Local News

Grants Pass Police arrested a felon for violating her post-prison supervision last night following a 9-1-1 investigation at Morrison Centennial Park. According to the Police Department, the Grants Pass 9-1-1 Communications Center received a hang-up call from the city park on Rogue River Highway on Tuesday around 6:15 p.m.. Dispatchers were able to trace the call to the park. Police said a woman reported 39-year-old Crystil Marie Ann York was with her son near the swings and acting erratically. The caller advised that she has sole custody of York's son, and York was paranoid and under the influence of narcotics. Upon arrival, officers contacted York and she displayed signs of impairment by methamphetamine so she was placed into custody. After putting the woman into a patrol vehicle, she started acting in a disruptive manner by removing her seatbelt, standing up, licking the rear partition, kicking the seats and gyrating. York's corrections officer was contacted and advised of her client's behavior. She was lodged at the Josephine County Jail for Felony Parole Violation and was being held on a no-bail detainer. Jail records show York was been arrested for Parole Violation five times since last December.

 

Grants Pass Police arrested a transient for stealing a phone from another transient at a downtown convenience store last night. The Police Department reports officers responded to a theft complaint at 7-Eleven on SW 6th Street on Tuesday at 8:40 p.m.. Police said a man reported his Samsung A16 phone was stolen off the counter of the store by an unknown male subject. They viewed surveillance footage which showed a man later identified as 56-year-old Thomas Allen Pitts, Sr., stealing the phone and leaving in a vehicle. Officers searched the area and located Pitts and the stolen phone at Baker Park. They recovered the phone and found the suspect to be in possession of fentanyl, which was seized for destruction. Pitts was lodged at the Josephine County Jail for 2nd-Degree Theft and Fentanyl Possession. He was being held without bail and was trespassed from Baker Park for 30 days. Police took the recovered phone to Kesterson Park, but were unable to locate the victim. They placed the phone into the GPPD evidence locker for safekeeping.

 

Grants Pass Police apprehended a man wanted on a statewide felony warrant while performing a welfare check in the north part of the city early yesterday. According to the Police Department, officers were alerted to the incident involving 45-year-old Michael Angel Johnson in the 1,000-block of NW 6th Street at about 6:55 a.m. Tuesday. Police said the property owner requested a welfare check on a male subject who was lying in the driveway with a wheelchair next to him. A short time later, the man had moved himself to a recliner in the front yard of the property. Officers contacted Johnson and discovered that he was wanted on an Oregon State warrant for Parole Violation stemming from a past Criminal Mischief conviction. Johnson was lodged at the Josephine County Jail on a no-bail detainer and he was trespassed from the incident location. The recliner was disposed of.

 

Grants Pass Police arrested two people wanted on a local felony warrants in separate incidents yesterday. On Tuesday at 9:24 a.m., officers arrested 41-year-old Philip Raymond Nerpel at the Josephine County Community Corrections Office on NW 4th Street. He was wanted on a Grants Pass felony warrant for 2nd-Degree Burglary and 2nd-Degree Theft. On Tuesday at 11:39 a.m., officers arrested 37-year-old Melissa Sue Koenig at Lawnridge Park on NW Hawthorne Avenue. She was wanted on a Grants Pass felony warrant for Mail Theft. Both Nerpel and Koenig were lodged at the Josephine County Jail and both were being held without bail.

 

The Oregon State Police arrested a Medford man for impaired driving and putting his young children in danger while doing so on Interstate 5 in the Grants Pass area. OSP reports troopers pulled over an Infinity G35 driven by 27-year-old Johan Velasquez-Urbina in the northbound lanes of I-5 near milepost 58 on Tuesday at 9:28 p.m.. Troopers said they responded to a traffic complaint regarding a vehicle driving erratically with its rear bumper dragging on the freeway. They found the vehicle as it was entering north Grants Pass and traveling at 97 miles per hour while passing other vehicles aggressively. During the traffic stop, Velasquez-Urbina displayed signs of impairment. After he performed poorly in field sobriety tests, he was placed into custody. It was quickly discovered that the driver had his 17-month-old and 3-month-old children in the vehicle, with the 17-month-old not properly restrained. Velasquez-Urbina was taken to Three Rivers Medical Center for a legal blood draw and then lodged at the Josephine County Jail for Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicants, Reckless Driving and three counts of Reckless Endangering.

