Local News

Grants Pass Police arrested a man for narcotics possession at the designated campground on NE 7th Street yesterday. The Police Department reports officers were performing a patrol check at the temporary campsite next to GPPD headquarters on Wednesday at 3:16 p.m. when they contacted 36-year-old Derek Brian Hood. Police said they spotted Hood holding a clear glass pipe while they were walking into the campground. They said he dropped the pipe on the ground while trying to conceal it. He then consented to a search and was found to be in possession of a small amount of methamphetamine. The pipe and narcotic stimulant were seized for destruction. Hood was lodged in jail for Meth Possession and he was trespassed from the campground for 30 days.

 

The Josephine County Sheriff's Office arrested a man for violating a court order by being with a woman from whom had been prohibited from contacting. The Sheriff's Office reports they were notified about the no-contact order by the Northern Call Center in Texas on Wednesday afternoon. Deputies stopped a vehicle driven by the 40-year-old male subject on Monument Drive near Blue Grass Place and found him to be with the protected female party. The woman's parents advised deputies the subject had been arrested for domestic violence with her and a no-contact order was issued. After his release from jail, the man showed up at the woman's home and she left with him. He reportedly admitted to violating the release agreement during the traffic stop and was arrested. After the no-contact order was confirmed, the suspect was lodged at the Josephine County Jail for Contempt of Court. He was being held without bail.

 

Grants Pass Police arrested a woman for her outlandish behavior at Fred Meyer and GameStop yesterday. According to the Police Department, officers were alerted to the incident involving 42-year-old Mindy Raquel Jacobson at the store on the Grants Pass Parkway on Wednesday shortly before 2 p.m.. Police said Jacobson created public inconvenience, annoyance and alarm by her bad behavior as she was initially contacted with her items strewn about the Fred Meyer entrance doors to the garden section. She was trespassed from the store by loss prevention and left. A few minutes later, Jacobson caused public alarm with her unseemly behavior at GameStop in the 100-block of NE Terry Lane. She was described as "catatonic and manic" while refusing to leave the store. She reportedly believed she was in Idaho. Jacobson was placed into custody and lodged in jail for Disorderly Conduct. She was being held without bail.

 

An Interstate 5 motorist was injured yesterday when she crashed her vehicle near Wolf Creek. The Oregon State Police reports troopers and emergency personnel responded to the single-vehicle wreck in the southbound lanes of I-5 near milepost 78 at 12:32 p.m. Wednesday. State troopers said a 31-year-old woman was driving a Ford Escape too fast for the conditions during a rainstorm when she hit standing water on the freeway and lost control. They said the vehicle spun and left the road to the right, impacted the side-slope embankment and overturned. The woman was the only occupant of the vehicle. She was transported by AMR ambulance to Three Rivers Medical Center for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries. Her heavily-damaged car was hauled to Grants Pass by 3 Boys Towing.

 

Medford Area Drug and Gang Enforcement (MADGE) arrested two men last week for trafficking methamphetamine from California into Southern Oregon. Following a long-term investigation, MADGE made contact with several people and a vehicle in Ashland on November 5th. After executing a search warrant on the vehicle, detectives seized approximately 20 pounds of methamphetamine. Two men -- 62-year-old Randall Banks of Sonora, California, and 42-year-old Gabriel Calderon of Madera, California -- were arrested and lodged at the Jackson County Jail on charges of Felony Unlawful Manufacture, Possession and Delivery of Meth. The MADGE team is a multi-jurisdictional narcotics task force focused on identifying, disrupting and dismantling local, multi-state and international drug trafficking organizations. MADGE works in coordination with the Oregon-Idaho High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) program, which is sponsored by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). MADGE includes members from the Medford Police Department, Eagle Point Police Department, Jackson County Sheriff's Office, Jackson County District Attorney's Office, Jackson County Parole & Probation, Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI.

 

A Josephine County man who was arrested earlier this week for breaking into and vandalizing the Head Start and General Store buildings in Williams found himself back behind bars yesterday after committing several crimes in Grants Pass. The Grants Pass Police Department reports 37-year-old Sephiran Paul Roberts was arrested while hiding on a SE L Street property on Wednesday at 2:04 a.m.. Police said Roberts had been released from the Josephine County Jail on Tuesday night and he promptly started a crime spree in Grants Pass. The first incident was reported at 12:25 a.m. when he broke into a laundry room at a home on SE 10th Street. A caller reported someone ripped the screen off a window while stealing a cardboard box containing a generator and a few solar panels. A short time later, a resident on SE L Street called 9-1-1 to report a male subject in a hard hat got into a fuse box, took out some fuses and told them "something is wrong with your heater." Investigators believe the Pacific Power hard hat -- along with numerous items -- were stolen by the suspect when he entered other buildings in the area. When officers arrested Roberts, they found him with a gun, multiple mail items and keys he had taken from nearby property owners. Their property was returned. Roberts was lodged at the Josephine County for Unlawful Possession of a Firearm, Attempted 1st-Degree Burglary, 2nd-Degree Burglary, two counts of 1st-Degree Theft, 2nd-Degree Criminal Mischief, 3rd-Degree Criminal Mischief and Unlawful Entry into a Motor Vehicle. He was being held without bail.

 

Grants Pass Police jailed a man this week for being aggressive with his ex-wife at the home they still share. The Police Department reports officers arrested a 32-year-old male subject for the incident at a residence on Dyer Road on Tuesday morning. Police said a woman called 9-1-1 to report that her ex-husband grabbed her arm with brute force, causing a red mark. She stated that she and her ex are divorced, but they still live together for their children. Fortunately, the children had left for school and were not present when the incident occurred. Upon arrival, officers contacted the man and he admitted to aggressively taking a cigarette away from his ex-wife and current roommate while she was smoking. The woman's arm was red and had a half-inch abrasion from where he grabbed her. She did not require medical attention. After the victim advised she wished to pursue charges, the suspect was placed into custody and lodged at the Josephine County Jail for Domestic Harassment. He was being held without bail.

 

Grants Pass Police arrested a woman early yesterday for stealing a phone from another woman at a local sports bar the night before. According to the Police Department, officers responded to the reported theft at Joe's Sports Bar & Grill in the Grants Pass Shopping Center on Tuesday around 11:50 p.m.. Police said a man called 9-1-1 to report his girlfriend's iPhone 15 valued at $800 was stolen at the sports bar and it was "pinging" at Jack's Landing RV Resort in the north part of the city. They went to that location and contacted 44-year-old Jennifer Leann Lunsford who was found to be in possession of the phone. Lunsford admitted to taking the phone from the bar and she was placed into custody on Wednesday at 12:26 a.m.. She was lodged at the Josephine County Jail for 2nd-Degree Theft and was being held without bail. Lunsford was also warned for Driving While Suspended and her driver's license was seized.

 

Grants Pass Police arrested a Josephine County Community Corrections client on a statewide felony warrant this week. The Police Department reports officers placed 35-year-old Kristen Kay Rawlings into custody at the Corrections Office on NW 4th Street on Tuesday afternoon. Police said a corrections officer alerted them that Rawlings was in the office lobby and she was wanted on an Oregon State warrant for Felony Parole Violation stemming from a previous drug conviction. Rawlings -- who was unaware that she was about to be arrested -- was placed into custody without incident. She was lodged at the Josephine County Jail on a no-bail detainer.