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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 23, 2002)
Page A2 January 23,2002 (Elje |jo rtla n ò (ßbseruer B POLICE/VANCOUVER Portland SLA Radical Accused of Murder Line d o w n ? Stay back! Remember these important safety rules if you see a downed power line. • Never touch a downed line — it could be a fatal mistake. Electricity can "ground" itself through your body, causing serious injury or death. A line doesn't have to spark to be "live," so move back and keep pets and children away. Don’t try to jump over it or move it w ith a stick. And keep your distance because electricity can travel through wet ground. • Call PGE immediately if you see a downed power line: 503-464-7777, in Portland, or 1-800-544-1795. • If a power line is touching someone, stay back and call 911. If you touch the person, you could become a victim too. • If a power line falls across your car, do not get out. Wait for emergency help to arrive. / 4 X c E/ (AP)— Michael Bortin, a former supporter of the Symbionese Lib eration Army, told a judge Friday he will fight extradition toCalifor- nia to stand trial on charges of involvement in a 1975 robbery and killing. Bortin is among five people charged by California authorities in the shooting death of a bystander during a bank robbery by SLA members in Carmichael, Calif. At Bortin’sarraignmentonFri- day, the 53-year-old Bortin said he would fight extradition to Cali fornia because he is not a fugitive. “I’ve been a legal resident here for all of 12 and a half years. I have my own business here, family, four kids,” he told Multnomah County Circuit Judge David Smedema. Bortin ’ s court-appointed attor Teen Driver Charged Portland Wing Works in Racing Death Olympics Security (A P)-A 16-year-olddriverwas arrested Sunday, two days after a fatal street i ace that killed a young woman riding in another car. Shade Yasin of Gresham was charged with manslaughter and felony hit-and-run. The driver of the other car, 18- year-old Adam Ames apparently jerked the wheel of his Honda to avoid a car turning into his path. His blue Honda then slammed into a utility pole, killing his girlfriend, Trisha Ann Thornton, 19. Ames suffered a broken leg. Yasin said he drove away from the wreck unaware a woman was dying. “Everybody races,” he said. “You go down the street, you’ll see people going at it.” Yasin was charged last month with speed racing after he was caught at a race at a remote com mercial area in northeast Portland with a long straightaway that rac ers have painted with start and finish lines. Thorton’s death is the second in less than a month involving street racing. In December, 11- year-old K rystal Pom ante of Corbett died when the Ford Mus tang she was riding in collided with a tree in Gresham. The Mus tang was traveling around 100 miles per hour during the race. The driver, Edgar Islas-Moran, 20, is in jail and is facing man slaughter charges. Law School Shooter Lived in Portland Portland General Electric W W W . POR+C A N D Ò EN ER A L. COM (A P )— A Nigerian im m i grant and failed law student accu sed o f k illin g three people at a V irginia law school spent at least seven years in the Portland area driving a T ri-M et bus in the 1980s. T ri-M et authorities said Peter O. O dighizuw a, 43, drove a bus from July 1982 through M ay 1989, when he was fired. Odighizuwa’s employment record included citations for reporting to work under the to advertise in ¿rih ^ . l o r t l a u b (O h s e v u e v CALL: 5 0 3 .2 8 8 .0 0 3 3 or email: adsí'ixirtkiixíobsfervercom Now, a Credit Union for You Come Join With Us Get more out of life • Free Checking Accounts • Savings Accounts • Term Investment Accounts • Individual Retirement Accounts • Holiday/Tax Club Accounts • Youth Club Accounts • Low cost loans: - Signature Loans - Auto and Truck Loans - RV, Motorcycle and ATV Loans - Boat and Personal Watercraft Loans Home loans, firsts and seconds - Home Equity Lines o f Credit • A ll deposits insured by an agency o f the Federal Government Serving all who live, work, worship or attend school in the Portland communities o f Arbor Lodge, Boise, Bridgeton, Buckman north o f Hawthorne. Cathedral Park, China Town, Concordia west o f 33rt Avenue, Concordia University. Downtown Portland, East Columbia, Goose Hollow. Humboldt. Irvington, Kcms, King, Northwest Portland, Northwest Industrial Portland, Old Town, Overlook, Pearl District, Piedmont, Portland Community College-Cascade Campus, Portland State University, Ports mouth, Sabin, St. Johns, Sullivan's Gulch, University o f Portland, University Park, Vernon, and Woodlawn. NCUA M ichael Bortin OUAI HOUSING I L E N D E R Olson’s sister. Sacramento County District Attorney Jan Scully has accused Bortin of being among SLA mem bers who robbed the Crocker Na tional Bank in Carmichael on April 21,1975. Scully say s the robbers pointed weapons “at customers and em ployees and threats and demands were made.” A bank customer, Myma Opsahl, was shot and killed by a shotgun blast during the robbery. Bortin operates a shop in south east Portland called “Zen Hard wood Floors” where he finishes hardwood floors and crafts or nate front doors. ney demanded a