STANWOOD — Three members of a Stanwood family died last weekend near Walla Walla in a car crash.
A fugitive is on the run and has been charged with nine felonies.
Killed were Suzanne Johns, 38; her son, Ty, 7; and daughter Ashley, 20 monthsd. Her husband, Kip Johns, 42, was in satisfactory condition at St. Mary’s Hospital in Walla Walla. Another son Mike, 13, was treated and released.
"We’ve got a whole family that’s been devastated by this collision," Washington State Patrol Lt. Steve Sutton said. "We’re doing everything we can to find this guy."
A warrant has been issued for the arrest of Jose Luis Garcia, 24, on vehicular homicide, assault, hit-and-run, and other charges. Sutton said Garcia may have fled to Portland, Ore.
Garcia has been identified as the driver of a 1992 Chevrolet Caprice that collided with a 1999 Plymouth Voyager van on U.S. 12 between Wallula and Touchet late Saturday.
Mukilteo
Man charged with harassment: A man whose alleged actions led to a 4 1/2hour closure of a busy Mukilteo street Thursday has been charged with harassing his ex-wife and her brother.
The 52-year-old Mukilteo man was charged Tuesday with the two harassment counts in Snohomish County Superior Court. He was being held on $50,000 bail and is scheduled for arraignment today.
According to court documents, police were called to the 900 block of Fifth Street after the woman and her brother arrived at his residence to pick up some belongings.
The man allegedly pulled a gun and threatened to shoot both. Police found a plastic gun but could not locate the 9mm Glock pistol that witnesses said the suspect had.
Police observed a large quantity of what they described as anti-government and conspiracy literature. Police also observed a bag of chemicals with a white wire protruding from it. A bomb squad was called and a search warrant was issued to look in the house for bomb-making materials. None were found.
California
Guilty plea in deadly blast: A former Rocketdyne supervisor pleaded guilty to illegally burning chemical waste that caused a deadly blast at a laboratory in 1994.
Joseph Flanagan, 61, of Stanwood faces up to one year in federal prison and a $100,000 fine after pleading guilty to two misdemeanor counts. Sentencing was set for Oct. 21.
His plea comes three months after a federal judge declared a mistrial after a jury deadlocked on whether Flanagan violated federal environmental laws that carry stiffer prison terms.
Flanagan, then director of Rocketdyne’s Chemical Technology Group, illegally burned chemical waste on July 21, 1994, and five days later at the company’s field laboratory in the Santa Susana Mountains on the edge of Los Angeles.
On the second day of burning, chemicals used to destroy the waste exploded, killing two scientists.
From Herald staff reports
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