Date: 10/25/2012 03:59 AM
OR–1st NewsMinute/375
Here is the latest Oregon news from The Associated Press
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Portland police arrested a man accused of threatening construction workers with an assault rifle. Police spokesman Lt. Robert King says the man drove away when officers surrounded his truck yesterday, but pulled over when they yelled for him to stop. King says 43-year-old Charles Larson went to the northeast Portland work site because he objected to Hispanic people getting construction jobs. Officers confiscated a loaded AK-47 assault rifle. He’s being held on $15,000 bail.
HILLSBORO, Ore. (AP) – A former Nike executive accused of trying to kill his wife and four children with a natural gas leak has pleaded guilty to attempted aggravated murder. The Washington County district attorney’s office says a Circuit Court judge sentenced 37-year-old James Speidel on Wednesday to 20 years in prison. The Oregonian says Speidel’s wife, Laura, smelled natural gas on April 24 and fled her Bethany, Ore., home with her four children. Sheriff’s investigators said an outside natural gas line appeared to have been intentionally cut and was placed so gas would fill the crawl space, potentially leading to an explosion.
MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) – Police in Medford, Ore., say an autopsy confirms that a taxi cab driver killed last weekend died of a gunshot wound. Lt. Mike Budreau said yesterday that investigators have received roughly 80 tips in the death of 58-year-old William Roy “Huey” Huson. His body was found Sunday morning in a field near the airport in the area where Huson reported to his dispatcher that he was taking a fare. He had been shot once in the head.
BEND, Ore. (AP) – The former director of a Central Oregon charter school is expected to be sentenced to 19 months on charges of sexual abuse of a student. The Bend Bulletin reports that 39-year-old Michael Bremont made what’s known as an Alford plea on Tuesday: He didn’t admit wrongdoing but acknowledged the prosecution would likely prove its case. The student was from Redmond Proficiency Academy. She told police that during her sophomore year in 2009 Bremont flirted with her, sent text messages, including one saying he was “having inappropriate feelings for her,” and initiated sexual contact during a class trip.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
