Local News

Grants Pass Police responded to a physical altercation between a married couple Tuesday afternoon.

A report came in to dispatch around 1:08 p.m. regarding a verbal argument between a couple in an upstairs apartment on NE Fairview Avenue. The downstairs neighbor reported banging sounds and that this situation has happened before.

Officers arrived and contacted the couple. The husband had caused physical injury to the wife, who was bruised from the altercation. He was taken into custody by officers and lodged in the Josephine County Jail for Fourth Degree Assault.

 

Grants Pass Police identified and apprehended a man wanted on a Parole Violation warrant Wednesday.

The suspect, William Fleming, was observed walking through the Staples and PetCo parking lots at 891 NE D Street. Officers knew he was wanted on a warrant out of the GPPD.

Fleming was positively identified, and taken into custody. Officers lodged him in the Josephine County Jail, but later released him due to lack of available resources at the jail facility.

 

An officer with Grants Pass Police arrested a suspect wanted on a warrant after finding him slumped over in his running vehicle Wednesday morning.

A gold Toyota sedan was spotted at the corner of SW Pine Street and SW Rogue River Avenue around 9:22 a.m. The vehicle had reportedly been running with its lights on since 7 a.m., and the witness requested the man in the driver's seat be checked on.

The arriving officer recognized the driver as Tyler McCauley, and knew he was wanted on an Oregon State Parole Board warrant for Parole Violation. After a positive identification and being read his Miranda Rights, McCauley consented to a search.

The officer found a glass pipe with a white crystalline residue inside. McCauley stated the substance was Methamphetamine, and following confirmation by a presumptive positive field test, the officer took him into custody.

McCauley was transported and lodged in the Josephine County Jail on his warrant and a charge of Meth Possession.

 

Following a domestic violence report, the Josephine County Sheriff's Office apprehended a man after he strangled his father-in-law Wednesday.

Dispatch received a call around 8:55 p.m. from a man and woman. She reported domestic violence but said they were leaving and didn't want assistance. The man, her father, was requesting law enforcement.

He had been grabbed by the neck and thrown to the ground by the woman's husband. She attempted to get him off her father, and they fought as well. The man followed the father outside the property in the 2000 block of Moon Mountain Road, and began to strangle him again.

Deputies arrived and contacted the suspect. He was detained and charged with Fourth Degree Assault, Menacing, and two counts of Strangulation. He was then transported and lodged in the Josephine County Jail.

 

Deputies with the Josephine County Sheriff's Office responded to a reported assault Wednesday morning.

At 11:19 a.m., dispatch was notified that a man was struck by his girlfriend. He was denying medical but the caller thought the man's nose was broken. Children in the home witnessed the assault.

Deputies arrived at the property in the 28,000 block of Redwood Highway, and requested medical services for the victim.

The suspect was subsequently taken into custody and lodged in the Josephine County Jail for a charge of Fourth Degree Assault. The children were picked up by their grandmother.

 

A Traffic Accident occurred at the intersection of Redwood Hwy and Draper Valley Rd in Selma Wednesday.

At 5:45 p.m., the Illinois Valley Fire District, along with three ambulances from AMR-Josephine County and the Oregon State Police, responded to a three-vehicle collision.

Six individuals were assessed at the scene, and minor extrication procedures were conducted. Three patients were subsequently transported for injuries that were not life-threatening.

The roadway was closed during the incident.

 

The Josephine County Sheriff's Office arrested a suspect at the Josephine County Animal Shelter Wednesday afternoon.

The suspect, Samuel Yost, was expected to arrive at the 1420 Brookside Boulevard shelter around 4 p.m. to retrieve his dog. Upon his arrival, deputies took him into custody.

Yost was wanted on a Josephine County Sheriff's Office warrant for Second Degree Criminal Trespass, and Theft of Services. He was transported and lodged in the Josephine County Jail for his warrant.

 

Grants Pass Police were alerted to a reported assault on a property on Kellenbeck Avenue early this morning.

A call came in to dispatch around 1:03 a.m. The caller said she had just been assaulted. She said she had been hanging out with the suspect in his vehicle when he refused to let her leave.

An argument ensued, then the suspect reportedly punched the victim several times. Upon arrival of officers, the victim denied medical attention, but said her husband would take her to the hospital for evaluation. Photos of her injuries were captured.

The suspect was located in his residence and advised he only meant to push the victim out of the vehicle, but said he might have struck her during the incident. He added that the situation became physical when the victim burned him with a cigarette and threw a drink at him.

He was taken into custody by officers and lodged in the Josephine County Jail for Fourth Degree Assault.

 

Grants Pass has shut down one homeless camp location and opened another in response to rising crime around the resting sites near City Hall.

According to the Daily Courier, the city recently closed and cleaned a camping site in a parking lot near the corner of 5th and A Streets across from City Hall. Another visible site remains open at the corner of 6th and A Streets.

The new camping area is located just to the north in a parking area along 6th. The changes were made due to rising crime in the patrol area that includes the homeless sites, Police Chief Warren Hensman said this week.

Police regularly patrol the camping areas, respond to calls, and have surveillance cameras in place, but the locations aren't supervised by on-site staff.

During a five-month window that ended November 1, police recorded 5,642 incidents in the quadrant of the city including the camps by City Hall, according to the Citizen Connect crime portal.

That marked an increase of 606 incidents compared to the 5,036 recorded since the last five-month window that ended November 1, 2024.