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closeTuesday, Jan. 06, 2009
Milton-Freewater woman held in son's death
By Paula Horton, Herald staff writer
A 26-year-old Milton-Freewater mother has been arrested and is accused of murder after her 2-year-old son died at a Portland hospital, authorities said.
Lucas Isaac Polanco was flown to Doernbecher Children's Hospital in Portland after being injured at his home Saturday, said Dean Gushwa, Umatilla County district attorney.
The toddler died Sunday.
Loretta Maxine Polanco had gone to the Portland hospital with her son and was arrested about 5 p.m. Sunday, Gushwa said.
Officers from the Milton-Freewater Police Department, who had gone to Portland to investigate the case, arrested Polanco and took her back to Umatilla County where she is in jail.
She is being held on suspicion of murder by abuse, felony murder, first-degree manslaughter, first-degree assault and first-degree criminal mistreatment, Gushwa said.
Lucas had head and liver injuries and possibly other injuries, according to the East Oregonian.
The Umatilla County major crimes team is investigating the murder. It includes personnel from the Milton-Freewater, Pendleton and Umatilla police, Umatilla County and Morrow County sheriff's offices, Oregon State Police, Oregon State Police Forensic Laboratory and the Umatilla County District Attorney's Office.
Pasco man, 72, accused of shooting at girlfriend, 34
Bail was set at $50,000 for a 72-year-old Pasco man accused of shooting at his girlfriend.
The victim was not hurt. Alcohol appears to have been a factor, Pasco police Capt. Jim Raymond said.
John W. Birden made a preliminary appearance Monday in Franklin County Superior Court and was ordered to be held in the Franklin County jail on suspicion of first-degree assault. Prosecutors have 72 hours to file charges.
Officers were called at 9:46 p.m. Saturday to the 700 block of Owens Avenue after dispatchers received reports about shots fired inside an apartment, Raymond said.
Deshanna N. Campbell, 34, told police she shares the apartment with Birden, her boyfriend.
She said he was mad at her about some money he lost, and when she decided to leave the apartment, he shot at her twice with a small black handgun, court documents said.
Two neighbors said they heard a single gunshot, and officers found a single cartridge case outside the front door, documents said.
Campbell was behind the apartment when officers arrived and told them Birden had been drinking and was inside, documents said.
Officers searched the apartment but couldn't find Birden, Raymond said. Around 10:30 p.m., they found him in a vehicle several blocks away, Raymond said.
Detectives searched the home and were waiting Monday to get a warrant to search the vehicle, Raymond said. No gun had been found.
Fight over woman leads to stabbing in Pasco
An apparent fight over a woman early Sunday landed one Pasco man in the hospital with stab wounds and put a second Pasco man behind bars, police said.
The stabbing was reported about 12:30 a.m. at La Brisas Restaurant and Lounge in the 2700 block of West Lewis Street, Pasco police Capt. Jim Raymond said.
When officers arrived at the bar, they found Pablo Zamudio, 24, had been stabbed in the torso, Raymond said.
Alejandro Ventura-Leon, 24, was immediately arrested without incident, he said.
Ventura-Leon and Zamudio reportedly had a disagreement about a female acquaintance, Raymond said.
Zamudio told police he saw Ventura-Leon at the bar with his ex-girlfriend. He said he was just walking by the two when he was stabbed in the stomach for no reason, court documents said.
The pocket knife apparently used in the stabbing was recovered.
Zamudio had a large cut on the left side of his stomach and some of his intestines were coming out, documents said.
He was taken by ambulance to the hospital, treated and released, Raymond said.
Ventura-Leon was booked into the Franklin County jail, where he remained Monday on a 72-hour investigative hold for first-degree assault after a preliminary hearing in Franklin County Superior Court. Bail was set at $50,000.
Kennewick man held on child rape report
A 57-year-old Kennewick man has been arrested for allegedly having inappropriate sexual contact with a young relative, authorities said.
Benton County sheriff's detectives began investigating Raul Hernandez Paz after receiving a report from Child Protective Services about alleged sexual activity with the girl, said Detective Lee Cantu.
The one-time incident apparently happened in December, Cantu said.
Paz was booked into the Benton County jail on suspicion of first-degree child rape.
Probe of Seattle man's death nearly complete
Pasco police detectives are nearly done with an initial investigation into a Seattle man's death after a New Year's Eve party and expect to send their reports to the Franklin County prosecutor later this week.
Christopher E. Craig, 26, died of a stab wound to the chest about 19 hours after arriving at the Pasco hospital on New Year's Day. He apparently went into shock after losing too much blood, authorities said.
Craig was wounded during a struggle with two other men at a party in the 200 block of Bonneville Street.
Pasco police Capt. Jim Raymond said his detectives are continuing to classify it as a "death investigation, not a homicide at this time."
They're working to get "all the facts straightened out," he said.
"It's just not a cut and dry investigation," he said.
No new details about what happened were released Monday. Raymond did say that detectives have talked to everybody involved.
The other two men involved in the fight have not been named.
"They are not, at this time, being identified as suspects. They were simply involved in the altercation," Raymond said. "We're still sorting out details. We are not anticipating any arrests."
Officers were called to Lourdes Medical Center about 3:30 a.m. Jan. 1 after Craig arrived. The two other men apparently went to different hospitals at about the same time for medical help.
The fight was never reported at the house, Raymond said. Detectives had to backtrack to the house to determine what happened.
2 men, 2 women held on pot possession, warrants
A Richland officer on patrol Sunday night near Motel 6 arrested two men for possessing a large amount of marijuana and two women on misdemeanor warrants, police said.
The officer saw a vehicle pulling into the motel around 10:30 p.m. and ran the license plate to check its owner. Records showed the owner's license was suspended and he was wanted, police said.
Officers tried in vain to find the vehicle owner, police said.
Meanwhile, a Benton County sheriff's deputy contacted the Richland officer and reported the owner had just called 911 to report the car had been taken about a week ago without permission.
As Richland officers waited for more information from deputies, two people -- later identified as Jesus S. Perez, 36, of Pasco, and Leah M. Graham, 18, of Kennewick -- returned to the vehicle.
After initially providing fake names, they were identified and Graham was arrested on two misdemeanor warrants. Officers then got a warrant to search a motel room.
David Ash, 31, of Burbank, answered the door and confirmed there was marijuana inside, police said.
Officers found several small bags of marijuana inside an attic crawl space, the toilet tank and on the bathroom floor, police said.
While in the room, officers saw two people walking away from the room who then went to the office to complain about the police being in their room.
Linda Sifuentez, also known as Linda Rogers, then was arrested on a misdemeanor warrant.
Ash and Perez were arrested and booked into the Benton County jail on suspicion of possessing more than 40 grams of marijuana.
Sifuentez and Graham were jailed on their warrants.
2 arrested after police find cocaine in truck
A 22-year-old Kennewick woman riding in a truck with a Pasco man who wasn't supposed to be driving, was arrested after officers searched the truck and found cocaine, Richland police said.
Officers spotted a gray Nissan, driven by Kyle Devoir, 22, of Pasco, as it turned into a parking lot in the 1900 block of Columbia Center Boulevard about 1:50 a.m. Sunday, police said.
An officer who knew Devoir discovered he was wanted on seven warrants and had a suspended driver's license, police said.
He was arrested and the truck searched.
Officers found a bag on the passenger floorboard with two small plastic bags of suspected cocaine, police said.
Randee Anderson, whose ID was found inside the bag, was arrested on suspicion of possessing cocaine.
Both were booked into the Benton County jail.
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