June 23: An Orcas Island woman received a warning letter after her Old English Sheepdog bit a firefighter who was on an early-morning investigation of an illegal burn in the 300 block of Dolphin Bay Road. The firefighter, who doubles as fire marshal, reportedly requested that the owner be warned rather than ticketed, despite the bite.
June 24: An eight-year-old California girl died as the result of a fatal fall from the ladder of a 14-foot loft at a home on Double Island. She was among a group of children using the loft as a stage and performing a play as family members watched from below. The girl, who suffered a fractured skull, was airlifted from the island, located in Orcas Island’s West Sound, to a Seattle-area hospital by helicopter at about 11 p.m., where she was pronounced dead the following day.
June 25: A Seattle-area man died while on vacation at the county park on San Juan Island from an aortic aneurysm that burst. Though airlifted to a mainland hospital, the man, believed to be about 60 years of age, reportedly never recovered from a fatal rupture of a major artery in his heart.
June 29: Several overhead lights were shattered and a port-a-potty toppled over in an apparent act of vandalism in the horse barn of the fairgrounds in Friday Harbor.
Someone reportedly kicked in or forced open the four doors of an Orcas Island cabin located near the trailhead of the state park at Obstruction Pass. The contents of the cabin, which belongs to a Bellingham man, were left intact following the apparent break-in, which occurred sometime in the past two months. It’s reportedly the fourth time that the cabin has been broken into in the past two years.
A San Juan Island man was arrested on a public nuisance offense after his pit bull reportedly broke free of its chain and attacked a dog that lives across the street from his Friday Harbor home. The 40-year-old’s pit bull reportedly inflicted wounds during the Maple Street mauling that required a vet bill totaling $247.
June 30: Too much tint on the windows of her car prompted the arrest of a San Juan Island teen for driving without a license following an early-morning traffic stop near the Blair Avenue and Spring Street intersection. The 16-year-old was pulled over at about 8:30 a.m.
July 1: Two Spokane men accused of instigating a fight in a Lopez Island resort lounge were arrested on charges of felony assault. The two men, 26 and 24, allegedly assaulted two other men during a late-night altercation.
July 3: A San Juan Island man was arrested for driving with a suspended license following a late-afternoon traffic stop in the 700 block of Argyle Avenue. The 22-year-old was also ticketed for driving without insurance, with expired tags and for altering the license plate of his vehicle. He reportedly took 2010 tags off the license plate of another vehicle and attached them to his.
July 4: A San Juan Island man was arrested on an alcohol-related offense and may face added penalties for violating court orders following a predawn encounter with a deputy near the Carter Avenue ball fields. The 20-year-old, taken into custody at about 4 p.m., reportedly drew attention to himself by tossing several objects over his head and into a nearby field as the deputy’s patrol car approached.
July 5: An Orcas Island man accused of breaking into two dentist offices and of stealing a car from the parking lot of an Eastound grocery store was arrested at the ferry landing in connection with the alleged crime spree. The 33-year-old, reportedly behind the wheel of a stolen Chevy Spectrum when he was taken into custody at about 6 p.m., allegedly stole $600 during the break-in of a Mount Baker dentist office, and was later identified by an employee who reportedly happened to be in the office while the burglary was in progress.
A 35-year-old Bothell man was reunited with his wallet and its contents after it was found in Prune Alley by an Orcas Island man. The wallet, the contents of which included four credit cards, was turned over to authorities by the 65-year-old good samaritan.
A GPS device was turned into authorities by a San Juan Island man who found it in the holding lanes of the ferry terminal in Friday Harbor. The device, which reportedly has no marks identifying who it belongs to, will be returned to the man who found it if it remains unclaimed after 60 days.
July 7: A 20-year-old San Juan Island woman was reunited with her handbag and its contents after it was found by a good samaritan and turned over to authorities. Its contents included $100 cash.
