Local News

Grants Pass Police arrested a woman on a local felony warrant and for drug possession following a weekend traffic complaint on Redwood Highway. The Police Department reports officers eventually pulled over a Lexus sedan driven by 24-year-old Lauren Marie Espey at NW 2nd and C streets at 8:50 p.m. Sunday. Police said Espey was the subject of a traffic complaint as she was driving on US Highway 199 toward Grants Pass. A fellow motorist reported that she was unable to maintain a single travel lane while repeatedly speeding up and slowing down. The caller believed she was either having a medical issue or was impaired. Upon contact with Espey, officers discovered that she was wanted on a Grants Pass felony warrant for Identity Theft and 2nd-Degree Theft. She admitted that she was concealing drugs in her bra. She removed the substance which tested positive as 5.4 grams of methamphetamine. A glass pipe was also seized as evidence. Espey was lodged at the Josephine County Jail on the warrant plus a new charge of Meth Possession. She was being held without bail and her vehicle was towed.

 

Grants Pass Police apprehended a man on a felony warrant while investigating a weekend trespassing complaint on railroad property on the west side of the city. According to the Police Department, officers contacted and arrested 40-year-old Zachary Michael Gatten on railroad property near NW Sunview Place and Fall Run Drive on Sunday around 7:40 p.m.. Following the complaint, patrol officers spotted Gatten, contacted him and discovered that he was wanted on a Grants Pass felony warrant for failing to appear in court for 1st-Degree Theft. He was also found to have a prior trespass warning on railroad property inside the city limits. Gatten was lodged at the Josephine County Jail on the warrant plus a new charge of 1st-Degree Criminal Trespass. His scheduled bail was set at $50,000.

 

Grants Pass Police arrested a woman for repeatedly trespassing on a property in the north part of the city. According to the Police Department, officers contacted 47-year-old Jessica Lynne Green and placed her into custody for the incident in the 1,000-block of NE 6th Street on Monday at 12:26 p.m.. Police said the property owner reported that Green had returned before she was observed leaving in a Ford sedan. Officers pulled her over right away due to illegal obstruction of windows on the vehicle. She also had no insurance on the car. Green was lodged at the Josephine County Jail for 2nd-Degree Criminal Trespass. She was also cited for No Insurance and her vehicle was impounded.

 

The National Weather Service underestimated the potential for thunderstorms when it predicted a slight chance on Monday. The Oregon Department of Forestry and its partner agencies responded to at least 40 reports of local fires and smoke. In a 2:15 a.m. update today, ODF reported the Heppsie Fire off Highway 140 and the Pompadour Fire east of Ashland as its largest incidents at 50 and 30 acres, respectively. The Heppsie Fire battle is complicated by steep terrain and falling trees. Crews remained engaged with the wildfire overnight and more resources have been ordered for today. Firefighters had lined 70% of the Pompadour Fire. Resources remain engaged on the blaze and continue to work toward lining the perimeter. On Monday at 8:15 p.m., ODF reported smoke and fire following lightning strikes in the 11,000-block of Upper Applegate Road, milepost 3 of Little Applegate Road, milepost 3 of Dead Indian Memorial Road, milepost 4 of Wagner Creek Road and at Grizzly Peak just north of the Oregon-California border. The Illinois Valley Fire District reported smoke investigations in the 1200-block of Deer Creek Road and 800-block of Lone Mountain Road plus vegetation fires in the 1200-block of Greenview Drive, 5500-block of West Side Road, 7400-block of Takilma Road, 5,000-block of Thompson Creek Road and on Deer Creek Road. While most of the storms came with rain, fires may continue to start from lightning strikes. Please report any sightings of smoke or fire to 9-1-1.

 

Grants Pass Police jailed a man for violating a court order last weekend after he unlawfully entered a downtown area home and physically harassed a woman who is legally protected from him. The Police Department reports 36-year-old Ryan Anthony Caropreso was arrested for the incident in the 600-block of SE 8th Street early Sunday morning. Police said Caropreso violated an active restraining order when he unlawfully and without permission entered the residence of the protected woman. They said he refused to listen to the woman and leave the premises. When the woman tried to walk away from him, the suspect grabbed her and pulled her toward him. Caropreso left the home and walked toward his residence on SW Greenwood Drive where he was detained. He refused to answer any questions or provide a statement, so he was placed into custody. Ryan Caropreso was lodged at the Josephine County Jail for 1st-Degree Burglary, Physical Harassment and Contempt of Court-Restraining Order Violation. He was being held without bail.

 

Grants Pass Police jailed a man for hitting his mother while they were en route to the hospital last weekend. The Police Department reports officers arrested 32-year-old Kody Owen Lewis at Three Rivers Medical Center for the incident that occurred at the intersection of Union Avenue and Ringuette Street on Sunday shortly after 5 p.m.. Police said a woman called 9-1-1 to report that her son -- Lewis -- struck her in the head while she was driving. They said the victim sustained a golf ball-sized lump on her head as a result and complained of pain. She was evaluated by a physician and then released. Officers located Lewis at the hospital and he admitted to the physical altercation. Lewis was placed into custody and transported to the Josephine County Jail where he was booked for Felony 4th-Degree Domestic Assault. He was being held without bail.

 

Grants Pass Police arrested two people for drug possession during a weekend shoplifting caper at Walmart. According to the Police Department, officers responded to the theft complaint at the store on NE Terry Lane on Saturday afternoon. Police said 30-year-old Apolonio Fidel Mendez and 38-year-old Rachel May Lowden were inside Walmart when Mendez intentionally deprived the store of $15.56 by concealing razor blades and passing all points of sale. He also used a barcode of a lower-priced item to scan higher-priced items. Mendez and Lowden were detained by loss prevention just outside Walmart. He wouldn't listen to lawful commands, so officers forced him to the ground in a controlled manner. During a consent search, he was found with a glass pipe with residue that field tested positive as methamphetamine. In a consent search of Lowden's purse, more than 20 grams of meth was located and seized for destruction. Mendez was lodged at the Josephine County Jail for Meth Possession and Petty Theft. Lowden was cited to appear in court for Meth Possession and released.

 

The Oregon State Police was investigating a weekend crash involving an elk on Riverbanks Road. On Sunday at 9:25 p.m., state troopers responded to a single-vehicle wreck near milepost 21 of State Route 260. Upon investigation, troopers found the driver fled the scene after hitting an elk. The vehicle -- a gray Jeep Ranger with Oregon license plate "183PKY" -- was abandoned and towed to Grants Pass. An investigation is pending. Anyone with information on this incident is encouraged to dial *OSP.

 

US Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley -- along with US Representatives Val Hoyle and Janelle Bynum -- have announced $9.7 million combined in federal grants for airports throughout Oregon. The federal funding is for infrastructure improvements to taxiways, fencing, aircraft storage and more at six airports in the state. The largest grant of $8.38 million was awarded to Roberts Field in Redmond. Here in southwest Oregon, grant funding of $300,000 has been awarded to the Roseburg Regional Airport and $159,000 has been awarded to Ashland Municipal- Sumner Parker Field in Ashland. Wyden, Merkley, Hoyle and Bynum have long supported rural airports across Oregon. In May, the delegation announced $22 million for airport infrastructure investments in the state. In September 2024, Wyden and Merkley announced $10 million for airports in Medford and Prineville. In July 2024, Wyden, Merkley and Hoyle announced $17 million from the federal Airport Improvement Program for airports in Oregon.