Local News

Grants Pass Police arrested a felon for a weapons violation after he tried to steal some potting soil and other items from a local supermarket.

According to the Police Department, officers responded to a shoplifting complaint involving 31-year-old Casey Jay Whitten at WinCo Foods on NE Terry Lane on Saturday around 12:35 a.m..

Police said Whitten took some small items from WinCo without paying and was caught by loss prevention who was going to handle the crime in-house. However, when they told the suspect to leave the store, he took a bag of fertilized soil from a front display and walked across the Grants Pass Parkway with it.

Whitten was contacted by police a short time later near Taco Bell where the stolen dirt was recovered. A consent search found him to be in possession of a spring-assisted pocket knife. Since he is a convicted felon, he is banned from possessing any weapons.

Casey Whitten was lodged at the Josephine County Jail for Felon in Possession of a Restricted Weapon and 3rd-Degree Theft. He was also trespassed from WinCo.