Local News

Grants Pass Police jailed a man for celebrating New Year's Day by ripping up shrubbery at the downtown post office. The Police Department reports officers arrested 47-year-old Beau Thomas Beard at the post office in the 100-block of NW 6th Street on Wednesday at 4:32 p.m.. Police said Beard was observed causing substantial damage to the shrubbery in front of the postal facility. Damage was estimated to be well over $500. It was unclear why the man was pulling out vegetation and throwing it on the sidewalk. Officers contacted the Grants Pass Postmaster who advised he wished to pursue criminal charges against Beard, who had been trespassed from the post office late last month. Beard was lodged at the Josephine County Jail for 2nd-Degree Criminal Mischief and 2nd-Degree Criminal Trespass. He was being held without bail.

 

Grants Pass Police arrested a man on an outside felony warrant and for drug possession while performing a New Year's Day patrol check on railroad property. According to the Police Department, officers contacted 64-year-old William Ward Fleming on the downtown railroad property on Wednesday around 2:50 p.m.. Police said they discovered that Ward was wanted on a Jackson County felony warrant for Probation Violation related to an arrest for Failure to Report as a Sex Offender. During a consent search, they found him to be in possession of glass pipe with a white residue that field-tested positive as methamphetamine. Ward was lodged at the Josephine County Jail on the warrant plus a new charge of Meth Possession. He was being held on a no-bail detainer and his dog was left in the care of an acquaintance at the SE J Street campground.

 

One person was hurt last night in a chain-reaction crash involving three vehicles on Interstate 5 on Mount Sexton. The Oregon State Police reports troopers and emergency crews responded to the multi-vehicle mishap in the southbound lanes of I-5 near milepost 68 at 8:08 p.m. Wednesday. Troopers said an investigation indicated a 65-year-old Talent man was driving a Honda CRV that crashed into a barricade. They said a Dodge pickup driven by a 56-year-old Cheyenne, Wyoming, man and a Toyota sedan driven by 20-year-old Seattle, Washington, man collided with the first vehicle. According to OSP, the Talent man was transported by ambulance to Three Rivers Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries. No one else was hurt. The Honda and Dodge were towed to Grants Pass, but the Toyota drove away from the crash scene. It was unclear in the report if any citations were issued.

 

The Oregon State Police arrested a Cave Junction man for impaired driving after he crashed his vehicle on Williams Highway last night. OSP reports troopers and emergency crews responded to a single-vehicle wreck near milepost 7 of Williams Highway on Wednesday at 6:15 p.m.. Troopers said a 32-year-old Cave Junction man was driving a Subaru Legacy west when he lost control of the vehicle, slid off the highway and rolled, with the car coming to rest on its side. Fortunately, no one was hurt. Upon contact with the driver, troopers observed signs of impairment and took him to the Grants Pass Sobering Center where he provided a breath sample that was more than twice the legal driving limit. The suspect was lodged at the Sobering Center for Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicants, Reckless Driving and Offensive Littering. His car was impounded.

 

The Oregon State Police arrested three motorists for impaired driving after New Year's Eve and New Year's Day traffic stops in Josephine County. According to OSP, the first incident occurred on Tuesday at 11:20 p.m. when troopers pulled over a Honda CRV driven by a 43-year-old Gasquet, California, woman near milepost 34 of Redwood Highway. Troopers said they stopped the vehicle for a traffic violation and the driver showed signs of impairment. The second incident happened on Wednesday at 1:03 a.m. when troopers pulled over a Toyota 4-Runner driven by a 30-year-old Grants Pass man near the corner of NW 6th and Savage streets. Troopers said they stopped the vehicle for a traffic violation and the driver showed signs of impairment. The third incident took place on Wednesday at 9:25 p.m. when troopers pulled over a Nissan XTerra driven by a 37-year-old Medford man near milepost 65 of southbound Interstate 5. Troopers said they stopped the vehicle for two violations and the driver displayed signs of impairment.

 

The Josephine County Sheriff's Office has announced the apprehension in Asia of a subject wanted for a local sex crime. Over the last several months, the Sheriff's Office Crime Analyst has been working with the United States Marshals Service in an attempt to locate 41-year-old Shawn Christian Higbee for a felony-level sex crime. Detective Sergeant Henrich said Higbee has had an arrest warrant out of Josephine County since 2019, but Higbee has been able to evade capture until now. He said the crime analyst discovered that the suspect had fled to Cambodia and had been living there for several years. Higbee's exact location was pinpointed in Cambodia and that information was relayed to the US Marshals Service who turned it over to their international apprehension team. Higbee was taken into custody on December 17th. He is currently lodged in a Cambodian jail and is awaiting extradition back to the United States. Once Higbee is in the country, he will be transported to the Josephine County Jail to face further prosecution regarding the local sex crime.

 

The Oregon State Police jailed a suspect on a total of 12 criminal charges after he fled from a traffic stop in east Grants Pass this week. OSP reports troopers eventually arrested 38-year-old Justin Reid Carr in the 2,000-block of NE Fairview Avenue on Monday morning. Troopers said they pulled over a silver Nissan pickup driven by Carr for traffic violations on Fairview and he fled the traffic stop on foot. They said he was subdued and the pickup was found to be stolen, with an undisclosed weapon in plain sight. Carr is a convicted felon prohibited from possessing any weapons. During a search of the stolen pickup, felony amounts of methamphetamine and fentanyl were found along with drug paraphernalia and packaging materials. They were seized as evidence and for eventual destruction. Carr was lodged at the Josephine County Jail for two counts of Unauthorized Use of a Motor Vehicle; Possession of a Stolen Vehicle; Manufacture, Possession and Delivery of Meth; Manufacture, Possession and Delivery of Fentanyl; Unlawful Possession of Marijuana; Attempting to Elude Police on Foot; and 2nd-Degree Criminal Mischief. Carr was being held without bail and the stolen vehicle was towed to a local impound yard.

 

Grants Pass Police arrested a motorist for felony impaired driving and more this week during a dangerous incident at a city park. The Police Department reports an officer was assisting Grants Pass firefighters with blocking access to the lower parking lot at Baker Park due to flooding on Monday afternoon when the incident occurred. Police said a 1999 Mercury Cougar driven by 43-year-old Darren Louis Pierce accelerated at a high rate of speed past a firefighter into the lower parking lot. Upon contact with the driver, he displayed noticeable signs of impairment. Pierce reportedly refused to perform field sobriety tests and his driving status was determined to be suspended. After he refused to provide a breath sample, a search warrant was obtained and he was transported to Three Rivers Medical Center for a legal blood draw that documented a high level of impairment. Pierce was lodged at the Josephine County Jail for Felony Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicants, Reckless Driving and Driving While Suspended. His car was impounded. Jail records show he was also arrested for DUII on October 22nd.

 

Grants Pass Police arrested a woman for attempting to cash a stolen check at a downtown bank earlier this week. According to the Police Department, officers responded to a report of fraud at US Bank on SW 6th Street late Monday morning. Police said a bank manager called 9-1-1 to report a female subject later identified as "Holly Long" tried cashing a check that belonged to a man who had reported his checks stolen from the 1400-block of Fruitdale Drive. The victim told the bank his checks were stolen out of his mailbox and there have been ongoing issues with theft from mailboxes in his neighborhood. The victim was alerted by the bank, stated he did not know Long and that she did not have permission to cash the $650 check. She was contacted at the SE J Street campground, admitted to the crime and said she got the check from an unidentified man. Long was charged with Felony Identity Theft, but she was not lodged in jail. She was cited to appear in court and then released.