Local Briefly: Six-year term for Shoreline man in pharmacy thefts
Published 11:34 pm Friday, January 11, 2008
LYNNWOOD — A Shoreline man was sentenced to nearly six years in prison Friday after he admitted being part of a Snohomish County-based pharmacy burglary ring.
Colin D. Walmsley, 32, also will have three years of federal supervision after he’s released.
He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute prescription drugs and being a methamphetamine user in possession of a firearm.
Walmsley is one of about two dozen people who were convicted in connection with the burglary ring.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald Friedman accused Walmsley of receiving thousands of pills between 2004 and 2006 and selling them. Pills included oxycodone, morphine and methadone
According to court documents, Walmsley also admitted that he participated in the burglary of a GameStop video store in Lynnwood during 2005.
Marysville: Stanwood man heading to prison
A Stanwood man was sentenced Friday to four years in a federal prison for robbing a Marysville pharmacy of prescription drugs.
Justin Bacus, 27, who pleaded guilty in October, admitted that he targeted pharmacies in Marysville and Edmonds, the U. S. attorney’s office said.
In Marysville, he handed a note to the pharmacist saying he wanted all the powerful painkiller OxyContin or he would start shooting. He put his hand to his waistband, exposing a loaded .22-caliber pistol, court documents said.
Bacus ran out the back door, setting off an alarm. He and another man were arrested seconds later when police arrived, according to documents.
His prosecution in federal court was part of a crackdown on pharmacy burglaries and robberies, the U.S. attorney’s office said.
Everett: College warns of ad scam
Everett Community College is warning people about an advertising scam.
College officials have heard that a man posing as a representative of the college has solicited at least one business to advertise in the college’s spring baseball and softball schedules.
No one at the college is soliciting advertising for those publications.
A business owner on Friday contacted the college’s security office to report that she paid for an advertisement. Security officers called Everett police after learning that the college isn’t accepting advertising for the publications. Police are investigating.
The college has posted a warning on its Web site and is asking anyone with questions to call the security office at 425-388-9911.
Man arrested after woman’s purse stolen
A man who stole a woman’s wallet while they were riding an elevator in the Snohomish County Courthouse didn’t get far before he was arrested.
A Snohomish County sheriff’s employee was in the elevator with the man on Thursday when she felt a tug on her purse and saw that her wallet was gone. She confronted the man. He denied having the wallet but tossed it on the floor when the woman stopped off the elevator on the fourth floor, sheriff’s spokeswoman Rebecca Hover said.
The woman reported the incident to Bureau Chief Tom Greene, who found the man in the law library preparing to meet with his lawyer. Greene and county Marshal Patrick Miles, along with other deputies, arrested the man, 49. He was booked into jail for investigation of third-degree theft. He also had a $10,00 felony drug warrant out of Seattle.
As of Jan. 1, the sheriff’s office oversees the marshals and team of contract security workers assigned to the courthouse.
Sultan: U.S. 2 crash leaves two injured
Two men were seriously injured when they crashed on U.S. 2 on Friday.
One vehicle crossed the centerline and struck the other near the Sultan Basin Road. That’s a part of the highway where traffic begins to slow down for the traffic light, Sultan Fire Chief Merlin Halverson said.
“It’s probably why no one died,” he said.
The men were taken to Valley General Hospital in Monroe. Their injuries didn’t appear to be life-threatening, Halverson said. An update on their conditions was not available.
Sultan police were investigating the crash.
From Herald staff reports
