Local News

Grants Pass Police arrested a man on two local warrants this week after responding to a repeat shoplifting complaint at Walmart.

The Police Department reports officers were alerted to a Monday afternoon theft complaint involving 52-year-old David Patrick Banks at the store on NE Terry Lane.

Police said Banks had been detained by Walmart loss prevention for stealing vanilla, lemon and coconut extracts. A store manager advised this was the fourth time that the suspect had wiped the shelves clean, but GPPD was too busy to respond and a case was never started. The manager wanted to pursue charges.

Banks admitted to the thefts and said he is an alcoholic. He told officers the extracts are more than 90% alcohol and "it's better than any moonshine you can find." A records check showed that he was wanted on two Grants Pass warrants for failing to appear in court for 3rd-Degree Theft and 2nd-Degree Criminal Trespass.

Banks was lodged at the Josephine County Jail on the warrants plus four counts of 3rd-Degree Theft. He was released a short time later for medical reasons.