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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 25, 2002)
ï b e ^lortlanò ODhscrUrr PagcA2 December 25. 2002 P olice Tre Arrow Wanted FBI posts $25,000 reward arson (A P ) — T h e FB I has posted a $ 2 5 ,(XX) aw ard for in fo rm a tion le a d in g to th e arrest o f M ic h a e l S c a r p i t t i , w h o is ch a rg e d w ith startin g tw o arson fires in O reg o n last year. T h e F B I b e l i e v e s th a t S carp itti, also k n o w n as T re A rrow , started fires at the Ross Island Sand and G rav el in P o rt land on A pril 15,2001. T he fires c au sed $2(X),000 in dam ag e. T h e E arth L ib eratio n F ront cla im e d resp o n sib ility for the blaze in a w ritten m essage. T h e a g en cy also said th at S carp itti started a fire at R ay S ch o p p ert L o gging C o m p an y in E sta c a d a on Ju n e 1, 2001, th a t d a m a g e d tw o lo g g in g tru ck s an d a front loader. N o o n e has cla im e d resp o n sib lity fo r that fire. T he F B I is also featu rin g S carp itti on its “ m ost w a n te d ” W eb site. T h e U .S . D e p a rtm e n t o f Ju stic e c o n sid e rs the E arth L ib eratio n F ro n t to be a te r rorist org an ization. O fficer Sentenced in Domestic Violence Case (A P ) — A P o rtlan d police Ju d g e N ely Jo h n so n on T u e s o ffic e r accu sed o f dom estic vio d ay. lence w as sen ten ced to three P im e n te l, a 1 0 -y e a r v e t y e a rs' p ro b atio n an d 300 hours e ra n , w as a rre s te d o n Ju ly 2 o f co m m u n ity serv ice u nder a a fte r an a lle g e d a s s a u lt on plea a g reem en t that also called h is g irlfrie n d . H e w as la te r for his resig n atio n . in d ic te d by a g ra n d ju r y on M ich ael P im en tel, w ho had m o re th a n a d o z e n c h a rg e s , already resigned, p lead ed guilty in c lu d in g h a ra ssm e n t a n d a s last m o n th to a sin g le co u n t o f sa u lt. co ercio n . H e w as o rd ered to H is g irlfrie n d did n o t c o o p take a n g e r m an ag em en t c o u n era te in the p ro secu tio n o f the selin g by M u ltn o m ah C o u n ty c a s e . • i • Airline Fraud Busted V an co u v er p o lice served a search warrant at the Timbers Apart ments at 2519 E. Mill Plain Dec. 3 and arrested Tony Edward Heiman, 31, on multiple charges of theft and identity theft. D etectives recovered several items o f stolen property, including a high number of airline tickets purchased on stolen credit cards. Police said Heiman is accused o f booking multiple overseas flights for himself and associates, using stolen credit cards. People from Vancouver to Salem were al legedly victimized. Violence reached the schoolyard o f Harriet Tubman Middle School in north Portland Dec. 16 when gunfire erupted as school was being let out. photo by M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver Tubman Gunfire Called Isolated Incident P o lice say a sh o o tin g last w eek o u tsid e H arriet T ubm an M iddle S chool in north P o rt land w as an iso lated incident that pro b ab ly w ill not be re peated. N e ig h b o r s , p a r e n ts a n d school o ffic ia ls w ere tro u b led D ec. 16 w hen gunfire eru p ted o u tsid e the school, ju s t north o f the R ose Q uarter. P o lice b eliev e several teen s that do not attend T ubm an cam e lo o king fo r som ebody and got into a c o n fro n ta tio n w ith som e Mall Reopens After Power Outage 7 o th e r students. School officials said four shell casings w ere discovered near the m ain entrance o f the school, but no one w as shot or injured. 'Deed! Holiday shopping came to an abrupt halt at Washington Square Mall Monday when the shopping center lost power to half of its stores for over two hours. A transformer failure that services half of the mall was suspected as the cause of the failure, a mall representative said. It took PGE crews around 2 hours to restore power to the mall. # ty.M »¿A4?' ' Some banks still have hidden fees and service charges on their "free" checking accounts The FBI says this store at 5626-A N.