Local News

Grants Pass Police arrested a woman for drug possession yesterday after she was caught smoking narcotics in a downtown alley. According to the Police Department, officers were alerted to the incident in the alley off SE H Street on Thursday at 2:40 p.m.. Police said they received a report that two people were crouched down in the alley smoking something off tin foil. They were near a downtown apartment complex and their actions were making people in the area feel uncomfortable. Responding officers contacted 25-year-old Braylyn Marie McElmurry, finding her with burnt foil and a melted straw with drug residue. They said she admitted to smoking fentanyl from the foil, but stated that it was not hers. McElmurry was placed into custody and lodged at the Josephine County Jail for Fentanyl Possession. She was being held without bail. The second person with her was not identified in the report.

 

The Josephine County Sheriff's Office arrested a man on a local warrant after he was caught trespassing on a property in the Hugo area last night. The Sheriff's Office reports deputies responded to a trespassing complaint at a home in the 100-block of Oxyoke Road on Wednesday shortly after 7 p.m.. Deputies said a real estate broker called 9-1-1 to report that an eviction notice had been served on the tenants, but she was informed that people were back on the property. The caller said the gate had been locked, but there were vehicles parked in the driveway and she was not sure how they got in. Upon arrival, deputies contacted the would-be squatters who included a man they identified as 37-year-old Mark Joseph Fuller. Fuller was wanted on a Grants Pass warrant for failing to appear in court for Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicants. He was placed into custody and lodged in jail on the warrant. Fuller and another person identified only as "Barker" were trespassed from the property.

 

No one was seriously injured in a head-on collision that occurred last night in the Fort Vannoy area. On Wednesday at 7:18 p.m., the Grants Pass 9-1-1 Communications Center received multiple reports of a two-vehicle crash on Upper River Road near Cambridge Drive. Rescue crews from Rural Metro Fire Department, Grants Pass Fire & Rescue and American Medical Response rushed to the scene. An investigation determined that one of the drivers swerved into the oncoming lane to avoid hitting a deer. Rural Metro officials said Upper River Road was temporarily shut down at that location so rescuers could safely treat the occupants. All the occupants were treated for minor non-life-threatening injuries. No other information was available.

 

A Jackson County grand jury has indicted an Ashland man for several felony-level crimes. The Ashland Police Department reports 34-year-old James David Lee Hergett was indicted on charges including 1st-Degree Kidnapping, 2nd-Degree Kidnapping, Coercion with a Firearm, Unlawful Use of a Weapon, Domestic Menacing, Attempted 2nd-Degree Assault, Harassment, 1st-Degree Sex Abuse and 3rd-Degree Sex Abuse. APD Chief Tighe O'Meara said the indictments stem from two incidents. On April 12th, Hergett was reported to have vandalized property in the downtown Ashland area. In the course of fleeing from that crime, he confronted and assaulted several people, fleeing upon the arrival of APD officers. When officers tried to contact him, he fled on foot and tried to gain entry to a residence, leading to another assault on the occupant. He also assaulted two police officers before being subdued with deployment of a Taser. A previous incident was reported to APD on April 8th when Hergett is alleged to have held a man captive for 48 hours while assaulting and menacing him with firearms. The sex abuse charges stem from the same incident. Officers were unable to act on this complaint immediately due to concerns that forcing contact with the suspect could endanger the neighboring community, given the known presence of multiple guns. Following Hergett's arrest, Chief O'Meara said officers obtained a search warrant for Hergett's residence on Iowa Street and seized several firearms as evidence. He remains in custody at the Jackson County Jail on $750,000 bail.

 

A Josephine County Jail inmate was served with a nationwide felony warrant this week. The Sheriff's Office reports jail deputies served 46-year-old Jason Paul Lanyon with a Wisconsin Department of Corrections warrant for Parole Violation related to a conviction for Child Neglect on Tuesday. Jail records show Lanyon was already in custody for being a fugitive from out of state. He was arrested for that crime on Monday night by the Grants Pass Police Department. Lanyon was being held without bail pending extradition proceedings that will send him back to Wisconsin.

 

Grants Pass Police jailed a man on a statewide felony warrant early yesterday while investigating a trespassing complaint at a north-city convenience store. The Police Department reports officers arrested 43-year-old Lee Nicholas Rich at the Pinnacle 365 on NE 6th Street on Wednesday at 2:39 a.m.. Police said a store clerk called 9-1-1 to report a man who seemed lost, confused and under the influence of alcohol came into the business. The caller advised the man was slurring his words and was very hard to understand. He kept falling over and the clerk was concerned for his welfare, but the clerk wanted him trespassed. Officers arrived on scene, contacted Rich and discovered that he was wanted on an Oregon State warrant for Parole Violation stemming from a conviction for Felony Identity Theft. He was lodged at the Josephine County Jail on a no-bail detainer.

 

Grants Pass Police arrested a man for weapon and drug crimes as he was leaving a Redwood area watering hole early yesterday. According to the Police Department, officers pulled over a 1998 Toyota 4-Runner driven by 29-year-old Garrett Keith Huling in the 2,000-block of Redwood Avenue on Wednesday at 1:05 a.m.. Police said they stopped Huling after he left the Lucky Duck because his vehicle registration and insurance were expired. He had been warned in January regarding those infractions and told his vehicle would be impounded. He was cited to appear in court and his vehicle was towed. Huling admitted to police that there was a glass methamphetamine pipe in the center console of the vehicle and officers found a 9-millimeter firearm under the driver's seat. He is not a felon, but did not have a concealed weapons permit. He was also found to be in possession of two grams of methamphetamine. Huling refused to participate in the deflection program, but he was cooperative with law enforcement. He was cited to appear in court for Carrying a Concealed Weapon and Meth Possession. The gun, meth and pipe were seized.

 

Rural Metro Fire Department is reporting that the cause of a fire that claimed the lives of two dogs in southeast Grants Pass this week is related to electrical failure. Early Morning morning, Rural Metro and Grants Pass Fire & Rescue responded to the structure fire at a large two-story home in the 4700-block of Cloverlawn Drive. All four occupants of the home escaped, but two family dogs did not survive. Investigators from the Oregon State Fire Marshal, Rural Metro, Grants Pass and the Williams Rural Fire Protection District joined forces to determine the cause. The investigation revealed that an overload in electrical extension cords passing through a three-way adaptor resulted in overheating. The cords were also weighed down by content accumulation in the basement bedroom. Rural Metro officials said firefighters routinely promote messages of safety in hopes of preventing fires. However, fires can still start from common activities that many people overlook because nothing has happened -- yet. Officials encourage residents to take the time to carefully evaluate their homes and properties and mitigate any potential fire hazards.

 

An Oregon Army National Guard Unit restored veteran graves at an historic Medford Cemetery earlier this month. Soldiers from Hotel Company, 141st Support Battalion, attached to the 1-186th Infantry Battalion, spent part of their drill weekend cleaning veteran gravesites at the historic Eastwood Cemetery on April 13th. Twenty-seven Oregon Army National Guard soldiers from H Company, which drills out of the Medford Armory, joined by Southern Oregon University ROTC cadets, partnered with Medford Parks and Recreation to restore weathered headstones at the one of the city's oldest cemeteries. Established in 1890 by the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF), the cemetery was sold to the City of Medford in the 1970s when the organization could no longer maintain it. Today, it is managed by Medford Parks and Rec. Soldiers worked in groups of four, cleaning moss and dirt from headstones and removing weeds from around grave makers. Many of the sites they restored belonged to veterans. Tyson Thompson, volunteer coordinator with Medford Parks and Recreation, organized the event and called the military presence "a tremendous help."