First responder news bites

EPHRATA – Grant County Fire District 7 responded to a report of a fall victim Tuesday and found that the incident was more severe than a simple fall upon arrival at the scene, according to a GCFD 7 statement.

The district’s EMTs recognized the seriousness of the situation and requested Life Flight assistance. A helicopter picked up the patient who was then taken to Wenatchee for advanced care.

OTHELLO – The Othello Police Department announced Thursday afternoon that during the past three weeks school resource officers have made four arrests associated with five graffiti investigations. One suspect will be criminally charged in two of those cases. The suspects are minors aged 12 to 14.

“These arrests would not have been made without the help of our citizens calling in and reporting graffiti when it is seen. We encourage everyone to report this crime when seen so that it can be properly documented and investigated,” the statement said.

Othello Police Department and Adams County Sheriff’s Office units responded to a report Wednesday that there was a threat of a shooting at Othello High School and a person was armed in front of the school. Othello School District security, OPD and ACSO found no such person in the area, but the school remained in lockdown as a precaution until the Washington State Fusion Center – a part of the Department of Homeland Security – indicated that other, similar and unfounded threats were made at campuses around Eastern Washington from the same phone number.

QUINCY – Wednesday evening or Thursday morning, a 34-year-old Quincy man drove himself to the Quincy Valley Medical Center for treatment of a gunshot wound to the leg, according to a report from the Grant County Sheriff’s Office.

The man reported that he was driving along Road 9 NW when he stopped near Adams Road to use the restroom. At that time, he said a vehicle then drove up and the occupant fired at him. The victim was unable to describe the vehicle or the driver. The patient was later transferred to Confluence Health-Central Washington Hospital for surgery.

Anyone with information is asked to call 509-762-1160 and reference case 23GS05008.

GCSO announced Thursday that Gustavo Sosa Rodriguez, 33, of Quincy had been arrested in connection with the theft of a trailer and other crimes after multiple traffic stops over the weekend.

The GCSO statement indicated that a utility dump trailer had been reported stolen from the 13000 block of Railroad Avenue NW in Ephrata. The owner said he had been out of town since the prior Thursday and when he returned home Tuesday, the trailer was gone.

And Ephrata Police Department Officer notified the investigating deputy that he had pulled over a vehicle pulling the trailer a short distance from the home at about 4:30 a.m. on May 4, likely shortly after the trailer was stolen but prior to it being reported as a stolen item. The EPD officer’s bodycam showed Sosa Rodriguez and one other man in the vehicle.

Sosa Rodriguez was found at a home in the 400 block of G Street SE in Quincy and eventually confessed to the theft of the trailer and was subsequently arrested.

The suspect is currently housed at the Grant County Jail on suspicion of theft of a motor vehicle and an unrelated misdemeanor warrant. He is also under suspicion for the theft of a utility trailer and orchard equipment from a Wenatchee-area apple grower.