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
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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