Local Briefly: Empty Everett home destroyed by fire
Published 10:53 pm Thursday, May 29, 2008
EVERETT — Fire destroyed a vacant Everett home early Thursday morning.
Fire crews were called around 12:30 a.m. to the 11700 block of 25th Avenue SE, said Assistant Fire Chief Glen Martinsen.
The house was completely engulfed in flames and firefighters quickly brought the blaze under control, he said.
No one was hurt.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Marysville: 51 DUI suspects arrested over holiday weekend
The Washington State Patrol arrested 51 people in Snohomish County for investigation of drunken driving during the Memorial Day holiday weekend.
Extra troopers were looking for drunken drivers during the three-day holiday, trooper Keith Leary said.
Statewide, troopers made 380 drunken-driving arrests.
Last year, troopers arrested 53 people in the county for alleged drunken driving during the weekend that is the traditional start to the summer season.
Snohomish: Man gets house arrest in animal cruelty
A man accused of neglecting puppies will spend a month under house arrest.
Won Young Ham, 50, pleaded guilty to first-degree animal cruelty, a felony, earlier this month in Snohomish County Superior Court. A judge on Thursday sentenced Ham to home detention.
Snohomish County animal control officers were first alerted to what appeared to be a starving dog tied to a tree in December. An officer found several other dogs, including two red husky-mix puppies that were extremely emaciated, according to charging papers. Nearby, the officer found a bag containing the bodies of two more puppies, papers said.
The two live puppies were taken to a veterinary clinic for medical attention. The veterinarian said the condition of the pups was caused by weeks or months of neglect and starvation, papers said.
Ham told the officer he noticed the dogs getting skinny but didn’t feed them more or get them medical attention because he was too busy, court records said. He told the officer the two dead pups apparently had gotten into a fight over food.
Seattle: Snohomish man charged in Folklife shooting
King County prosecutors on Thursday charged a Snohomish man with second-degree assault in connection with a shooting that wounded three people at the Folklife Festival in Seattle over the weekend.
Clinton Grainger, 22, and another man were in a scuffle when the handgun Grainger had been carrying in an ankle holster allegedly discharged, prosecutors wrote. The man suffered powder burns to his face from the gun firing close to him. The bullet hit another man in the hand and lodged in a woman’s leg, court records said. Their injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.
The scuffle may have started over the way Grainger looked at a man who was sitting near a drum circle, according to prosecutors.
The man who was shot told police Grainger walked by and gave him a confrontational look. The man said he thought he recognized Grainger and asked his name. Instead of answering, Grainger refused, allegedly pushed the man in the chest and reached for his ankle, court documents said.
The man told police he tackled Grainger to the ground and then heard a shot fired and a burning pain in his face.
After his arrest, Grainger allegedly told police he and the man got into a fight because the other man wanted to prove he was tougher. The gun became exposed during the fight and the two men fought over the handgun, Grainger said. He didn’t know if he pulled the trigger or if the other man shot the gun, he allegedly told police.
Grainger later claimed that he takes medication for schizophrenia and anxiety. He also told authorities he takes methadone for a drug addiction.
Snohomish County sheriff’s officials gave Grainger a concealed weapons permit in January 2007. Officials said there was no indication that Grainger had serious mental health problems that would disqualify him from carrying a concealed handgun.
Grainger is being held in King County Jail on $350,000 bail. He is scheduled to be arraigned June 12.
Mountlake Terrace: Worker hurt in fall from crane
A construction worker was injured Thursday after falling about two stories from a crane at a Mountlake Terrace park-and-ride lot.
The man, believed to be in his 40s, was working at the park-and-ride along I-5. He fell from the crane tower to a concrete platform below, said Leslie Hynes, a spokeswoman for Snohomish County Fire District 1.
He was taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle as a precaution. His injuries weren’t believed to be life-threatening, Hynes said.
The cause of the accident remains under investigation.
From Herald staff reports
