Crime Watch November 19-22

by Dave Lieben

Best of Kanoe update: This is an early version of what would soon become known as I Fought the Law (And the Law Won). It appeared under various names as a regular feature in Weekly Images. This is the one that caused Ketchikan CHARR to pressure Weekly Images to drop the feature. -Dave

If there was no such thing as alcohol, the Ketchikan Police Department wouldn't be nearly as busy, judging from their reports of recent arrests.

This week's look at alcohol-related trouble with the law begins with 23-year-old Peter Jensen. Officer Ty Walker noticed the red Pontiac being driven by Jensen on the morning of November 19 appeared to be traveling above the posted speed limit. Walker pursued the car, and noticed it driving erratically on Tongass Avenue, at a speed of 35 to 38 miles per hour in a 25 zone. When asked for his license, Jensen said he didn't have one. Was it suspended or revoked, he was asked. "It's something like that," Jensen was said to have replied. Asked to do the walk-and-turn test, Jensen became disoriented during the turning portion. "Okay, you got me," he was quoted as saying. He claimed to have had "very little" to drink, but refused to take a breath test. An unopened 20-ounce bottle of Heineken was found in the car. Jensen was charged with Driving While Intoxicated, Driving While License Revoked, and Refusal to Submit to a Chemical Test.

Chances are that when a drunk runs into a parked car, they will never be caught. Unfortunately for 34-year-old Susan Miles, someone was sitting in the car she hit. Tasha Marie Jackson named Miles as the driver of the 1987 Subaru station wagon that ran into the car she was sitting in at the 2122 Apartments parking lot on the night of November 19. Police responding to the call found Eugene D. Vill sitting in the Subaru, but reported difficulty getting a statement from him due to his level of intoxication. Officer Walker contacted Miles at her residence, she denied being the driver, but said she had just returned from Schooner's and had "drank a lot." Later, she asked how much damage she had done to the other vehicle. A portable breath test found her to have a Breath Alcohol Concentration level of .214%, a test at the station found the level to be .236%. She was taken to Ketchikan Correction Center.

One can only assume that being drunk clouded the judgement of 20-year-old David Timothy Bellis. Bellis works at Carr's as a Courtesy worker, but didn't have the courtesy to pay for over $90 worth of deli items and video tapes on the morning of November 20. He was found to have a breath alcohol level of .161%, but refused to say where he obtained the alcohol. A citation for Posession by a Person Under 21 was added to the charge of Theft in the Third Degree. He'll have the chance to explain it all to the judge on November 30. It is not known if he still has a job at Carr's.

31-year-old Noe Ramiro Serrata might have avoided a trip to jail if he had better understood the word "no". He was seen arguing with a female outside the First City Saloon just after 1 a.m. on November 21. The woman reported she had a previous relationship with Serrata, and he would not leave her alone. He said he just wanted to walk her home. Sgt. Mallott told Serrata to not only leave her alone, but to not go into any more bars or liquor stores. At 1:23 he was spotted in the Pioneer Bar talking to a woman. Their conversation was interrupted by his arrest for Drunken Person on Licensed Premises.

Officer Walker noticed 22-year-old Shawn D. Dillard walking in an unstable manner on the morning of November 21. He gave the cb antenna on a maroon 1994 Blazer a swift yank, causing some damage to the vehicle. He was also seen punching two car windows. When stopped, he told the officers "Sorry guys, I'm a dumb [bad word] and I'll go to jail." It was almost as if he could see into the future, as he was taken to the Ketchikan Correctional Center soon after.

Most of our reports come from the wee hours of the morning, but 49-year-old Bernice Davis was already drunk and belligerent by 6 p.m. on November 21. Officer Colby responded to a report of Davis refusing to leave the Alaska Bar. Colby told Davis not to go into any more bars or liquor stores or she would be arrested. Colby saw Davis disappear from view in the neighborhood of the Fo'c'sle Bar, where she was found sitting at the bar with a bottle of Miller Genuine Draft. It is not known if someone else finished the beer after Davis was charged with Drunken Person on Licensed Premises and taken to KCC.

Some names seem to appear in the police reports with some regularity, among them 34-year-old Ramon D. Vera. He was reported to be trespassing in the Alaska Bar on the morning of November 22, and spent some time at KCC on the charge of Drunken Person on Licensed Premises.

Finally, Officer Porras responded to a report of two intoxicated females leaving the Potlatch Bar in a white van on the evening of November 22. Officer Colby arrived and found the van parked with the domelight on, but no sign of the suspects. The van was later seen being driven in an erratic manner. 40-year-old Leslie A. Donnelly was charged with Driving While Intoxicated after being found to have a breath alcohol level of .148%.

Friends don't let friends drive drunk.