Local News

The Josephine County Sheriff's Office apprehended a man wanted on a statewide felony warrant following a reported disturbance in the New Hope area last night. According to the Sheriff's Office, deputies responded to a report that 35-year-old Jonathan Lee Messer threw a punch at another man at a home in the 4,000-block of New Hope Road on Wednesday at 6:11 p.m.. Deputies said the victim called from a neighbor's house because he did not have a phone. The caller said he managed to dodge the punch, but he was unhappy with Messer's increasingly aggressive behavior. The suspect left the home and went to a single-wide trailer on the back of the property. While on the way to the call, deputies discovered that Messer was wanted on an Oregon State warrant for Felony Parole Violation related to a conviction for a weapons offense. Upon arrival, they entered the trailer, followed him to a back room and placed him into custody without incident at 7:02 p.m.. Jonathan Messer was transported to Grants Pass and booked into the Josephine County Jail on the outstanding warrant. He was being held on a no-bail detainer.

 

Grants Pass Police jailed a woman for violating terms of her probation by entering the home of her father against his wishes late last night. The Police Department reports officers responded to a trespassing complaint in the 700-block of NW 2nd Street on Wednesday shortly before 11 p.m.. Police said a man called 9-1-1 to report that his daughter -- 41-year-old Gayle Lee Hooper -- was inside his residence and refusing to leave. The father said he did not invite his daughter into his home and she entered on her own accord. He also said his daughter was on probation with the stipulation that she not contact him. Upon arrival, officers contacted Hooper inside the home and ordered her to leave, but she refused and was placed into custody. Her corrections officer was contacted and they requested she be placed on a detainer. Gayle Hooper was lodged at the Josephine County Jail for 2nd-Degree Criminal Trespass and the resulting Probation Violation related to past arrests for Disorderly Conduct, Offensive Littering and Criminal Trespass. She was held without bail.

 

One motorist was hurt and another was cited following a crash that occurred on Redwood Highway in Cave Junction late yesterday. On Wednesday at 5:29 p.m., the Oregon State Police, Illinois Valley Fire District and American Medical Response were dispatched to the two-vehicle collision on US Highway 199 at Waldamar Road. IVFD officials said the crash was a rear-end collision, but OSP did not provide any details. The agency did identify the involved parties as 48-year-old Teri Mickey of Cave Junction who was driving and Oldsmobile sedan and 32-year-old Autumn Cochrane of Seattle, Washington, who was driving an undisclosed vehicle. One person was transported to Three Rivers Medical Center with injuries and at least one of the vehicles was towed. OSP reported the unidentified at-fault driver was cited for Following Too Closely.

 

The Oregon State Police arrested a motorist for impaired driving after a routine traffic stop on Redwood Highway in south Grants Pass late last night. According to OSP, troopers stopped a Dodge Durango driven by 34-year-old Monica Isabel Cuchiara on Wednesday at 11:28 p.m. for parking in a no parking zone near the intersection of US Highway 199 and Redwood Avenue. Upon contact with Cuchiara, troopers said she displayed signs of impairment and made statements about recently driving. She refused to participate in field sobriety tests or to provide a breath sample, so a search warrant was obtained and she was taken to Three Rivers Medical Center for a legal blood draw. After waiting for a phlebotomist at the hospital for over an hour, Cuchiara was then taken to the Grants Pass Sobering Center where she provided a breath sample that was well over the legal driving limit. She was charged with Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol and Reckless Driving. Her vehicle was impounded.

