Page A2
______ (Life fJortkuiò (Observer
lune II. 2003
P olice
Woman
Dies from
Spider Bite
(A P )
The C lark C ounty m edical
e xam iner’soffice reports the death o fa 25-
year-old V ancouver w om an is likely re­
lated to a spider bite.
G retchen E nsign w as hospitalized on
M ay 20th and died on M ay 29th.
E nsign died o f com plications from the
bite o f what her m other J u lie , described as
"ju st a reg u lar house spider.”
Julie E nsign said she and her daughter
w ere sensitive to spider bites.
D eaths from spider bites are rare.
99 percent o f insect-related deaths are
due to bees and w asps.
Suspect Caught with 500 Credit Cards
(A P )
Police found m ore than
500 stolen credit cards and check-
!
T hey think they w ere taken from
Sw e et W a te rs Ja m H o u se on
books inside the home of a bur-
glary suspect in Southeast Port-
j
I
Southeast Morrison Street — a
restaurant that was recently bur-
M>
'"*» IB *
land.
O fficers a rrested 31-y ear-o ld
glarized.
I n v e s t ig a t o r s b e li e v e th a t
T asha N ilsen a fte r finding the evi-
N elson and oth ers used the stolen
denee in her hom e.
f j,
credit card inform ation to order
T hey got a search w arrant and
J
’ ' ' large am ounts o f p roperty through
found stacks o free e ip ts and checks
the Internet,
that had been stolen from a nearby
f
Investigators are trying to track
restau ran t.
Tasha Nilsen
dow n custom ers w h o m ay have
O fficers disco v ered m ore than 500 stolen
used a credit card at the restau ran t betw een
credit card num bers, checks and checkbooks.
M a rc h 2001 andJuly2O O 2.
Reward Offered in SE Bank Robbery
Go from
'I went to the mall
to "I got the mall."
M
Sketches from the FBI show two men and a woman wanted for robbing a southeast
Portland bank.
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The O regon FBI is o ffering up to $5,000
rew ard for inform ation leading to the arrest o f
those responsible for the A pril 9 robbery at the
B ank o f the W est, 8135 S.E. D ivision.
T hree people entered the bank at about 9:50
a.m . O ne person ju m p e d up onto the co u n ter and
shouted that the bank w as being robbed. At
least one person had a handgun. T here w ere
approxim ately lO p eo p le,includingtw ocustom -
ers, in the bank at the tim e o f the robbery. N o
shots w ere fired and no one w as hurt.
T he suspects are all A frican A m erican w ith
m edium c om plexions, in their late 2 0 ’s to early
3 0 ’s, w ith average height and w eight. O ne o f the
robbers w as a w om an, and she w as w earing a
knit hat. All w ork dark clothing.
The robbers w ere seen leaving the bank in
w hat turned out to be a stolen car. Portland
Police O fficers responding to the scene w ere
able to im m ediately d eterm in e that the c ar had
been taken from an ap artm ent com plex a few
m iles aw ay e arlier in the m orning. T he car w as
found abandoned a short tim e a fte r the robbery
at SE 76th and Lincoln.
A nyone w ith inform ation about the robbery or
suspects is asked tocall the FBI at 503-224-4181.
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ig Helpline. 1 800-547 6133.
Tigard Burglary Suspect Wanted
T igard Police, in cooperation
w ith C rim e S toppers, is asking for
yo u r help in locating and a ppre­
hending a Portland m an on charges
o f burglary and m enacing,
Luke A lexisJordan isa c c u se d o f
a M ay 14 residential burglary on
Southw est A nn Street w here a m an
confronted a fem ale victim. In addi­
tion, authorities w ant to question
him in connection with an attem pted
prescription forgery that sam e day
at W alg reen ’s on S outhw est Pa­
cific Highway.
Jordan is a 27-y ear-o ld w hite
m ale, w ith a d a te o fb irth o fJ a n . 14,
1976. H e is five feet 10 inches tall
a n d w e ig h s 175 p o u n d s w ith
blonde hair and blue eyes.
Luke Alexis Jordan
Crime Stoppers, that leads to
an arrest in this case, or any un­
solved felony crime, and you need
not give your name. Call Crime
Stoppers at 503-823-4357.
Medical Marijuana Leader Faces Prison
(A P ) — T he founder o f a S alem resource
c en ter for m edical m arijuana p atients w as c o n ­
victed on d rug charges M onday by a M arion
C ounty judge.
R obert G ray w as co n v icted o f possession,
distribution and m anufactureofm arijuana. Gray,
the founder o f the M edical C annabis R esource
C enter, elected to have Judge Joseph O choa
h e ar the case instead o f a ju ry .
G ray w ill likely be sentenced to nearly 3 1/2
years in jail, O choa said. S entencing w as sch ed ­
uled fo r A ug. 13.
Last M arch, police found 37 m arijuana plants
at G ra y 's distribution center and o ver one pound
o f dried m ariju an a at his hom e.
O re g o n ’s m edical m ariju an a law allow s
cardholding patients or designated caregivers
to grow as m any as seven plants o r p ossess up
to seven ounces o f dried m arijuana.
G ray had contended he w as careg iv er to five
people b esides him self, th u s w as entitled to
possess the larger am ount.
Portland Airport Screeners Fired
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T he T ransportation Security A dm inistration
has fired 25 federal screeners at P ortland Inter­
national A irport since late last year.
The dism issals follow ed a variety o f offenses,
from failing background checks to m aking up a
security breach that forced the c losure o f tw o
co n co u rse s.
A nother screener now faces term ination and
potential crim inal charges after he w as arrested in
late M ay and accused o f taking $ 1,300 dollars in
cash from a passenger’s purse at a checkpoint.
The
T r a n s p o r t a ti o n
S e c u r it y
A d m in istra tio n ’s w oes at the airp o rt reflect
criticism the agency received nationw ide. B ack­
ground checks have not been com pleted on
m ore than h a lf o f its 52,000 screeners. A cross
the country, the agency has fired one thousand
200 screeners for failing b a ckground checks.
Man Dies Restrained in Jail Chair
(A P )— A m an arrested on charges o f cri m i nal
m isch ie f and d isorderly c onduct died after he
stopped breathing w hile he w as restrained in a
chair at the M arion C ounty Jail in Salem , officials
said.
John Joseph C ourchesne, 39, stopped breath­
ing shortly a fter 11:10 p.m . M ay 3 1 as d eputies
began booking him into the ja il. S h e riff Raul
Ram irez said Friday.
A t the tim e. C o u rch esn e w as restrained in a
c h air that is used to hold unruly inm ates.
Param edics revived him and he im m ediately
w as taken to Salem H ospital, w here he died
about 4:40 p.m . S unday. R am irez said.
The sh e riff called the w eeklong delay in re­
leasing new s o f C o u rc h e sn e 's death “ an o v e r­
sig h t" for w hich he accepted responsibility.
“ T h e re 's no hidden ag en d a," R am irez said.
"W e should have gotten the inform ation out
earlier.”
An autopsy cond u cted M onday w as unable
to d eterm ine the cause o f death. M ore tests
w ere p lanned and results w ere expected w ithin
five w eeks.
Salem pol ice arrested C ourchesne about 10:30
p.m .M ay31 fo rc a u sin g a d istu rb a n c ea ta m o te l.
He had been throw ing furniture out the w indow
o f his seco n d -flo o r room , said Salem police Lt.
Bill Kohlmeyer.
“ H e appeared em otionally disturbed, saying
people w ere w aiting in the p a rking lot for him ,
p eople w ere a fte r him ,” K ohlm eyer said.