ABERDEEN — A 36-year-old Aberdeen man has been sentenced to 30 days for cutting his ex-girlfriend’s hair with a knife.
James J. Jenkins was found guilty of misdemeanor assault. But he avoided a felony third-strike conviction that would have put him in prison for life without the chance of parole.
Jenkins has two previous convictions for second-degree assault with a deadly weapon. Both cases, in 1999 and 1993, involved a knife.
Grays Harbor Superior Court Judge Gordon Godfrey found Jenkins not guilty of second-degree assault on June 26, but said Jenkins still committed fourth-degree assault of unwanted touching when he cut a lock of victim Stacey Harrison’s hair on Dec. 13 as a keepsake.
Godfrey said he felt the act did not rise to the level of a felony and he should not put Jenkins away for life.
Jenkins had been in custody since of the day of the haircutting incident so the judge released him after handing down his verdict. Jenkins will serve no additional time.
Vancouver, Wash.: Man shot by police
A man is listed in satisfactory condition at Southwest Washington Medical Center in Vancouver after being shot by police.
The Clark County Sheriff’s Office says the man was shot early Saturday after attempting to run over officers in his sport utility vehicle
Sheriff’s Sgt. Scott Schanaker says Vancouver police responded to a call about three party crashers — two men and a woman — about 2 a.m.
Schanaker says the trio had left in a Ford Bronco by the time police arrived, but the driver of the Bronco stopped and let out his two passengers.
Schanaker says the Bronco’s driver then refused to respond to emergency lights and authorities set up two road blocks. He says instead of stopping, the man tried to run over officers, and they fired their weapons at the Broncos.
The officers involved in the shooting were placed on leave pending an investigation. Their names were not released.
The name of the man has not been released.
Seattle: Woman is stabbed to death
A man has been arrested and booked into the King County Jail for investigation of homicide following the stabbing death of a woman in an apartment in Seattle’s Central District.
Police say the woman and man were believed to have been domestic partners.
Police say the man called police about 9 p.m. on Friday and said he had hurt someone inside his apartment. Police say the man was there when police entered the apartment, where they found the body of the woman.
Seattle Fire Department personnel pronounced the woman dead at the scene.
Sunnyside: Woman’s body found in canal
Detectives are seeking the identity of a woman found floating in a canal near Sunnyside. The woman’s body was found on Friday night.
The Yakima County Sheriff’s Office says the woman appeared to have a large gunshot wound and was between the age of 18 and 25.
Deputies made the recovery after someone notified the sheriff’s office about 7:40 p.m. that a body was floating in a canal outside of Sunnyside.
The sheriff’s office says the woman appeared to be between 5 feet, 2 inches and 5 feet, 6 inches tall and between 110 and 130 pounds. She was wearing a black T-shirt, blue jean shorts, a silver watch, three rings on her right hand and large hoop earrings.
Mercer Island: Fire nearly destroys house
A 7,390-square-foot waterfront home on Mercer Island that was last valued by the King County assessor at $5 million has been nearly destroyed by fire.
Friday morning’s blaze on Mercer Way on the east side of the island sent smoke onto Interstate 90 and backup fire crews were called in from Seattle and Bellevue. Smoke set off an alarm about 9:30 a.m.
Homeowner Kurt Dammeier, his wife and the couple’s 14-year-old son got out of the house safely with their dog.
Dammeier owns Beecher’s Handmade Cheese in Seattle’s Pike Place Market, Bennett’s Pure Food Bistro on Mercer Island and Pasta &Co.
Dammeier says the house was insured. He says fire investigators are investigating whether the blaze began with an electrical fire in the attic.
Spokane: Kevin Coe files for venue change
Attorneys for Spokane rapist Kevin Coe are asking that his upcoming civil-commitment trial be moved out of Spokane County, or that jurors from elsewhere be brought in to hear the case.
Coe was originally charged in several of a string of rapes that terrorized Spokane in the late 1970s and early 1980s. After appeals, only one conviction ultimately stood, and he finished serving his 25-year prison sentence in 2006.
But the state kept him in custody and is seeking to have him civilly committed indefinitely as a sexual predator likely to offend again.
According to a motion filed late Thursday by Coe’s attorneys, and obtained by KHQ-TV, he does not think he can get a fair commitment trial in Spokane County because of extensive publicity about his case.
He wants to be tried elsewhere or have jurors brought in from outside the county.
The trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 15 in Spokane County Superior Court.
Coe has steadfastly denied he committed any rapes.
Oregon: Firefighters battle wind 2 wildfires
Firefighters say wind and rough terrain are giving them trouble with two wildfires in Oregon.
The Central Oregon dispatch center says the blazes are in light grass on the steep slopes of the canyons of the lower Deschutes and lower John Day rivers.
That’s putting at risk the farm fields on the plateaus above.
The Deschutes fire, the Sayrs, is within a perimeter of about 4,000 acres, 6 square miles.
The area of the John Day fire, called Devil’s Canyon, is about 900 acres, 1.4 square miles.
The blazes are among six large fires in Oregon.
The largest, Jack Knife, has been contained within 32,000 acres in Central Oregon.
Three smaller fires in the eastern part of the state are contained, or nearly so.
Associated Press
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