 

The Oregon Department of Forestry responded to 15 reports of fire on Tuesday following thunderstorms throughout the Southwest Region on Monday night. In total, ODF firefighters found and confirmed 10 fires from the 15 reported. ODF resources worked with federal partners at the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest and Medford BLM District in response to these fires and -- as a result -- all the fires are completely extinguished or fully-lined and holding in their current footprints. Numerous resources were used early Tuesday morning to gather information on these incidents including drone flights, reconnaissance flights with various aircraft and ODF's Detection Center cameras. ODF has a goal of extinguishing all fires as quickly and as small as possible. As a direct result of this work, the largest fire was caught at 12 acres. The East Trail Creek Fire near the 6,000-block of Highway 227 north of Trail forced Level 2 and Level 1 evacuation notices, but they were lifted by Tuesday afternoon. The other incidents were identified as the Alder Creek, Hibbard Point and Halls Point fires near Prospect; the Star Gulch Fire southeast of Williams; the Beaver Dam and Daily Creek fires south of Fish Lake; and the Summit Prairie, Mule Creek and Laurelhurst fires southeast of Lost Creek Lake. The ODF Detection Center will continue to monitor cameras in these areas and report any smoke found. A reconnaissance flight is planned for this morning to seek out potential new lightning strike areas.

 

Grants Pass Police jailed a woman for assaulting her grandfather at a residence in the southeast part of the city. The Police Department reports officers arrested 36-year-old Sara Leanne Gardner for the incident that occurred on SE Grandview Avenue on Monday morning. Police said Gardner called 9-1-1 and requested law enforcement, stating that she was in a domestic violence situation. Officers immediately responded and found a much different situation. An investigation determined Gardner had assaulted her elderly grandfather by striking him with a pint glass and causing prolonged pain. She also made death threats and threatened to strike her grandfather in the head with a heavy glass jug. Following the investigation, Gardner was placed into custody and lodged at the Josephine County Jail for Felony Attempted 2nd-Degree Assault, Felony Unlawful Use of a Weapon, 4th-Degree Domestic Assault and Domestic Menacing. She was being held without bail pending her court arraignment.

 

The Josephine County Sheriff's Office jailed a woman for attacking another woman at a residence in the Hugo area. The Sheriff's Office reports deputies arrested 60-year-old Jane Marie Critchfield for the incident in the 300-block of Tunnel Creek Road late Monday afternoon. Deputies said the female victim called 9-1-1 to report that Critchfield punched her repeatedly and possibly broke her nose. The victim requested medical attention -- but changed her mind, advising she was in pain but not seriously injured. Upon arrival, deputies interviewed both parties. Critchfield admitted to punching the victim more than once in the face with her fist, adding that she did so because the woman told her to. She was placed into custody. Critchfield was transported to Grants Pass and lodged at the Josephine County Jail for 4th-Degree Assault. She was being held without bail.

 

Grants Pass Police arrested a man for drug trafficking after catching him dealing narcotics in the parking lot of a downtown watering hole. According to the Police Department, officers observed 54-year-old Johnnie Thomas Brown, Jr., in a hand-to-hand drug transaction at River City Grill on SE K Street on Monday afternoon. Police said a consent search of Brown's BMW sedan yielded 2.52 grams of a white powdery substance that tested positive as fentanyl plus packaging materials and $522 in US currency. A subsequent search of the suspect's room at Motel 6 on NE 7th Street uncovered three scales covered in fentanyl as well as drug paraphernalia and additional packaging materials. Brown was placed into custody and lodged at the Josephine County Jail on charges of Felony Manufacture, Possession and Delivery of Fentanyl. He was being held without bail.