MOUNT VERNON — Skagit County prosecutors have charged a grandmother with third-degree assault, saying an infant girl in the woman’s care was attacked by a dog twice in two days. Prosecutors are alleging criminal negligence.
The Skagit Valley Herald reported that the dog that attacked the baby girl belonged to the 49-year-old grandmother, DeEtta Dezarn. The child was taken to a Seattle hospital on Aug. 2 after the more serious attack.
Authorities say the 9-month-old girl was hospitalized for nine days to recover from facial wounds and a skull fracture from bites on her head.
The girl’s family disputed the severity of the injuries detailed in the sheriff’s report but declined to be interviewed.
Seattle: Uncooperative detainees get pepper-sprayed
Federal officials say guards from the private company that runs the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma used pepper spray to control immigrant detainees who were refusing to follow orders.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Lorie Dankers said detainees weren’t responding to orders Sunday night to go to bed. Guards from Florida-based GEO Group Inc. then used pepper spray to gain control of the detainees.
Dankers said the sprayed detainees — all male — were checked out by doctors at the detention center. No major injuries were reported.
Dankers said immigration lawyers had raised concerns after some detainees did not make scheduled court appointments following the incident. She said those appointments were rescheduled.
The Obama administration has called for changes at the way illegal immigrants are treated at detention centers, including placing federal employees in charge of monitoring the treatment of detainees in the largest facilities.
Spokane man’s weapons cache sends him to prison for 4 years
A Spokane man who stockpiled illegal weapons in a Bellevue rental storage unit has been sentenced to four years in prison and three years of probation.
Ronald L. Struve, 67, pleaded guilty in March to five felony counts related to illegal weapons possession.
At his sentencing in Seattle on Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Marsha Pechman ordered Struve to undergo mental health treatment and said his arsenal posed “a huge danger to the community.”
Prosecutors say Struve kept 37 machine guns, 54 grenades, two grenade launchers, plastic explosives and other items in the storage unit.
The arsenal was discovered when rent wasn’t paid and the unit’s contents were auctioned last November. More machine guns were found in a Spokane storage locker. Prosecutors say many of the weapons had been stolen from the military.
Richland: Man accused of prostituting teen girl
A 19-year-old Richland man has been accused of using a 16-year-old girl for prostitution.
The Tri-City Herald reported that Jessien Malik Perry has been charged with sexual exploitation in Benton Superior Court. He pleaded not guilty and is scheduled for a Sept. 28 trial.
According to police and prosecutors, Perry knew the girl he sent to dance partially nude and have sex for money with men was underage. Authorities said Perry kept a portion of the money the girl earned and took promotional pictures of girls.
Perry, who ran a business called “509’s finest,” was arrested after sending two dancers to a motel room ordered by undercover police.
He was already in custody on an unrelated assault case and for violating a protection order.
Oregon: Burgerville will serve bikes at drive-up windows
After apologizing to a Portland bicyclist who was refused service at a drive-through window, Burgerville says those lanes will be available to customers on two wheels as well as four.
Burgerville also said Friday it is considering opening dedicated bike lanes at its 39 drive-throughs in Oregon and southwest Washington. In a statement, the company said it plans to announce a formal bicycle drive-through program within the next two weeks.
Earlier this week, cyclist Sarah Gilbert stopped for a cheeseburger, only to be told by employees that the drive-through lane was for cars only.
After Burgerville apologized, Gilbert said she was impressed, calling it “a brilliant example of how to be responsive to consumers.”
The company previously left it up to general managers at its restaurants to decide how to serve bicyclists.
Python owner claims his runaway snake
The owner of a 10-foot-long Burmese python found on a Eugene-area road has come forward to claim it. Lane County Animal Services says the snake owner plans to give the snake to someone who can care for it better.
The snake story began Tuesday night when a 16-year-old driver with a learner’s permit accidentally backed over the snake as he and his father tried to figure out what was in the road.
Police were called and officer Lori Barnes grabbed hold of the reptile to keep it from slithering away. A veterinarian checked the snake and said it was fine despite the car encounter.
Animal services officer Bernie Perkins had described the snake as docile and well-tended as he issued an appeal for its owner to step forward.
Man sought by Medford police in sex, drug case
A grand jury has indicted a man accused of forcing a woman to have sex with people who gave him money and methamphetamine in exchange.
Medford police are searching for 24-year-old Shaun Patrick Temple, who faces charges of rape, sodomy, delivery of methamphetamine, promoting prostitution and compelling prostitution.
Detective Sgt. Mike Budreau said Temple met the woman late last month in downtown Medford. The woman was new to town and met Temple after she had a falling out with friends.
Budreau said for three days Temple took the woman to motels and apartments, where she would have sex with people who gave Temple money and drugs.
Detectives found the people who had sex with the woman, and they testified during Thursday’s grand jury hearing.
Philomath’s wild turkeys return, but they have to behave
Wild turkeys have returned to Philomath and the city is ready to shoot the birds if they don’t behave.
Last fall, a police officer killed 10 turkeys after residents complained about noise and damaged lawns.
City manager Randy Kugler says the state Department of Fish and Wildlife has issued a permit allowing police to kill six turkeys by mid-October, if necessary.
Last year’s surge in the turkey population prompted Philomath to pass an ordinance prohibiting the feeding of wildlife. Police Chief Ken Elwer said there have been no reports of people feeding turkeys this summer, but a few birds have returned to neighborhoods, generating complaints. He described the kill permits as a proactive step.
New trial approved for 1998 triple murderer
A man convicted of a triple murder near Salem in 1998 is getting a new trial.
Philip Scott Cannon is serving three life sentences for killing a man and two women, all in their 20s, at a mobile home in rural Polk County west of Salem.
But the Oregon Attorney General’s Office said Friday morning that a new trial has been approved for Cannon, who claimed that forensic evidence was flawed and witness testimony was questionable.
The technique used to analyze bullets at the murder scene has been discredited by the National Academy of Science and the FBI no longer uses it.
The attorney for the 42-year-old Cannon also said the credibility of the chief prosecution witness remains in doubt after her 2003 conviction for killing a man she claimed was abusing her daughter.
Man forced to end benefit hike in Oregon
The hike is over for one of two men walking the Pacific Crest Trail to raise money for disabled veterans.
A foot injury forced Paul Rose, 23, of Westlake Village, Calif., to spend the past week recuperating in Ashland. He recently tested the foot in a seven-mile hike, but decided the pain was too severe for him to complete the 2,650-mile trek from Mexico to Canada.
Rose and 22-year-old Matt Walker raised about $25,000 before starting their hike for the nonprofit Homes for Our Troops, a group that builds handicapped-accessible houses for disabled veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Walker returned to the trail Friday.
Associated Press
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