Local News

Grants Pass Police responded to reports of a woman causing a traffic disturbance Sunday afternoon.

At the corner of SE 6th Street and SE I Street, calls came in to dispatch reporting the suspect jumping in front of moving vehicles. A nearby officer was flagged down by a citizen, who then pointed out the woman sitting on a city bench on the east side of the street.

The officer contacted the suspect. She was making nonsensical statements regarding being a robot, Christians, and her mother telling her to go into the street. The woman identified herself as Edith Small.

After running her information through dispatch, the officer was able to correctly identify her as Rachel Campbell. She had a valid and serviceable warrant out for her arrest charging her with Larceny.

The warrant was confirmed, and the officer transported and lodged Campbell in the Josephine County Jail for her active warrant.

 

Grants Pass Police arrested a man after he came in to report a theft at Resting Site 7 Sunday night.

Just before 10 p.m. Aaron Chivers walked into the police department at 726 NE 7th Street to discuss a theft that occured in the 712 NE 7th Street site. He said his phone had been stolen, and officers noticed Chivers appeared to be under the influence.

It was found that Chivers had three warrants out of three different agencies, the Ashland, Central Point, and Medford Police Departments. His charges included First and Second Degree Criminal Mischief, Assault in the Fourth Degree, and Harassment.

Officers placed Chivers under arrest. During a consent search of his person, officers found him to be in possession of methamphetamine. Chivers was subsequently transported and lodged in the Josephine County Jail for his warrants and a charge of Meth Possession.

 

A woman reported to dispatch that a man had come up to her vehicle and slashed the passenger side tire, while she was still sitting inside the car.

On Sunday at 9:48 p.m., immediately after the incident occurred in the Safeway parking lot at 1640 Williams Highway, the woman described the suspect as a white man wearing dark clothes, black sweats, and a blue draw string bag. He was last seen going by the nearby Abby's Legendary Pizza.

Officers with the Grants Pass Police Department located the man, identified as Brian Steffen, trying to hide near the Options building. He matched the description given, and was also bleeding.

A knife was found in a nearby trashcan. Officers took Steffen into custody for Criminal Mischief in the Second Degree. After being cleared for his injuries at Three Rivers Medical Center, Steffen was transported to the Josephine County Jail where he was lodged.

 

Josephine County Sheriff's deputies arrested a woman wanted on two warrants at a 76 gas station Sunday.

At 10:20 a.m., the suspect, Diana Keehnen, was contacted inside a silver Acura Sedan at the 112 S Redwood Highway station. She had two warrants out for her arrest from the Grants Pass Police Department and the Jackson County Sheriff's Office.

Keehnen's warrants charged her with two counts of felony Identity Theft, and First Degree Trespassing. Deputies took her into custody and lodged her in the Josephine County Jail. Her vehicle was towed, and her male passenger left the scene.

 

The Eagle Point School District Board of Directors has selected three candidates to interview for the superintendent position.

The candidates selected for interviews are James Helmen, Superintendent of the Vernonia School District, Heather Marinucci, Principal of Eagle Point High School, and Dr. Josh Middleton, Director of Human Resources, Facilities, and Transportation at J.O. Combs Unified School District in San Tan Valley, Arizona.

Interviews are scheduled for Friday, February 6. Several stakeholder groups will have the opportunity to meet the final candidates and provide input to the board about each of them. At 6 p.m. in the Eagle Point High School Large Group Room, there will be a moderated, all-candidate question-and-answer public session with all three candidates participating. The public, all staff, and students are invited to attend.

The board intends to make its selection shortly after the interviews. The Eagle Point School District retained the services of McPherson & Jacobson, L.L.C., to assist in conducting the search.

 

The Josephine County Sheriff's Office responded to a theft report Wednesday.

At 3:01 a.m., a man called 911 to report the suspect, Kyleea Wolford, had walked off with his red Craftsman pry bar in the 100 block of Triller Lane.

He told dispatch that he had video footage of the theft, showing Wolford go through a pile of his tools next to his truck, and take the pry bar.

Deputies arrived and contacted Wolford, who stated she did take the tool from the pile after the man told her it was his and she couldn't take it. Wolford was lodged in the Josephine County Jail for a charge of Theft in the Third Degree.

 

Oregon State Police conducted a welfare check on a man flagging down traffic Thursday.

At 4:32 p.m., the suspect, Timothy Cooper, 66, of Grants Pass, was contacted by a trooper on Interstate 5 at milepost 55. It was found that Cooper had two warrants out for his arrest from both Douglas and Jackson Counties.

His charges were DUII, and Probation Violation. Both warrants were cleared, and the trooper took Cooper into custody. He was subsequently lodged in the Josephine County Jail.

 

A man called 911 requesting to speak to an officer this morning after rambling incoherent things to dispatch.

Grants Pass Police located the caller, identified as Beau Beard, at Resting Site 7 in a lime green tent. After speaking with him at the 712 NE 7th Street site, it was discovered Beard was out of compliance with his sex offender registration.

The officer learned, after further investigation, that Beard had been out of compliance for over a year, so he was promptly arrested. Drug paraphernalia was located with Beard, including a pipe that tested positive for the presumptive presence of methamphetamine.

Law enforcement transported and lodged Beard in the Josephine County Jail for Failure to Register as a Sex Offender, and Meth Possession. He was provided with a park exclusion form and trespassed from Resting Site 7 for 30 days.

 

UPDATE: David has been located safely.
The Josephine County Sheriff's Office is seeking the public's assistance in a missing person case. David Wendell Potter, 68, was reported missing today around 9 a.m. He was last seen Thursday at 1:30 p.m. walking south on Monument Drive in Merlin. David was wearing a blue checkered sweater, blue pants, black shoes, and a black hat at the time of his disappearance. David is described as a 5'11" white male weighing 200 pounds with grey hair and blue eyes. He currently has a long beard. If you have any information on David's whereabouts, please contact the Josephine County Sheriff's Office at 541-474-5123.