NEWS BITES: April 29, 2024

RITZVILLE — Adams County Sheriff’s Deputies are seeking a man who left the courtroom during his trial and did not return, according to a statement from the ACSO.

John Michael Daigneault, 50, was on trial in Adams County Superior Court on Thursday for a burglary that occurred a few months ago near Odessa, according to the statement. Daigneault failed to return to court after the lunch break was over and the defense had rested its case. The trial continued without Daigneault and he was found guilty.

The court issued a warrant for Daigneault’s arrest. Anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked to contact the ACSO at 509-659-1122.

MOSES LAKE — Two 15-year-old boys were arrested Thursday after one of them allegedly pistol-whipped a person in the Larson Community earlier last week, according to a statement from the Grant County Sheriff’s Office.

The two boys had approached a man Tuesday, according to the statement, and pulled a gun on him. One of the suspects pistol-whipped the man when he attempted to take the gun from the boy.

Grant County Deputies and Moses Lake Police responded to a report at about 3:50 p.m. Thursday of two males, one holding a handgun, running through a backyard on Mather Drive, according to the statement. Deputies and officers set up perimeter containment and chased the boys through several yards. The boys then ran in the front door and out the back door of a home on Shaw Street and continued their getaway attempt. They were eventually found hiding in the 1400 block of West Craig Street, one in a garbage can and the other in a shed.

One of the boys was held for suspicion of first-degree assault for the pistol-whipping incident and for separate burglary and trespassing charges, according to the statement. The other boy is held for burglary and trespassing. Both were lodged in the Grant County Youth Services facility Thursday.

A neighbor’s video surveillance showed one of the boys holding a gun, the GCSO wrote. The Shaw Street home was searched for the gun as was the boys’ escape-attempt path, but as of Thursday, no handgun had been found.

OTHELLO — Two male subjects were arrested Wednesday in Othello for gang-related graffiti at Kiwanis Park, according to a statement from the Othello Police Department.

Jean Alvarez, 19, and a juvenile male were captured on city cameras destroying city property at the park, according to the statement. Due to quick dispatching and a speedy response by patrol officers, the suspects were apprehended and arrested.  This investigation led to solving other graffiti incidents in the area of Shady Lane and Rose Drive, the OPD wrote.

MOSES LAKE — A Washington State Patrol trooper was involved in a collision in Moses Lake on Wednesday evening, according to a statement from the WSP.

At about 7:19 p.m., a WSP trooper identified as C. Conner was traveling northbound in the left lane in the roundabout at North Grape Drive and State Route 17 when his vehicle was struck by a vehicle in the right lane, according to the statement. Both vehicles pulled to the shoulder and stopped.

No injuries were reported and neither drugs nor alcohol was a factor in the collision, the WSP wrote.