 

Grants Pass Police arrested two people, cited several more and trespassed many of them during city park patrol checks yesterday. During a Wednesday morning patrol check at Riverside Park, officers observed Timothy Teige who had previously been excluded from the facility. At the request of jail deputies, he was cited for 2nd-Degree Criminal Trespass and released. He was given a courtesy ride to Baker Park. During a Wednesday afternoon patrol check at Riverside Park, officers discovered that Teige had returned there just four hours after he had been cited and he had a methamphetamine pipe. This time, he was lodged at the Josephine County Jail. Another man identified as John Bowley was observed in the park and known to have already been excluded. He was also lodged in jail for Criminal Trespass. Also at Riverside Park, Derek Hood, Maria Guerrero, Joseph Palmer and Douglas McCarthy were seen in the park with marijuana and the remnants of a warming fire. All four were cited for Open Flame and Marijuana in the Park, and all were trespassed for 30 days. During a Wednesday night patrol check at Baker Park, two subjects identified as "Carey" and "Howard" were cited for Open Flame in the Park. They were ordered to put out the warming fire and then released.

 

One week after fleeing the scene of a homicide in Douglas County, a Riddle man has been apprehended in Redding, California. The Douglas County Sheriff's Office was notified yesterday that the Shasta County Sheriff's Office -- with assistance from the United States Marshals Service -- took 19-year-old Gauge Douglas James Main into custody. Gauge Main was located at a residence in Redding. Following the November 20th homicide in Riddle, he had stolen a 2017 Honda Civic sedan which was recovered in Redding late last week. Main is suspected of killing 20-year-old Devonte Lovell Clark of Grants Pass and injuring another Grants Pass man. A nationwide felony warrant had been issued for his arrest for homicide and Sheriff John Hanlin had requested the assistance of the US Marshals Service's Fugitive Apprehension team in locating the suspect. Main has been booked into the Shasta County Jail where he awaits extradition proceedings that will bring him back to Southern Oregon to stand trial for murder.

 

The Southern Oregon Child Exploitation Team (SOCET) joint interagency task force raided a residence in Phoenix on Wednesday. SOCET served a warrant in the 400-block of 5th Street in Phoenix after learning that numerous images of child exploitation were uploaded from the residence. Detectives were interviewing possible witnesses and involved parties, and the investigation is continuing. Investigators seized digital devices that will be forensically examined for further evidence of child exploitation. A tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children started the investigation, which led to subpoenas and the search warrant. SOCET was assisted by the Jackson County Sheriff's Office, Medford Police Department, Phoenix Police Department, US Homeland Security Investigations and the Southern Oregon High Tech Crimes Task Force.

 

The Josephine County Sheriff's Office arrested two people for stealing a vehicle this week following a traffic stop in the North Valley area. The Sheriff's Office reports deputies pulled over a Ford F-150 pickup driven by 48-year-old Robby Lee Frenna near the intersection of San Francisco Street and Trolley Lane on Tuesday night. Deputies said Frenna's pickup was towing another Ford F-150 that was reported stolen out of California by the Oregon State Police. State troopers rushed to the scene while Frenna and his passenger -- 29-year-old Sunshine Ruth -- were placed into custody at gunpoint. Robby Frenna and Sunshine Ruth were both charged with Unauthorized Use of a Motor Vehicle. Frenna was lodged without bail at the Josephine County Jail while Ruth was cited to appear in court and then released. The registered owner of the stolen pickup was contacted and he arranged for his vehicle to be towed into Grants Pass.

 

Grants Pass Police jailed a woman who was wanted on a statewide felony warrant after locating her at a city park this week. The Police Department reports 46-year-old Rose Marie McLaughlin was arrested at Gilbert Creek Park on NW Hawthorne Avenue around midday Tuesday. Police said an officer with Josephine County Community Corrections contacted them to report seeing McLaughlin sitting in a wheelchair at the park. She was wanted on an Oregon State warrant for Parole Violation stemming from previous convictions for Felon in Possession of a Restricted Weapon and Criminal Trespass. After the warrant was confirmed by the Oregon State Parole Board, McLaughlin was located, placed into custody and lodged at the Josephine County Jail on a no-bail detainer. Her property was logged into evidence for safekeeping. Jail records show Rose McLaughlin has been arrested for violating her post-prison supervision six times since July 10th of this year.