Police bust another underage drinking party
By William Lundquist
Argus Observer
Friday, December 7, 2007 1:59 PM PST
Ontario — A local trend featuring underage drinking parties continued Thursday night, Ontario Police Department Capt. Mark Alexander said.
Ontario Police Department officers responded to a noise complaint at a home in the 600 block of Southwest First Street at about 11:50 p.m., he said, and cited six people for being minors in possession of alcohol. At least, he said, the minors were more cooperative than those cited at Wednesday night’s party.
Cited and released Thursday night were Gabriel Davis, 18, Anthony Gronwoldt, 18, Cristian Hernandez, 18, Jose Marquez, 20, Gerriane Villanueva, 19, and Jeffrey Warner, 18, all of Ontario.
A rise in purse thefts is another trend this holiday season, Alexander said.
“Most of the thefts are from shopping carts,” he said. Alexander advised shoppers to keep their purses in sight at all times, or better yet, just wear them.
He said purses are often stolen out of shopping carts while shoppers are loading their cars, including two stolen Thursday and one Wednesday.
“We don’t want people to be victims this time of year,” he said.
Police are also seeing more theft cases out of motor vehicles too, Alexander said.
Usually the thieves gain access through an unlocked door or broken window, he said, but there was recently as case of a thief forcing the door lock of a vehicle in a restaurant parking lot. Alexander advised motorists to park in lighted areas, always lock their vehicles, and conceal valuables or carry them.
Alexander also released some department statistics for November. He said there were 29 traffic crashes during the month, and officers wrote 104 traffic citations. They also made 56 arrests, including 10 felony and 14 misdemeanor arrests.
In drinking violations, officers made six arrests for driving under the influence of alcohol, and cited 22 minors for being in possession of alcohol. The minors cited included three 20-year-olds, five 19-year-olds, six 18-year-olds and eight 17-year-olds.
In other public safety news, Malheur County Sheriff’s Department deputies arrested Earl Bashon, 50, Ontario at his residence at 8:12 p.m. Monday on a warrant for violating a release agreement stemming from a drinking under the influence of intoxicants charge. Malheur County Undersheriff Brian Wolfe said Bashon was transported to the Malheur County jail.
