 45-year-old Zara Heather Thomas at a home in the 2900-block of Foothill Boulevard on Monday. Deputies said Thomas was wanted on a Josephine County Supervisory Authority warrant for Parole Violation stemming from a conviction for methamphetamine possession and a Josephine County Circuit Court warrant for failing to appear in court as a material witness. Thomas was lodged at the Josephine County Jail on a no-bail detainer.

 

The Oregon State Police likely prevented a suicide attempt on Williams Highway between Grants Pass and Murphy this week. OSP reports troopers responded to a report of a suicidal male subject in the 4,000-block of Highway 238 on Monday night. Troopers said it was reported that the 24-year-old man had cut himself with a knife and was threatening to kill himself by jumping in front of passing vehicles. Upon contact, the man resisted detainment and had to be Tased before he was subdued. According to OSP, evidence of suicidal intention was found on the man and he later admitted to being suicidal. The subject was transported to Three Rivers Medical Center where he was admitted on a Peace Officer's Mental Hold.

 

Rapid response by firefighters corralled a small wildfire in northeastern Jackson County early yesterday. On Tuesday morning, the Oregon Department of Forestry was dispatched to a reported fire in a remote area near Trail. It was located past West Fork Trail Creek and Highway 227. ODF initially responded with two engines, with additional resources on standby. Crews stopped the fire at just 1/100th of an acre and were mopping up by 10:35 a.m.. Investigators were looking into the cause of the blaze. ODF officials said please be aware of the potential for fires to start and spread, even in the cool morning hours. Local vegetation remains very dry and -- for that reason -- "high" fire danger is still in effect in Jackson and Josephine counties. To learn more about current fire season restrictions, please visit "swofire.com."

 

The Josephine County Board of Commissioners will hold four public hearings as part of its weekly business session this morning. The first public hearing is for the designation, alienation, sale, conveyance or exchange of county-owned properties. It paves the way for a future Sheriff's Sale of properties that were acquired through foreclosure for unpaid property taxes. The three other hearings are on the second readings of ordinances amending or repealing chapters of the Josephine County Code. One amends the code relating to ballot measures, another repeals a chapter relating to genetically engineered plants and the other repeals a chapter pertaining to loitering near the county jail. First readings of these ordinances were approved by the Board on September 18th. As always, there will Requests and Comments from Citizens when participants are given three minutes to address the Commissioners on virtually any topic related to Josephine County. Today's public meeting begins at 9 a.m. in the Anne G. Basker Auditorium.