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd was one o f two stores in Portland that took goods stolen by professional shoplifters and shipped them to Florida to be resold. photo by M ark W ashington / T he P ortland O bserver Million Dollar Theft Ring Busted The FBI says it has broken a suspected Portland theft ring that allegedly bought goods stolen by professional shoplifters and shipped them to Florida to be resold. The ring allegedly stole about $1.3 m illion worth o f over-the-counter pharm aceuticals, film, batteries, health and beauty aids, preg nancy test kits, diabetic test kits, stop-sm ok ing aids, hair-grow th form ulas, CD s, DVDs and other item s .over the past year. N inh V an V uong, 37, and his wife, Thao Phuong Vuong, 33, were arrested at their V ancouver home; K hung Van Vuong, 44, was arrested at his W ashington County hom e; and Hoa Lam, 44, was arrested at his Portland home. Investigators in Davie, Fla., also ar rested Ilan A m ar, 32, w ho allegedly bought the goods through his com pany, SM P W holesale. Since April, investigators say they tracked 23 shipments weighing more than seven tons sent from the Portland suspects to SM P W holesale. A federal grand ju ry indicted all five on charges that they conspired to ship and receive stolen goods at tw o Portland stores. The FBI identified the stores as the Happy Deal at 14037 S.E. Start St. and the G ood Deal, located at 5626-A N.E. M artin L uther King Jr. Blvd. Jogger Case Convictions Thrown Out Councilman calls to investigate ‘miscarriage of justice’ « So where's the free? It's at Washington Mutual. Where free checking means exactly that. No hidden fees or service charges. No required minimum balance. No mandatory minimum deposit. No fee for cancelled checks. Free access to tellers and customer service telephone lines. Free 2 4 /7 access to your account at our ATM's. Even a free VISA check card. So if you've been wondering where's the free in your so- called "free" checking account, come to Washington Mutual. We're where it's at. For the location nearest to you call 1 -8 0 0 -7 8 8 -7 0 0 0 Washington M utual Where free checking really means free. . I FDIC Insured k (A P) — A N ew Y ork judge dism issed the convictions T hursday o f all five men who served years in prison for the 1989 rape and beating o f a jogger in Central Park, a crime that exposed the c ity 's racial tensions and m ade national headlines. The prim ary evidence in the case had been confessions that the five, all black and His panic boys ranging in age from 14 to 16 at the tim e, had made to detectives. Supporters argued that the statements were coerced. Prosecutors also had no forensic evidence to link any o f them to the crim e scene. New York City C ouncilm an Bill Perkins and defense attorney M ichael W arren has called for an investigation to determ ine who was responsible for what the councilm an called “this m iscarriage o f justice.” A uthorities a year ago began investigating claim s by a serial rapist who said he alone attacked the 28-year-old woman as she jogged in Central Park on April 19,1989. DN A testing 4 show ed sem en sam ples from the scene be longed to M atias Reyes and new forensic tests, more precise than those used a decade ago, failed to link the five convicted m er *o the rape. Tw o w eeks ago, D istrict A ttorney Robert M orgenthau cited that evidence in recom m ending that all convictions in the case be dropped. Prosecutors have said they have no plans to retry any o f the five. The five, now ages 28 to 30, com pleted prison sentences ranging from 5*/2 to 13 years on their convictions. T heir law yers have said they are considering lawsuits. At the tim e o f the attack, authorities said a roam ing gang o f youths was in the park for a night o f “w ilding" - random ly attacking anyone who cam e into their path. The jogger, a w hite investm ent banker, was found near death in a puddle o f m ud and blood in the north end o f the park. She w as in com a for 12 days but eventually recovered.
