Basin Briefs for Jan. 24, 2020

RICHLAND — A Beverly man was cited for second-degree negligent driving after he crossed the center line and ran into another car about 20 miles west of Richland Thursday afternoon.

Luis Aguilar Velasco, 21, was driving west on State Route 240 about 1:30 p.m. when he crossed the center line and hit a van driven by Guillermo Belmontes Navarro, 40, Kennewick. Belmontes Navarro was injured in the crash and was transported to Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland, according to a press memo from the Washington State Patrol. Aguilar Velasco was not injured.

Troopers determined the accident was caused by inattention, the press release said.

Both cars, the 2018 Dodge Promaster driven by Belmontes Navarro and Aguilar Velasco’s 2008 Nissan pickup, were totaled.

MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Police Department is asking for the public’s help in finding a woman who allegedly broke into a house and choked the resident Wednesday afternoon.

Officers are looking for Cassandra Calderon Ozuna, 20 , who was charged earlier in the week with assaulting a law enforcement officer. On Wednesday Calderon Ozuna allegedly “forced her way into a residence, assaulted and choked the occupant, and stole a vehicle,” according to a post on the MLPD Facebook page. “She fled prior to the officers arriving on scene. The victim suffered minor cuts (to a) hand from taking a knife away from Calderon Ozuna.”

Calderon Ozuna was arrested Sunday night for an alleged theft, and while being taken into custody “she assaulted the arresting officer, spitting into his face and mouth,” the press release said. She was released from jail Wednesday morning.

“Officers have been attempting to locate Calderon Ozuna since the call. Today she called to complain that officers had visited her house and her work and were ‘embarrassing’ her. When we told her we would stop looking for her after she was back in jail, she hung up on us,” the press release said.

Anyone with knowledge of Calderon Ozuna’s whereabouts is asked to contact MACC dispatch at 509-762-1160, case No. 20ML00893.