SEATTLE — Prosecutors have filed charges against a King County laser eye surgeon accused of trying to have two colleagues killed.
Seattlepi.com reported that the 51-year-old Newcastle resident was recorded laughing about his scheme. The King County prosecutor’s office identified him as Michael Mockovak.
Mockovak is accused of paying $10,000 to an informant to have a business partner murdered, with $15,000 more to be paid once the deed was complete.
According to prosecutors, the other intended victim was a former business partner who had sued the business.
A King County District Court judge ordered that Mockovak be held on $1 million bail.
Homeless man charged in transient’s beating
A homeless man accused of beating a man to death at a transient camp in Seattle has been charged with second-degree murder.
King County prosecutors say Warren M. Chapman beat Jeffrey S. Eike to death the night of Nov. 3 or early the next morning.
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported that police who were called to the camp found Chapman at a nearby gas station drinking with his girlfriend. He had Eike’s state services debit card.
Chapman told detectives he attacked Eike because he struck his girlfriend.
Man claims sex abuse by assistant Scoutmaster
A man has sued the Mormon church and the Boy Scouts, claiming he and many other boys were abused by a church-sponsored assistant Scoutmaster in the late 1970s.
The lawsuit was filed in King County Superior Court in Seattle, one of several filed Monday by Portland, Ore., attorney Kelly Clark. The man, who remains unidentified, claims that he was abused more than 30 times in 1978-1979 by the assistant scoutmaster, who was picked for the job by the church’s Shelton Ward.
The plaintiff, who was 13 at the time, says the abuse haunts him still — as does his failure to protect other alleged victims, some of whom were even younger.
Chuck Gordon, a Seattle-based lawyer for the church, said today the church would investigate the complaint and “act accordingly.”
Spokane: Man dies in cliff fall
A Spokane County sheriff’s spokesman said a 56-year-old man died after falling 100 to 150 feet from the top of a cliff in the Dishman Hills Natural Area.
The Spokane Valley man, who was not immediately identified, was found Monday afternoon at the base of a sheer rock wall often used for rock climbing.
Sgt. Dave Reagan said the man and his wife were “geocaching” when the man apparently slipped on wet pine needles and fell.
“Geocaching” is an outdoor activity involving GPS navigation to locate items hidden by other participants.
Montesano: Boy, 12, died of swine flu
The Grays Harbor County health officer, Dr. John Bausher, said the death of an Aberdeen 12-year-old is the first in the county linked to swine flu.
Conner Woodruff died Nov. 6, and Bausher said Monday the boy’s death was caused by a rare complication in which the heart muscle becomes inflamed.
Vancouver, Wash.: Man claims defamation after boy’s false charges are dropped
A Vancouver man who was falsely accused of trying to lure an 11-year-old boy is suing Clark County for $1 million.
Steve King, 61, said deputies and prosecutors never apologized last summer after the boy admitted he lied and charges were dismissed.
King said he suffered humiliation and other costs as a result of the case. He had filed a $1 million claim against the county and followed with the lawsuit Thursday in Clark County Superior Court. It accuses the sheriff, prosecutor and other officials of defamation and malicious prosecution.
Pasco: Franklin County can’t afford animal control
Because of budget cuts, Franklin County has no money for animal control service in unincorporated areas of the county.
County Commissioner Rick Miller says sheriff’s deputies will respond only to reports of dangerous dogs.
Leavenworth: Bike rider killed in collision
A bicyclist was killed in a collision with a tow truck on U.S. 97 near Leavenworth.
The Washington State Patrol said the bike rider was on the shoulder Sunday afternoon then turned into the path of the truck.
Randal J. Thomas, 47, of Leavenworth, died at Central Washington Hospital in Wenatchee.
Oregon: Big quake will damage most highway bridges
The outlook is not good for Oregon bridges in a major earthquake.
A study released Monday concludes that U.S. 101 on the coast would be impassable, all connections from the coast to the Willamette Valley would be broken, and only small parts of I-5 would be passable.
The assessment is based on a major Cascadia subduction zone earthquake off the Oregon Coast, which geologists estimate has a 10 to 14 percent chance of happening in the next 50 years.
ODOT spokesman Dave Thompson said it would cost $3 billion to bring all the bridges up to modern seismic standards. The value of the study is to identify which bridges should be upgraded first to keep crucial highways open if a big quake strikes.
Three drug arrests follow traffic stop near Ashland
Oregon State Police seized 10 pounds of marijuana and more than 1,000 tablets of the hallucinogenic drug “2C-B” during a traffic stop on I-5 near Ashland on Monday.
According to Sgt. Jim Johnson, a senior trooper stopped a Honda Accord because of an unlawful lane change. With help from a drug-detecting canine, the trooper discovered the drugs in the car’s truck.
Taken into custody on drug charges were 34-year-old Peter Kriesberg of Santa Cruz, Calif.; 28-year-old Dustin White of Seattle; and 25-year-old Amy Villastringham, also of Seattle.
Kriesberg and White have been lodged in the Jackson County jail while Villastringham was cited to appear in circuit court.
Man claims sex abuse by Mormon youth leader
A Mormon youth leader in Oregon has been accused of sexually abusing a boy in the mid-1970s in a lawsuit filed Monday in Portland.
The lawsuit filed by Portland attorney Kelly Clark on behalf of a man who is now 46 alleges the abuse occurred repeatedly between 1974 and 1977 in Woodburn.
The lawsuit claims the youth leader for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was a music teacher at the time, and the abuse was later reported to a church bishop.
But the complaint alleges that no abuse was reported to law enforcement.
A lawyer for the church, Steve English, said the church “absolutely and unequivocally” condemns sex abuse and will investigate.
Springfield boy shot in the face is recovering
Springfield police say a 15-year-old boy who was shot in the face by a friend is improving after initially being hospitalized with life-threatening injuries.
The boy is recovering from Sunday’s shooting at Oregon Health &Science University in Portland.
The Register-Guard newspaper reported that the 15-year-old boy accused of shooting the victim at a Springfield home faces a felony assault charge. He was in the Lane County Juvenile Justice Center.
Tractor crashes fence at Umatilla Chemical Depot
Police are looking for someone who fled after crashing a large tractor through a fence at the Umatilla Chemical Depot.
Depot spokesman Bruce Henrickson said the tractor did not get near the chemical weapons storage area, but security remains high following Sunday night’s incident.
Henrickson said the FBI responded, but depot security and the Umatilla County sheriff are handling the investigation.
The depot once held about 12 percent of the nation’s stock of chemical weapons. It is destroying them to meet treaty obligations.
From Herald news services
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