Local News

Grants Pass Police arrested a woman at the Resting Site 6 North for trespassing.

Officers located the suspect, Samantha Crutcher at the 714 NW 6th Street site at 12:58 p.m. She was yelling inside the area was taken into custody. She had previously been trespassed from the site, but that order had expired according to the police report.

Crutcher was taken into custody at the scene by law enforcement, and a 180 day exclusion order was entered. She was taken to the Adult Jail Facility and lodged on a charge of Second Degree Criminal Trespass. Due to a lack of jail resources, she was subsequently released.

 

A welfare check request led Grants Pass Police to arrest a man on a parole violation detainer.

Dispatch received word Tuesday that a man was having what appeared to be a medical episode in the 531 NE E Street parking lot around 7:19 a.m. The caller described the man as wearing a grey hoodie and dark pants, and that he was rolling around on the ground flailing.

The man then stood up and continued flailing. The caller observed no weapons or bags on the man, and had been watching him for about a half hour. A welfare check was requested, and officers detained the man upon arrival, identifying him as Cody Lathrom.

His parole officer was contacted and a detainer was requested. Officers subsequently transported Lathrom to the Josephine County Jail where, according to jail logs, he was incarcerated on an out-of-county hold warrant before being transported to another agency.

 

Deputies with the Josephine County Sheriff's Office apprehended a trespassing woman on an out-of-county warrant Tuesday.

A call to 911 around 8:16 p.m. reported an ongoing issue of people dumping trash and possibly partaking in drug transactions happening near a property in the 100 block of Lurline Lane. The caller told dispatch a white truck with a trailer was nearby setting up camp.

Deputies arrived at the scene and contacted Hope Hoover inside the truck. She was wanted on a Linn County Misdemeanor warrant for Possession of Fentanyl, so deputies took her into custody. She was then lodged in the Josephine County Adult Jail Facility.

 

Rogue Community College will honor its first graduating class of dental hygiene students during a pinning ceremony at 3:30 p.m. at the Crater Performing Arts Center in Central Point this Friday, June 12th.

Twenty students will be recognized for completing the program and preparing to enter the workforce as dental hygiene professionals. The ceremony marks the culmination of years of planning and development to establish the program and expand access to dental hygiene education in Southern Oregon.

Established in the fall of 2024, RCC’s two-year dental hygiene associate degree program was created to help address the growing need for qualified dental hygiene professionals. Through a combination of classroom instruction, laboratory coursework and hands-on clinical experiences, students develop the skills necessary to provide preventive oral health services, patient education and clinical dental hygiene care.

For more information about the program, visit roguecc.edu/dental.

 

A Jacksonville man pleaded guilty today to tax evasion, not paying employment taxes, bank fraud, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft, announced U.S. Attorney Scott E. Bradford for the District of Oregon. Joel Matthew Caswell, 31, pleaded guilty to a Superseding Information charging three counts of tax evasion, three counts of willful failure to pay over employment taxes, one count of bank fraud, one count of wire fraud, and one count of aggravated identity theft. According to documents and statements made in court, Caswell has ownership and managing interests in multiple logging and construction businesses that collectively employed approximately 40 employees. He was the trustee and a beneficiary of the Caswell Family Trust. From 2018 through 2022, Caswell withheld but failed to pay over trust fund taxes for multiple businesses. In 2019, these unpaid payroll taxes resulted in the IRS assessing the Trust Fund Recovery Penalty. To evade the IRS’s ability to collect what was owed, Caswell directed customers to write checks to other companies or him personally, moved business funds, and lied to collection officers. Separately, between 2022 and 2024, Caswell executed multiple fraud schemes in Oregon that involved submitting fabricated financial records to a bank, a private lender, and the Small Business Administration (“SBA”) to secure loans. Additionally, Caswell used the name, Social Security number, and date of birth of Adult Victim 1 to obtain a residential mortgage.

 

A man was arrested after breaking into the Lil' Pantry and helping himself to the merchandise after employees had left.

Early this morning at 4:17 a.m., the store manager opened the 979 Rogue River Highway business to find the suspect, Harwinder Singh, had somehow broken into the store and was sleeping in the back storage room.

There was no reported damage to the front of the store, and the door was still locked when the manager arrived. Trash was surrounding the suspect when officers arrived.

According to the police report, Singh remained unlawfully inside the business after closing, and had helped himself to snacks and beer inside before falling asleep. He was arrested for Second Degree Burglary, and lodged in the Adult Jail Facility.

 

The Josephine County Board of Commissioners held a workshop at 1:30 p.m. in consideration of department business. The board moved 2-0 to pass a resolution affirming tobacco retail enforcement as the primary strategy to prevent youth access to tobacco and nicotine products. The resolution would also protect adult consumer choice. Commissioner Colene Martin abstained citing a conflict of interest. The board approved agreements brought by the Sheriff's Office including an Intergovernmental County and City Lease agreement, and a City of Cave Junction Contract Deputy agreement. A United States Forest Service Cooperative Law enforcement agreement, paying $50,000 annually for Sheriff's deputies to patrol national forest lands, passed 3-0. Property Management gave an update regarding the Relocation of County Departments, including Public Health, Facilities, and Planning. Available spaces within the county have been toured before any potential leases are to be considered. According to Property Management, the Dimmick sale is still progressing. July 22nd is the end of due diligence, with the closing to come on or before August 21st. Whether the sale goes through or not will be determined mid-July.

 

A woman was arrested by Grants Pass Police for refusing to leave Asante Three Rivers Medical Center after having been discharged Monday night.

Emergency Room staff at the 500 SW Ramsey Avenue hospital called 911 around 11:20 p.m. requesting the suspect, Sara Pierce, be trespassed after she was refusing to leave her room.

Dispatch learned Pierce would not listen to security at the hospital, and upon the arrival of officers, she refused to comply with orders to gather her things and leave the premises.

Officers took Pierce into custody and transported her to the Josephine County Jail. She was lodged for a charge of Second Degree Criminal Trespass.

 

Grants Pass Police officers apprehended a man wanted on an Oregon State Parole Board warrant following a foot chase Monday afternoon.

The suspect, Bobby Swearingen, was located wearing a black hoodie, backpack, and hat near the Fred Meyer at 1101 Grants Pass Parkway. He proceeded to flee from officers on foot on Beacon Drive before ducking behind an apartment complex at the corner of Beacon and Fairview Avenue.

Officers outperformed Swearingen and forced him to the ground near the Parkway Christian Center around 5:15 p.m. He was wanted on a weapon offense warrant, and was promptly taken into custody without further incident. Officers lodged him in jail at 5:37 p.m.