warrant from the C alifornia go v ern o r’s office. Smedema then set a second hear ing for Bortin on Feb. 22. Also charged in the 1975 holdup and slaying were former SLA members Emily Harris and William Harris, Sara Jane Olson and James Kilgore, who have been a fugitive since the 1970s. Olson was sentenced in Los Angeles on Friday to 20 years to life in prison for a different crime: conspiring to blow up police cars in 1975. Immediately afterward, Olson pleaded innocent to rob bery and murder charges in the 1975 SLA bank holdup. Bortin’s wife, Josephine, is W ILLAM ETTE Federal C re d it Union 2151 N.W. Frcnt Avenue Portland, Oregon 97209 (503) 299-4539 • (888) 900-8559 influence of drugs or alcohol, de lib e ra te d e stru c tio n o f the district’s property and for posing an immediate or potential danger to public safety, said Mary Fetsch, a Tri-Met spokeswoman. Odighizuwa opened fire with a handgun at the A ppalachian School of Law in Grundy, Va„ last Wednesday, police said. The school ’ s dean, L. Anthony Sutin and professor T hom as Blackwell were slain in their of fices and student Angela Dales, 33, died later at a hospital. Three other students were wounded. O ne o f four HH-60 P avehaw k helico p ters o f th e 9 3 9 th R e sc u e Wing Air Force R e se rv e unit, prep a res for d e p lo y m e n t from th e Portland Air B a se. (AP Photo) 4,500 U.S. military troops to provide security at the games. The reservists will train in the weeks leading to the games, which begin Feb. 8. They don’t know much more. We will be assisting with command and control opera tions, helping state and fed eral law enforcement agen cies in a support role,” Col. Rusty Moen, the wing com mander, said Saturday. Portland’s Air Force Re serve units have a history of helping with the Olympics. In 1980,28 reservi sts from Port land aided in rescue and medi cal evacuation at the winter games in Lake Placid, N.Y. (A P ) — O re g o n A ir Force reserv ists left for Utah Sunday to help with Olym pic W inter Games se curity a day after their de p a rtu re w as d elay ed by w eather. Fifteen members of the 939th Rescue left in HH-60 Pavehawk military helicop ters, for a two-month stint bolstering security at the Win ter O ly m p ics and the Paralympic Games that will follow in Utah. An additional 50 reservists also went. Saturday, 130 Or egon National Guard soldiers also will leave for Utah. Both groups will join a force of Masked Gunman Wanted in Robberies Portland Police Bureau Rob bery Detectives, in cooperation with Crime Stoppers, are asking for your help in identifying and apprehending a suspect in two robberies. Shortly after 11 o ’clock on the evening of Monday, Sept. 10, an armed gunman robbed Elmers Restaurant at 10001 N.E. Sandy Blvd. The suspect confronted the manager at closing time and took the day’s receipts from the safe. T he sam e re sta u ra n t w as robbed earlier onSunday,Dec. 23, when an armed gunman con fronted the manager at closing Pair Charged in Mother- in-Law’s Death time and forced him to open the safe. In both cases, the suspect was described as being in his late teens to mid 20’s, average height and build, wearing a mask over his face, and armed with a handgun. Investigators believe the two cases are related. Crime Stoppers is offering a cash reward of up to $1,000 for information, reported to Crime Stoppers, which leads to an arrest in this case, or any unsolved felony crime, and you can remain anonymous. Call Crime Stoppers at(5O3)823-HELP. (AP) — A w om an and her brother have been charged w ith second-degree m urder in the death o f the w om an’s m other-in-law , w hose body was found in the basem ent o f her own V ancou ver home. Sophia Johnson, 23, and S e a n C o r r e ia , 19, w e re charged on T hursday. Each accuses the other o f killing J o h n so n ’s m o th e r-in -la w , M arlyne Johnson, 58, a c cording to court docum ents. Investigators said the vic tim was beaten to death with fireplace tongs. H er body was discovered on Jan. 10. In a separate case, Sophia Johnson was charged T hurs day in Clark County Superior C o u rt w ith e m b e z z lin g $ 160,000 last year from her em ployer. C ounty C om m u nications in W ashougal. P r o s e c u t o r s c o n te n d that as the firm ’s o ffic e m an ag er, she w rote c h eck s to h e r s e l f fro m th e c o m p a n y ’s account. Abuse Report Sees Progress, Needs The W ashington School for the Deaf in Vancouver has made progress toward better protect ing students from sexual abuse, but still must improve bathroom supervision and be more thorough on criminal background checks of staff members, according to a new state report. The Department of Social and Health Services evaluation was requested by W ashington Gov. Gary Locke to make sure the school complies with nine safety-related reforms he ordered. His order came after records revealed that more than 100 sex- related incidents, including rape, had been reported in the past three years at the state-run school in Vancouver. A state team visited the 113- student residential school in De cember to conduct a comprehen sive health and safety review. The review will be repeated every three years and shorter reviews will take place quarterly. i
